Increasing billable hours

For those in the service industry – accountants, lawyers, consultants, trainers and coaches, yes coaches – one of the most important aspects of their business is selling their service. And after that, the second most important thing, if they want to stay in business, is increasing their billable hours. Now let's be clear here: we are not talking about artificially inflating the number of hours worked for the client without any real delivery of extra value – that would just be unethical and crummy. Instead, we are talking about how we can add more value to the client and so legitimately add more hours' work to our bill because in doing so we are adding real value to their business or even to their personal development.

One well trodden route to increasing billable hours is by extending one's knowledge and skill range. This is good, although it can run into another problem: the me-too problem. In other words becoming a generic 'whatever' (accountant … coach) who can solve all their problems; the problem being that one isn't particularly an expert, or sensationally good, at any of the solutions; but one can get by. It is the opposite, if you will, of being niche in one's expertise.

A potentially better solution than merely extending the range of one's service skills is acquiring complementary products that support, reinforce, and develop the core proposition. This certainly worked for me, and it especially works in the area of repeat sales.

As we know, acquiring a new client is the most expensive part of the sales operation; but once you have a client, then if you can get repeat business from them, then that seriously improves the margins of the business. Further, if that is a product they come to see they need, the repeat sales require little 'servicing', because by definition the product is what it is.

So, to take an imaginary example: you are an accountant who does a client's accounts. You develop some software – the product – that enables them to do some basic tax (or whatever) calculations for themselves; they only need the yearly upgrade, which you charge for. Clearly, this adds value, empowers the client, and one piece of work – the upgrade – can service hundreds if not thousands of clients, all of whom pay.

What I am about to tell you is obviously anecdotal, but true for me nonetheless. I am telling it because I am frequently asked, What is the benefit of using your product, the Motivational Map, James? Consultants and coaches ask me this question.

I could in answer to it go on about the features of the product, or even the performance benefits for the staff; however, I'd rather talk about the business benefits for the licensees who use the product, and the benefit specifically to me in using it with clients. What is that benefit?

I was a trainer and coach for 10 years. During that time I had hundreds of clients. If you asked me, What was the average length of your client engagement, then the answer would be somewhere between three and six months. In other words, a Director of an organisation would contact me and contract me to run, say, a communication skills programme spread over three months, or ask me to mentor three members of staff for one day a month for three months. And I got used to that way of working. When they were pleased with the result, they'd contact me three or five years later and invite me to do it again! But it was always time limited in the first place.

All that changed with the creation and adoption of Motivational Maps. Because the Maps provided real time information on an ongoing basis, and were a simple, cost-effective product, the average tenure within a company became something more like three to four years!! And, even better, the contracts were far bigger: instead of doing work over six months for three to six thousand pounds for a single client, I was working for twenty thousand plus pounds a year. The Maps could even go in when I didn't.

Thus I say to all coaches and consultants who want a more distinctive position in the market place, consider a product to complement your service. And for those who are working in the developing people field/sector, I say – consider Motivational Maps: they'll work for you, if you work for them, and won't disappoint your client.