Consulting Tip: Reduce Choices for Your Client
There is home renovation show my wife and I like called “Help I Wrecked My House.”
The show features ambitious home owners who start a renovation project on their own thinking they can save money using a DIY approach and then they stall.
They run out of time, money, or just never develop the competence to do the project.
Some of the home owners end up living with no floors or a half functioning kitchen for years!
They become depressed and overwhelmed and just stall out.
That’s when they call Jasmine Roth, our fearless designer and home renovation expert to turn things around.
On a recent episode, one of the homeowners stalled on their project simply because they couldn’t make a decision!
What floors should they pick? How should they balance the cost against other priorities?
While the homeowners may technically be able to finish the small projects on their own, they expended too much energy making decisions.
Jasmine helped them prioritize and made the decision herself.
Your clients may find themselves with the same level of decision fatigue at all levels.
As a consultant, one of your jobs is to reduce your client’s decision fatigue.
When it makes sense, instead of asking “what would you like to do,” say “here are three options, I recommend option B because X, Y, and Z. What would you like to do?”
It gives the client choice within a narrow selection range, instead of choice within an infinite range.
This makes a huge difference in energy consumption for the client, and makes you look awesome.
So reduce choices and make recommendations. Your clients will love you for it.
Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.