Consulting is a specialized advisory service, carried out by specialists in a certain area, who guide the client in order to help him achieve his goals.
In the consulting process, just like the consultant, the oriented client himself has responsibility in the process towards achieving goals.
It can be said that 50% responsibility rests with each one, as the consultant gives indications with the in order to leverage the capabilities of your customer, who must follow them to achieve the result desired.
Types of consultancy
Consulting is a service that can be hired by companies or by a private individual.
Generally speaking, consulting can be classified into two main types:
- internal consulting: when the consultant is an internal employee, that is, he is part of the staff of the company that requires the service.
- external consultancy: when the consultant is an external employee, that is, who is not part of the company's staff. In this case, a temporary service provision is established, previously agreed between the company and the consultant.
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See below for the main types of consultancy.
finance consulting
Finance consultancy is advice on how the entrepreneur should act and act with regard to the company's expenses and profits.
Companies often hire financial advisors when the company is or is in danger of going into the red.
The consultant will have the role of analyzing the company's finances and preparing a strategic financial program that helps in achieving the desired objective.
This program may consist of creating new internal policies, monitoring results and diagnosing existing problems.
business management consulting
Business management consulting consists of analyzing and solving specific problems related to the administrative part of a company.
It is important to note that business management consultants are specialists in business management, in business administration and not necessarily specialists in the field of the company that hires its services.
Two points that benefit a lot from business management consulting are costs, which tend to reduce significantly, and profits, which tend to increase.
marketing consultancy
Marketing consultancy has been one of the most sought after in recent years.
The company that seeks this service generally has not been able to reach the desired numbers regarding the marketing of its products and/or services.
One of the main goals of the marketing consultant is to ensure that the company has visibility and a good relationship with the market.
Human Resources Consulting
In human resources consulting, the focus is on the company's employees.
The human resources consultant will analyze the staff, verifying the respective demands and the competencies that need to be developed.
This verification encompasses hiring or dismissal needs, employees' working conditions, need for training and/or courses, team performance, among others.
sales consultancy
Sales consulting ends up encompassing other consulting concepts such as marketing, economics and management.
The sales consultant's main function is to analyze the reasons that may have led a company to present a situation of reduction or lack of sales progress.
One of the generally proposed solutions for solving the problem is a change in approach together with the customer.
environmental consultancy
The environmental consultancy service is designed to analyze and study possible environmental impacts that a business project may cause on the environment.
Another of the main concerns of the environmental consultancy is compliance with norms and laws regarding policies to ensure that the company can perform its work while preserving nature local.
Hiring an environmental consultant is an investment that, in addition to ensuring the preservation of the environment in the area where the company's work will be performed, prevents the company from having its brand discredited and associated with something negative and prevents the payment of fines for legal non-compliance.
Consulting structure
Consulting firms generally provide two types of service structure.
Consulting by package
In package consulting, the consulting company presents its client with a ready-made product.
In other words, package consulting consists of already established models of methodologies and procedures that aim to achieve a certain end.
Craft consulting
Unlike package consulting, craft consulting is developed specifically for the contracting company.
It is a personalized service that takes into account the particularities and specific needs of the customer.
Hiring a Consulting Firm
Check below some points to take into account when hiring a consulting company.
Market analysis
It is important to analyze the level of service, flexibility and quality of the consultancy.
The digital universe has become a fundamental tool in this field and with that, it has become essential that consulting companies ensure the integration of work with the new business scenario, and that it makes good use of technologies to optimize the results of its client.
company location
The location of the consulting firm will only be important if the client wants a face-to-face service.
With the growth of the digital universe, hiring a company that provides services virtually, through videoconferences, for example, is always an asset.
Commitment
The consulting company must ensure compliance with the agreed deadlines and maintain communication constant with the customer, in order to establish an approach that conveys confidence in your service.
See also the meaning of advice.