Providing Education for Clients as a Consultant

I believe it is often forgotten that as consultants, our primary role is customer satisfaction.  This is difficult if the client assumes you are an unnecessary expense. This may be a common thought from our clients because they have not been educated in the business we do. 

It is our duty to educate our clients on the situation they are in and the repercussion of their decisions including a do nothing option. In the long run, we are there to provide consultation that will save them money and/or allow them to continue their operations on the site.

In addition, we are often compared by price. I understand why, however, I don't think is the optimal method of comparing consultants.  In life, we don't pick the cheapest items because we know the quality we will get. The same idea should be applied for consultants. 

The client can be educated that by paying a fair price they will get a service that benefits them with minimal headaches because their problems now rest with us. As a consultant, our role is to provide a painless service that will accommodate the exact solution they require at a lump sum they have agreed to upfront. 

There have been many incidents when clients come back and inform that while they used a cheaper consultant at first that either the extras have been horrendous or the work was not sufficient to meet their needs. That would then increase their costs significantly, not to mention headache, loss of time and potentially loss of profits from their operation. 

I believe the best approach is to educate the clients with upfront actual costs, maybe even promise them that if the project were to exceed by 10% that they will not be charged for it. Then educate the client the foreseeable costs, even if it means losing the client.  This has been an ethical barrier and I find that sleeping well at night much easier if I inform the client of everything that is to come.  There is nothing worse than dealing with an angry client who thinks you didn't tell him the whole truth to make an extra buck.  That just loses their trust and honestly you would feel awful.