Contract Work Responsibilities/Roles
by Stephen Zepp · in Jobs · 06/06/2004 (3:36 pm) · 2 replies
First, this post may come off as arrogant or offensive to some members, and for that, I do apologize, but reality is what it is...
Some background on me, professionally:
Independent Contractor (Healthcare IT): 5 years
IT Consultant (General): 7 years
Overview
As an Independent Consultant/Service Provider, you will be perpetually looking for work. Even if this concept doesn't apply to you specifically for whatever reason, it applies to the market in general: An organization that is looking for a consultant has a plethora of choices to select from, and in most cases is the "driver" in contract negotiations.
A contract based organization (defined as an individual, group, or company that provides a short-term product) that provides consultation/contract services is just about never in the "demand" position: they must be willing to recognize, adapt to, and adjust their services to meet the contract provider requirements. In general, you must "sell" your services, because the contract provider has many options to choose from. There exists rare circumstances where a contractor can be a "sole provider" of a particular service, but this doesn't happen very often, and is definitely not a position to aim for unless you have a completely unavailable (in the general community) capability to offer.
Contract Recognition
It is commonly accepted in the contractor community that the contract provider will advertise a need, and the contract prospect community will try to "buy" that need by providing a proposal. Again, it is the contract provider (you) that has the requirement to "grab the attention" of the contract provider--remember, they have an assumed large pool to choose contractors from--you need to make them think about you in their selection process. You may not know for sure if you can provide everything required in the advertisement, but it is your responsibility to make the contractor think about you for the next selection period.
Contract RFP (Request For Proposal) Period
Contract Providers cannot directly contact everyone that may be able to meet their requirements. In addition, contract providers may not know exactly what they need to accomplish their project at this stage, but they know what they want. Again, it is the consultant's responsibility (if they want the contract) to provide to the contractor a proposal that meets the needs expressed in the "Request For Proposal", and at the same time identify and explain why you "are the best for their needs".
(To Be Continued)
Some background on me, professionally:
Independent Contractor (Healthcare IT): 5 years
IT Consultant (General): 7 years
Overview
As an Independent Consultant/Service Provider, you will be perpetually looking for work. Even if this concept doesn't apply to you specifically for whatever reason, it applies to the market in general: An organization that is looking for a consultant has a plethora of choices to select from, and in most cases is the "driver" in contract negotiations.
A contract based organization (defined as an individual, group, or company that provides a short-term product) that provides consultation/contract services is just about never in the "demand" position: they must be willing to recognize, adapt to, and adjust their services to meet the contract provider requirements. In general, you must "sell" your services, because the contract provider has many options to choose from. There exists rare circumstances where a contractor can be a "sole provider" of a particular service, but this doesn't happen very often, and is definitely not a position to aim for unless you have a completely unavailable (in the general community) capability to offer.
Contract Recognition
It is commonly accepted in the contractor community that the contract provider will advertise a need, and the contract prospect community will try to "buy" that need by providing a proposal. Again, it is the contract provider (you) that has the requirement to "grab the attention" of the contract provider--remember, they have an assumed large pool to choose contractors from--you need to make them think about you in their selection process. You may not know for sure if you can provide everything required in the advertisement, but it is your responsibility to make the contractor think about you for the next selection period.
Contract RFP (Request For Proposal) Period
Contract Providers cannot directly contact everyone that may be able to meet their requirements. In addition, contract providers may not know exactly what they need to accomplish their project at this stage, but they know what they want. Again, it is the consultant's responsibility (if they want the contract) to provide to the contractor a proposal that meets the needs expressed in the "Request For Proposal", and at the same time identify and explain why you "are the best for their needs".
(To Be Continued)
#2
This is a critically over-looked, but just as critically important phase of any contract: mutual "back-scratching". If a Consultant (single, organization, company) does acceptably, or especially, well, on a project....make sure the general community knows about it. Consultants work very hard for the money they earn, and as a Provider, you want a good consultant pool available for future projects--therefore, you need to make sure that your past consultants (that you are happy with) do well. Spend the time to praise them if appropriate in an open forum, so the rest of the community knows they are good. Yes, it may mean that said Consultant will cost you a little bit more money in the future, but hey, you already know they are good--factor it in early in your budget and it will work out.
On the opposite side, Consultants should recognize and praise Providers they have worked for--again, it's a small community, and you are doing the Consultant Community a favor (and therefore, yourself in the long run) by identifying good Providers for the community to work with.
Summary
There has been a lot of talk in this community about how the Industry will progress, and I personally think that Consultants (singular, group, company) will have a very important role in the near, and far, future.
Based on the very nature of many "Indy" Development Groups, consultancy may be either a quagmire, or an extremely (and mutually) profitable relationship, and I hope that my observations at least start a bit of community perspective...
It is (as hopefully is obvious) critically important that each consultant weigh the amount of effort in "sales closure costs (the RFP/Proposal Negotiation Process)" vs total revenue to make sure a speficic contract meets your immediate and future business needs.
06/06/2004 (4:14 pm)
Contract Follow-UpThis is a critically over-looked, but just as critically important phase of any contract: mutual "back-scratching". If a Consultant (single, organization, company) does acceptably, or especially, well, on a project....make sure the general community knows about it. Consultants work very hard for the money they earn, and as a Provider, you want a good consultant pool available for future projects--therefore, you need to make sure that your past consultants (that you are happy with) do well. Spend the time to praise them if appropriate in an open forum, so the rest of the community knows they are good. Yes, it may mean that said Consultant will cost you a little bit more money in the future, but hey, you already know they are good--factor it in early in your budget and it will work out.
On the opposite side, Consultants should recognize and praise Providers they have worked for--again, it's a small community, and you are doing the Consultant Community a favor (and therefore, yourself in the long run) by identifying good Providers for the community to work with.
Summary
There has been a lot of talk in this community about how the Industry will progress, and I personally think that Consultants (singular, group, company) will have a very important role in the near, and far, future.
Based on the very nature of many "Indy" Development Groups, consultancy may be either a quagmire, or an extremely (and mutually) profitable relationship, and I hope that my observations at least start a bit of community perspective...
It is (as hopefully is obvious) critically important that each consultant weigh the amount of effort in "sales closure costs (the RFP/Proposal Negotiation Process)" vs total revenue to make sure a speficic contract meets your immediate and future business needs.
Torque 3D Owner Stephen Zepp
This stage can be very important, because you will run into "complete providers" that know exactly what they want,and therefore do not want improvements to the project, and you will also run into "general providers" who know the general nature of what they want, but will accept improvements/other areas of performance. Figuring out which is which is a fundamental "job" of a good consultant--you want to attract the first, but at the same time not "overbid" the second.
In general, once you have received the RFP, you need to make sure you fully understand what the provider really wants (as opposed to what they said they want in the RFP), and figure out a solution that meets their needs, budget, and comfort level--all the while, making sure they know that you can meet their requirements.
RFP Enhancement Period
As a contractor, you know more about what the provider wants than they do--it's the nature of the situation (in general). Commonly, even a well thought out RFP (from the provider's perspective) will need further refinement, and as a Contractor, you should provide that enhancement (when appropriate), while continuing to sell "you" as the best resource to meet what they really want. This can be the most difficult part of a contract, but "good" consultants explain well to the provider why they can not only meet what the client thinks they need, but can also meet what the client doesn't even recognize (yet).
Contract Approval Period
This period separates the "excellent salesmen" from the "I do ok" ones. It's (relatively) easy to convince a Contract Provider that they could do this, but it can be damned difficult to convince that Provider that they should do this--and even more importantly, that they can afford to do this. Always keep in mind here how much you (may) want this contract, and sell it appropriately. Don't sell the Provider a Grand Unified Theory of Universal Physics, when all they need is a 2-body gravitational model....only the dumbest (and therefore, least able to pay) is going to buy it...