When building the ultimate team of superstar staff for your consultancy, one thing will soon become clear – nobody can do everything. Well, some people can, but the likelihood of you immediately finding the candidate who can sell, write proposals, recruit, lead teams to greatness and upsell in accounts, all while smoothly juggling coffee orders is slim. 

So where do you compromise when making your first few senior hires? These individuals will build the cornerstones of your future consultancy empire, so selecting the right fit for your business is key, even if they aren’t the all-in-one super hire that you originally dreamt of. You’re looking for those who can produce viable, commercially sound proposals and deliver the work required while expanding the relationships within your accounts. With these skills present, you may need to overlook, or train for, pure business sales skills and deal closing expertise.

Finding the hunter for your consultancy pack.

The ultimate professional services Senior Manager or Director is one who can ‘hunt and eat what they kill.’ They build relevant, senior relationships, develop a profile as the go-to person in their field, and inspire confidence and trust. They're comfortable making cold introductions and asking for business, people want to buy from them and they motivate their team to deliver great work. They can probably even assemble Ikea furniture without having any arguments or bits left over.

But much like readable instructions for self-assembly furniture, these wonder employees are a rarity – with such low barriers to starting a new firm, any potential candidate that has the kind of entrepreneurial spirit you’re looking for will probably have set up shop for themselves, or will be looking for substantial equity to join your board.

The farmers who bring in the consultancy crops.

So, what kind of Senior Manager should you realistically hire? Well, to operate at this level, let's agree that everyone needs to have expertise in the field. The divide tends to come between ‘hunters’ and ‘farmers’ - those who can excel at new business, and those who nurture relationships once working for a client. These experts in ‘land and expand’ know how to walk the floors and secure further projects from their existing accounts.

The latter is where I'd concentrate my recruitment and personal development efforts. Look for those with the EQ and business sense to seek out opportunities within your existing accounts, creative enough to write problem solving proposals, and commercially minded enough to get the pricing right. They may need your help in lead generation and closing first deals with new clients, but once established, will reap a beneficial harvest. No hens or rocking horses required. 

Hiring the right people – we’ve been there.

Metis was built by a small team of entrepreneurs who have founded, grown and sold companies like yours. We know what it’s like to manage all stages - from when there are just two of you, to when you’re dealing with hundreds of people in multiple teams. Metis is the distillation of the lessons we have learned along the way. Our mission is to make businesses like yours more successful. If you’d like to hear more about how we can help, get in touch.