Managing Expectations in Consultant Partnerships

I see this happen often. CEOs and EDs seek out the counsel of multiple thought partners and consultants, all working on different things, not talking to each other. One is advising around strategy. One's advising around culture. One's advising around DEI. One's advising around change management. Another is coaching leaders. Another is aware of HR issues. And none of them talk....or even know about each other. You're potentially getting conflicting and mixed message advice, sending you and your organization all over the place. How's that helpful? It's true that your independent thought partners are not used to working as "teams" with each other; however, I've found that in the best interest of what you want to accomplish as an organization, the most effective path is to get your thought partners aligned. Here are some things I recommend, if you are going to hire multiple consultants/advisors/coaches: 1) Make sure you're clear about why you're seeking thought partners. What's the SUM of what you're looking for? What will hiring them help you accomplish? 2) Take stock of the specific expertise they bring to the table. You might not realize that your DEI consultant also advises on strategic planning, and also provides executive coaching. Your legal advisor may also have expertise in HR compliance issues. Your fund development consultant might also have extensive community engagement knowledge. What you were looking for in 5 different people might actually be best served by 1 or 2. 3) You, as the client, hold the continuous thread. Make sure that you are weaving the conversations together and connecting dots as much as possible. Rather than holding 5 separate conversations, how can you thread them together such that they're best serving your intended outcomes? I'd also say, don't hesitate to ask them to meet together with you. Sure, it's not quite standard practice to do so, but why not? We ask our internal teams to collaborate. You're the client -- ask your external thought partners to collaborate, to the extent they can, too (budget for some extra meeting time). 4) Last, though not in this order, make sure that you're clear on your values and approach to the work and that each of your thought partners are aligned. I can't tell you how frustrating (and confusing) it is to be a people-centered strategist giving advice around elevating employee voice, where the client is getting opposite advice from another consultant who says to keep information tight to the chest. Decide the philosophical approach you want for your organization and hire your consultants (just like you do your staff) accordingly. Bonus Tip: Please interview your consultants. I've been surprised how many clients rush to contract without truly interviewing a consultant they way you do your internal team members. They're going to be just as critical a thought partner to you. Make sure you're confident with who you're partnering with. In service of organizations, #peoplefirst

One of the world’s largest companies told us "We need all the digital for the CES trade show booths ready in weeks." We said no. This was a huge opportunity, and someone else said yes….AND, they failed to deliver it (it was a mission doomed to failure). The easy path is saying “yes” to every piece of work that pays. The hard path is saying “no” to everything that isn’t going to be successful. The way to “win” is finding a win for both parties. When a client comes with an "impossible" timeline, we don't immediately reject it – sometimes we are even known as people who pull off the impossible. We can do this because we transform these situations into a collaborative problem-solving exercise: "If that date is your constraint, then let's adjust what we deliver and how we work together." This solution-finding approach has become our superpower. We move multiple levers simultaneously — scope, process, team structure, and feedback cycles — until we find a configuration that works. Sometimes, that means delivering 5 pages instead of 20, in time for the event, with a clear path to complete the rest quickly. Sometimes, it means restructuring the team to have fewer people with less hurdles dedicated 100% to the project. The magic happens when we treat clients as partners in solving the problem, not just buyers of services. We empower them with choices rather than ultimatums. This isn't just about managing expectations — it's about creating a partnership where both sides are invested in finding the best possible solution within the constraints.

One of my favorite things is having conversations with partner leaders and understanding how they're approaching their partnership strategies. I caught up the other week with Aleksi Mattlar at Pigment and I appreciated the "brutal honesty" approach that he takes with partners. He emphasized the importance of being upfront with partners about expectations, benefits, and required commitments, and explained that he clearly communicates the expectations from the outset and at every stage of the partnership process. If partners do not meet these expectations, he does not advance the partnership. He also described his approach to managing partners who are not providing adequate returns. He mentioned telling partners that they need to invest where they are also getting returns, indicating that he would communicate directly if the partnership was not beneficial. If there isn't immediate alignment, there isn't further investment in the partnership. And his partners are required to stay aligned to continue to get the benefits from Pigment. When it comes to the all-important executive alignment, Aleksi expressed his belief in under-promising and over-delivering He finds more alignment when he ensures that there is always “wiggle room” by not promising too much too quickly. This conservative and realistic approach to managing leadership expectations and partnership outcomes was a part of his brutally honest approach. Clear expectations, and open communication are critical to successful partner strategy. Aleksi is nailing it.

Everyone thinks we’re search consultants. We are. But that’s not really the job. One client had been through four agencies in nine years. They wanted help finding the fifth. We paused. Before launching another search, we asked why it kept going wrong. Was it just bad luck? Or was something deeper getting in the way? We started listening. Watching how decisions got made. How teams worked together. How feedback moved through the system, or didn’t. The real issue wasn’t the agencies. It was the structure. The workflow. The lack of communication. There was no collaboration between their external agencies and their in-house teams. The client tried to manage each agency with a different internal lead. Everyone was working, but not together. And they didn’t fully understand the range of capabilities an agency brings. Or how agencies create value across strategy, ideas, execution, and beyond. What they kept asking for was a campaign. Over and over. Often without giving the agency the inputs or access they needed to do the work well. That’s not partnership. That’s outsourcing. So we worked with them to define what good could look like. We helped them realign. Get clear on roles. On expectations. On how to show up as a better client. We helped the ecosystem work together, not just in parallel. And we asked them to look more closely at their agencies’ businesses too. Most marketers expect agencies to understand THEIR business. How they make money. What matters to the bottom line. But very few marketers understand how agencies work. How they’re built. What affects their economics. What great creative actually costs. Or how fragile the margins can be when scopes shift or timelines break. Clients create value too. But that part rarely gets talked about. If more marketers understood their role in the full picture, they’d get better work. Stronger thinking. Real partnership. That’s the job. Clearer expectations. Smarter decisions. Better collaboration across the ecosystem to power performance. Sometimes it ends in a search. Sometimes it doesn’t. That’s what we do. #marketing #advertising #leadership #strategy #newbusiness #partnerships #agencylife HARMONIUM

Many freelance consultants fail to deliver the value they’ve promised. Often, the reason for this has very little to do with the consultant’s skill as a marketer, salesperson, product manager, or similar. I spend a lot of time helping founders grow their companies. Most often, I’m helping a technical founder figure out what they need to prioritize - outside of their product and engineering work - now that they have an MVP ready to sell. As we dig in, there are usually a bunch of things that I can help with (this is where my experience as an operator comes in), and a handful of things that others would better manage. For example, I’m not the best person to design marketing collateral for conferences, build your RevOps tech stack from scratch, and/or refresh your website copy. To use a common VC term, I don’t “spike” in these areas. When founders have these needs, I help them engage other consultants. In such a situation, I’ll often serve as a fractional COS/COO, sitting in on early calls with my founder and a contractor to ensure that everyone is aligned on deliverables, timelines, etc.     I’ve learned a lot from being on these calls, and have a few suggestions for how to make sure that any consulting work that you solicit (as a founder) or offer (as a consultant) leaves everyone satisfied: 🎯 Whether you’re a founder or a consultant, make sure there’s clarity on roles and expected deliverables. Discuss whether the work at issue requires an advisor or an operator. If you aren’t on the same page, you’re likely to see suboptimal results with at least one disappointed party. 🎯 If you’re the consultant, be ready to project manage whatever you’ve been hired to deliver. Unless otherwise stated, assume that your client wants you to take work off their plate. They’ve hired you because of your unique skillset, and/or because you have more time than they do. 🎯 If you’re the founder, ask for clarity on timelines from the start, and discuss expectations around response times. Make sure those expectations are reasonable: there are so many benefits that come with bringing on part-time, temporary resources, but 24/7 availability is not generally one of them. 🎯 If you’re a “connector” - someone who introduces consultants to founder - be judicious about your intros. Your reputation, and the trust you’ve established with your client, are on the line when you vouch for someone. My go-to referrals are people I have worked with in the past, and seen deliver great work, on-time and on-budget. Founders, what am I missing? Consultants, what would you add?

A client ended our partnership without warning—via email. This experience taught me something critical: Clear communication and aligned expectations can make or break a relationship. Here’s what happened: - They hired us to fix their website issues. - We started with an in-depth audit, uncovering significant problems and presenting a realistic timeline of 4+ months to resolve them. - What I didn’t know was their internal culture of firing vendors and employees within 90 days if results didn’t meet their standards—no matter the complexity of the work. By the 90-day mark, they terminated the partnership and decided on a full website redesign. Ironically, that was our initial recommendation, but it was rejected at the start. This situation left me with key takeaways for people managing vendor relationships: - Be transparent about your expectations. If a tight timeline is non-negotiable, say so upfront. Vendors need this clarity to assess fit and deliver effectively. - Communicate your company culture. If your organization operates on strict performance deadlines, make it clear during the hiring process. Misalignment wastes time and resources. - Focus on long-term partnerships. Short-term decisions can burn bridges, damage relationships, and hurt morale. This impacts not only your vendors but also your internal teams. In marketing, relationships are just as important as results. Miscommunication doesn’t just impact your projects—it can affect careers, vendor trust, and the ability to deliver meaningful outcomes. Let’s work toward greater transparency and collaboration.

The fastest way to ruin a partnership? Vague expectations. I’ve seen it too many times… You start with enthusiasm. Different skill sets. Shared vision. But if you don’t clearly define who’s doing what? 👎 It turns into finger-pointing: “You’re not pulling your weight.” What’s missing is active expectation management. Here’s what I’ve learned from building software (like SKOOP) and working through multiple partnerships: 🔹 Expectations must be written down 🔹 Everyone needs skin in the game 🔹 Passive agreements = failed projects 🔹 Consequences must be clear from the start If you’re afraid of defining repercussions, you’re not ready for real collaboration. 💡 A good partnership agreement shouldn’t just be about trust—it should activate accountability. Don’t just sign contracts. Create clarity. Demand ownership. And watch the results compound. #leadership #founderlessons #partnerships

If I had to sum up our most successful client partnerships in one word: Expectations. I’ve become ruthlessly realistic about this during onboarding. For instance, we recently partnered with a brand starting from scratch in their DTC channel, but with a large budget. From day one, we set a conservative 4-month plan with clear expectations. Little hack: Set conservative deadlines. If it takes our team 2 weeks, I tell clients 1 month. Why? 1. It builds buffer time for unexpected delays. 2. 95% of the time, we deliver early and exceed expectations. A year ago, I focused on speed with our “6-Week Sprint” offer, but I’ve learned that my ideal clients value sustainable, long-term strategies over speed. If someone comes to me with unrealistic expectations, that’s the first thing we address.

I was doing partnerships all wrong and losing money. Here are 5 changes I made that have generated 3x returns: 1. Collaborative ownership Each side needs to know what parts of the process they own and what parts they don’t. Take care of the things you own, and trust your partners to handle their part. If expectations are clear this is 100x better than micromanaging each other. 2. Extremely specific roles and responsibilities There shouldn’t be any questions about who is responsible for what. Or when. Proper division of roles will allow each part of the team to take full responsibility. 3. Big picture accountability check-ins These should be separate from your normal reporting calls. Do them 1x/month to start and then 1x/quarter. 4. Positivity, growth mindset, and leadership on both sides The client and the the agency want this to work out. But it is easy to wait for the other team to take on a leadership role. For it to really work out both sides need to continuously be looking for ways to improve the partnership. 5. Look for improvement, not perfection. Don’t avoid hard conversations and structural changes Issues don’t fix themselves. And the longer you let them go, the harder it is to fix them down the road. Have hard conversations and make changes early on. What else is make or break for a strong partnership? Let me know 👇