Amazing Classic
In France, consulting is attracting more and more freelancers. INSEE, according to a statistical survey carried out in 2021, indicates that nearly 100,000 consultants are counted on the national territory. The latter exercise their self-employed activity as their main activity. Being a consultant requires a few basic qualities to carry out the work assignments entrusted by the clients. So what are the soft skills to embody to get started in consulting? What do clients expect from an independent consultant? Overview.
Being an independent consultant by desire
The desire to undertake must be the very driving force of an independent consultant. Indeed, by starting on his own or with the help of a wage portage company, he carries out his work missions in total autonomy on behalf of his clients.
Malt carried out a study in 2019, focusing on the primary motivations of independent consultants. The results are clear: 90% of respondents chose to become consultants by desire and not by constraint. Moreover, 89% of them have experienced wage labor and 88% do not wish to return to this status in any way.
It is therefore a real incarnation and a deep desire to feel free at work. And it is all the more accessible and appreciated nowadays, with the operation of wage portage which gives the self-employed the advantages of employees while working on their own.
The sense of listening
Being an independent consultant means knowing how to listen to the needs and imperatives of clients. The sense of listening is essential. The human qualities of a freelancer must come to the fore for various reasons. Consulting jobs are based on personalized support and therefore essentially on people. Listening to your client means giving yourself every chance to identify your issuesto soak up the very essence of its core business in order to be able to offer it an appropriate, tailor-made and authentic strategy.
The rigor of the organization
The independent consultant may be required to work for multiple clients at once. It is in this in particular that he must demonstrate rigor and a very thorough sense of organization. The freelancer must be able to move from one mission to another with efficiency and above all responsiveness. He must carry out all of his actions over a given time, respecting the constraints of its customers but also its own !
This organization is crucial, especially since his service is priced according to the estimated working time he thinks to allocate to the mission. Without organization, the self-employed person risks spending more time than necessary on his contracts, and therefore losing money..
Also, the consultant must be rigorous. This job requires expertise and very detailed knowledge of your job. This is what often justifies higher prices, which therefore requires unfailing professionalism.
“This is why wage portage companies are real helpers for independent consultants who can focus on high value-added tasks while we take care of all the administrative work. For their personal organization, it is a real asset and saves time. reveals one of the managers of Cegelem.
The sense of analysis
the consulting requires a strong sense of analysis. This is the very heart of this profession. A client company will call on an independent or wage portage consultant to analyze its activity. Thus, the professional must be able to define the strengths and weaknesses of the client company, set up a complete strategy, analyze the first results, readjust according to them. The consultant is able to make assumptions, forecasts, etc. This sense of analysis is an integral part of his professional skills. This is what companies expect need an expert, with his expert eyeto develop their business.
Good communication
The independent consultant is required to communicate with his client companies, but also the teams, the partners. This communication must be carried out perfectly, with diplomacy and respect.
The consultant must therefore continually adapt to his interlocutor to sustain working relationships and facilitate exchanges. This strength may seem obvious, but not everyone is necessarily a good communicator. To be, the consultant is perfectly aware of his qualities and his faults, of the way he likes to work, to ingest information to gain in performance. He is a professional who is pedagogical, alert, available, polite, in benevolence. He must not impose himself as the savior of companies but as a quality guide, who has a deep desire to help a service to develop.
To be successful, a consultant must above all embody strong human values. Its business is based on continuous support for companies, advice, knowledge sharing and the transmission of know-how. These qualities consolidate the consultant’s professional skills. These human values will also make the difference to client companies who will prefer to call on an accessible, attentive and caring expert.
To find out more about the FEPS wage portage union: https://syndicatportagesalarial.fr/
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