Harshberger

What’s the difference between a business coach and a consultant?

I get asked this question often as many people use the terms interchangeably. The difference is relatively simple:

A consultant is hired to study a process or specific issue within the company, such as cycle time reduction or cash flow. A consultant conducts interviews with appropriate staff and learns how the process is currently being completed. They then look at expected outcomes, compare it to current performance and develop recommendations for improvement.

A business coach on the other hand doesn’t necessarily need to become a subject matter expert to effectively help the business. He or she believes that the company management knows more about their business that the consultant will be able to learn in a short amount of time. The business coach facilitates a process that brings the management team together to solve the problem or issue.

Which way is better? Well, it depends on your company’s need. A consultant is better if the problem is new to the business and the expertise, skills and experience to solve the issue don’t exist within the leadership team. In this case, the consultant will need to take the time to study the market, industry and product. This could take a lot of time. And, while you’re paying for the consultant to get up to speed, the value they bring is that once they have a full understanding of your organization and the marketplace, they’ll be able to apply their business expertise to the problem and provide you with a solution you could not develop using internal resources.

A business coach is the better choice if you need someone to use proven tools and processes to facilitate the outcome by leveraging your internal expertise to generate potential solutions. An experienced business coach will use his or her knowledge gained from other markets or industries to lead you toward new and different ways of looking at your business. This is usually much faster and less expensive than the consultancy option. In addition, the solution to the problem or the development of the strategic plan is yours. You’ve helped author it with outside help, and therefore have ownership of it.

Many professionals such as myself serve as both a coach and a consultant, depending upon the issue at hand. If the business doesn’t have the internal knowledge or skills, then we will work to help them develop it. Upon completion, we work to facilitate ownership of the solution to insure better execution.

For strategic planning, diversification, improving bottom line profits and such, I take a coaching role. I leverage internal knowledge and provide my experience and tools to help clients gain a fresh perspective of their business and to develop custom solutions for their organization.

Above all, it is imperative to select a coach or consultant with care. It’s relatively easy to get business cards printed and label oneself in these roles. The key to proper selection is to seek out a professional with a proven background and solid track record.

Martin Harshberger is the founder and president of Measurable Results LLC and author of “Bottom Line Focus.” For more information, call 662-844-9088, email martin@bottomlinecoach.com or visit www.bottomlinecoach.com.