March 31, 2025 • 16 mins
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Why does brilliance sometimes fail to sell? In this thought-provoking exploration of "The Expert's Dilemma," we unpack the frustrating reality that many consultants face: despite impressive credentials, extensive experience, and exceptional expertise, they struggle to attract premium clients willing to pay what they're worth.
The problem isn't your capabilities. It's how the market perceives your value. While many consultants respond by doubling down on visibility (more social media, networking events, and marketing), this approach misses the fundamental issue. Visibility alone doesn't convert prospects who see you as just another vendor offering similar services to everyone else.
Ready to stop being the best-kept secret in your industry? Tune in, and I will show you how. Your expertise deserves recognition. Let's make sure it gets it.
***Subscribe and share this episode to inspire others to join this supportive and transformative conversation.***
For more information, visit https://excelatconsulting.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Black Girls Consult 2
podcast.
I'm your host, dr AngelinaDavis, and this episode is a
little bit different because itis the audio version of the
video podcast that we are nowlaunching on YouTube.
It is a growth process, so Iwant you to bear with me as we
figure out all the kinks and tryto figure out the best way to
(00:21):
bring this content to you so youcan have the full experience.
This is a expansion period andwe're going to test it out, see
how it goes.
But, with that being said,don't worry, because the audio
version will always be here.
And with that being said, let'sget started.
Today we're going to talk aboutwhy a lot of consultants
(00:44):
struggle to land premium clients.
Not only why we struggle, butalso how we fix it.
This often comes up becausemany times, we find that our
brilliance is not selling, it'snot moving the needle, it's not
gaining traction in ourmarketplace and because of that,
it can be rather defeating andsometimes feel almost
(01:05):
embarrassing, because we'rethinking we have been through
the fire right, we have hadestablished and very successful
careers, we have lived through anumber of different experiences
, we have the knowledge, we havethe degrees, but, for whatever
reason.
We're watching so many otherpeople that don't have all of
(01:25):
those things seemingly win, soit can be frustrating to even
think about going through this,but most of us, including myself
, have actually been there, andone of the reasons why
brilliance doesn't sell isbecause most people really don't
know what you do.
They don't know the value youbring, and so you really can't
(01:48):
blame people for not wanting toinvest in something they're not
familiar with.
When we are stuck in thissituation, we find ourselves
chasing leads justifying ourfees every time we turn around,
and then, like I said before,we're being compared to less
experienced consultants, andwhen you look at it, it's not
(02:10):
our expertise, it's not ourknowledge that's the problem, or
our capabilities.
It is honestly how we havepositioned ourselves and the
fact that we have notcommunicated what we do
effectively to the right people.
So a lot of what we're going totalk about today centers around
how we navigate what I like tocall the expert's dilemma.
(02:34):
Now, the expert's dilemma is thefact that you're great at what
you do, but the hard truth thatit doesn't guarantee the
recognition and demand youdeserve.
That is our dilemma.
People are not going to hireyou just because you went to a
certain school or you have aparticular certification, or
(02:55):
you're someone that says thatthey are the best in the
industry.
They're going to hire youbecause they believe in what you
do and they see you as beingsomeone different, not just
another option.
When you are someone that isseen as a commodity, well, look,
people are going to price shop.
They're going to shop aroundtrying to figure out who can do
(03:17):
the work for the cheapest.
That's just the reality, andoftentimes that leaves us as the
person passed over, because youknow that you deserve to
command premium pricing and theappropriate value for the work
that you do.
So the core problem really isnot the fact that you're not
(03:37):
equipped to do the job, it's notyour expertise.
It's, honestly, the market'sperception of what you can do,
and so it's their perceptionthat we actually have to begin
to influence.
Now, what many people think isthat, in order to influence the
market, we need to be morevisible.
We need to show up in all ofthe spaces.
We need to be on LinkedIn andInstagram and we need to be
(04:01):
speaking on stages and we needto be on podcasts.
We need to just show upeverywhere.
So the more that people see us,the more that they are going to
know that we can actually servethem.
And while there is some truthto you being visible, visibility
always helps as part ofmarketing, it does not fix this
(04:22):
problem, because being visiblejust lets somebody know that you
have a service that's available, that you're somebody that has
a business, but it doesn't helpyou land the client.
And so the posting more, thenetworking more, the marketing
more that's not the answer.
We have to start thinking aboutthis differently, because
(04:43):
visibility is not the same asyou being able to effectively
position yourself.
Decision makers, when they goto hire you for a service, as a
consultant, they need to knowthat they are hiring you to do
something that is different,that's of a higher level, and
you don't want to be seen assomeone who is just an average
(05:06):
vendor.
And if your messaging doesn'tconvey that difference, then
they're not going to know andit's not going to convert.
So marketing and being morevisible is part of the game, but
it's not the answer.
It's not the solution.
What we have to actually do isstart to help our expertise to
(05:26):
make sense.
It needs to make sense to theperson who has no idea what we
do.
They don't know all of theyears and the decades that went
into building the knowledge thatyou have and, in all honesty,
the better you are at your job,the better you are at the work
that you do.
You're going to do it faster.
That's actually part of thevalue that you offer.
(05:53):
But when we're used to alwaysfocusing on the task and time
and these other measures ofperformance, it's hard for
people to see the value becauseyou're making it a little easy.
It should be easier for youbecause you're the expert, but
they have to understand why it'seasy, how you have spent so
much time and dedicated so muchinto the ability to make it easy
(06:16):
, and that's what they'reinvesting in.
So we have to begin to shifthow they see us and move from
being seen as a vendor, someonethat's providing a service to an
actual partner, someone thatthey are going to collaborate
with, and when they begin to seeyou that way, it becomes more
of an investment, not justsomething that they can delegate
(06:38):
.
Now we have to accept someresponsibility for this right,
because part of what causes thisproblem is the fact that we
often talk about what we'regoing to do.
We're running through servicesand tasks and deliverables.
And we do that because manytimes being able to communicate
and sell our expertise seemsvery difficult because it's
(06:59):
intangible, it's something thatyou can't really touch or feel,
it's not like a product, and weget stuck in trying to
communicate how that's valuable.
So we rely on the things thatpeople are most familiar with.
They're familiar with receivingsome type of document or an
audit or something that they canactually hold.
(07:20):
We're used to doing that.
It's what makes sense to mostpeople.
But the challenge in that andthe dilemma is that when we're
communicating always based uponthese tasks and these things
that we're doing and thedeliverables that's how they're
going to see us they're notthinking about the value we
provide based upon our thinking,the way that we're thinking
(07:42):
through the process, how we'recoming up with the strategy, the
fact that what we are able toshare is the most valuable.
They're not considering thosethings because we haven't talked
about them, we haven't made ita priority, and so if we haven't
made it a priority, how can weexpect them to understand the
value of our expertise and ourbrilliance?
(08:06):
It's difficult for them toactually do that.
So you may think that this isvery benign.
Maybe it's costing a client ortwo here and there, but it's
really not.
There is a huge hidden costassociated with this.
The fact that you are underpositioning yourself means that
you're going to attract clientsthat are lower tier clients or
(08:30):
misaligned clients, not the onesthat you truly want to work
with.
You're going to spend so muchtime trying to explain what you
do that's going to eat away atyour capacity to do more work to
serve more.
You're going to spend so muchtime just trying to land a sale
that is going to lead to thesesale cycles being longer.
That means it takes more timefor money to come in the door.
(08:52):
You want to be able to do thesethings more effectively so you
can close deals faster, so youcan command higher fees from
better clients and get invitedinto those rooms where even more
lucrative opportunities lie.
So that is what's really thething that you're losing.
That's the cost, all of thosethings that are hidden, and
(09:15):
that's huge while we're tryingto build a profitable business
that is sustainable over time.
Now it makes sense that we havefallen into this dilemma,
because the old way of doingthis is to compete based upon
credentials.
Back in the day, if you were aconsultant, you have been in
(09:38):
practice for a long time.
You typically may have beenclose to retirement.
You had decrees andcertifications and everything
under your name, and people knewwho you were, and so it was
rather easy to build credibilitythat way, because you relied on
what you had accomplished overtime and because people have not
(09:59):
accomplished all of that andthey weren't able to effectively
show and build thoserelationships, then, hey, it
wasn't as competitive.
But the market and thelandscape has completely changed
.
Marketing plays more of afactor now and people are able
to build credibility indifferent ways.
So now you can't rely on justyour degrees and credentials to
(10:23):
get you the business.
Also, we're now used to thinkingabout things based upon value,
and especially in terms of largeinvestments, corporations and
companies and businesses theycan easily figure out whether or
not they are getting a returnon their investment.
They can do those things thatare necessary to figure out
(10:43):
whether or not you are worth theinvestment in the cost.
So we have to do a better jobof being able to explain that up
front.
This comes from owning yourdistinct point of view.
That's the newer way of beingable to get people to recognize
your value.
You first have to stand out,you have to show that you are
different, and you can do thatby showing how you think
(11:05):
differently, how your strategyis different, how you have a
different philosophy about howto approach things in your
industry.
Those are the things thatpeople are going to value, and
then clients come to youpre-sold.
They don't have to have theselong sales cycles and
conversations, because theyalready know where you're coming
(11:28):
from.
They understand who you are,they know what you've done in
the past.
You've talked about yourapproach to the work.
You have laid out yourphilosophy and your perspective
and your way of thinking.
They understand you and theyknow what you do, and that works
for you.
It is literally an authorityasset.
(11:50):
You have things out there inthe marketplace, online that
they can actually tap into andlearn more about you on their
own time.
Most decision makers, they'regoing to do their research first
.
They're going to go online andthey're going to Google you.
They're going to look onLinkedIn, they're going to look
in all these different places tofigure out whether or not you
(12:12):
offer the help that they need,and you have to show that you
have to be able to speak to thatin a way that is different than
just task and to-do items thatthey can delegate out to
somebody else.
They have to see you as beingan authority.
So that's the shift we have tomake.
We have to shift from expert toauthority and that's the shift
(12:34):
in our mindset, in our beliefs.
We have to change the way thatwe think about this process, the
way that we think aboutbecoming an authority in our
space, and then we have tocommunicate that.
That's the part of messagingthat has to change and our
behaviors have to change.
So we're not focused on justbeing visible and being louder
(12:56):
or having the best contentonline.
That's not the focus.
That's not our goal.
Our goal is to share how wethink, to allow them to actually
feel the impact of ourexpertise ahead of time.
That helps to humanize it a bit.
People begin to understand whatyou do because it begins to
(13:17):
change their lives.
It changes their business whenthey take your insights that you
shared and they implement it.
That's what is actually goingto drive yourselves.
That's what's going to lead youto claim the title of go-to
expert or authority in yourspace.
You want to be seen as astrategic asset so that
(13:41):
everything else changes.
The sales cycle shortened,clients come to you and you
literally stop chasing clientsand being frustrated by the fact
that other people, seemingly,are winning out and you aren't.
That will be a thing of thepast.
And so this is just to let youknow that it's not your
(14:02):
expertise that needs to change.
It's not a pivot in what you do.
That needs to occur in mostcases, it is honestly just
understanding your value and howto better articulate that so
that it makes sense to theeveryday person.
Because the person who ishiring you to do the consulting
(14:23):
services they're not hiring youfor consulting, they're hiring
you to solve a problem and youhave to help them understand why
you are the best person to helpthem get to their next step, to
solve that problem, to achievetheir goal.
And when you do thateffectively, that's what
actually changed the game.
(14:44):
This aspect of messaging andpositioning is all fixable.
It's not hard.
It's just a matter of shiftingthe way that we're thinking
about this process and stopfocusing so much on the
marketing aspect in terms oftactics, but think about how we
are actually sharing our thoughtleadership, our thoughts, our
(15:05):
philosophies, our perspectivesmore openly.
That makes the difference inthe consulting world.
So if you're finding that youfeel undervalued, underpaid and
like you're the best kept secret.
This is the change that youhave to make.
All right guys, I hope thisopened up a new way of thinking
(15:30):
about how you're showing up inour industry.
Let me know.
Drop your comments below.
Also, make sure that yousubscribe to this YouTube
channel for more and moreepisodes.
I promise that if you make thisshift, it's going to change
everything in your business,because you deserve to be the
authority, the leading authority, in your space, and once you
(15:51):
communicate that, it's going tobe easy for you to do.
All right guys, take care.
Hello and welcome to the Black Girls Consult 2
podcast.
I'm your host, dr AngelinaDavis, and this episode is a
little bit different because itis the audio version of the
video podcast that we are nowlaunching on YouTube.
It is a growth process, so Iwant you to bear with me as we
figure out all the kinks and tryto figure out the best way to
(00:21):
bring this content to you so youcan have the full experience.
This is a expansion period andwe're going to test it out, see
how it goes.
But, with that being said,don't worry, because the audio
version will always be here.
And with that being said, let'sget started.
Today we're going to talk aboutwhy a lot of consultants
(00:44):
struggle to land premium clients.
Not only why we struggle, butalso how we fix it.
This often comes up becausemany times, we find that our
brilliance is not selling, it'snot moving the needle, it's not
gaining traction in ourmarketplace and because of that,
it can be rather defeating andsometimes feel almost
(01:05):
embarrassing, because we'rethinking we have been through
the fire right, we have hadestablished and very successful
careers, we have lived through anumber of different experiences
, we have the knowledge, we havethe degrees, but, for whatever
reason.
We're watching so many otherpeople that don't have all of
(01:25):
those things seemingly win, soit can be frustrating to even
think about going through this,but most of us, including myself
, have actually been there, andone of the reasons why
brilliance doesn't sell isbecause most people really don't
know what you do.
They don't know the value youbring, and so you really can't
(01:48):
blame people for not wanting toinvest in something they're not
familiar with.
When we are stuck in thissituation, we find ourselves
chasing leads justifying ourfees every time we turn around,
and then, like I said before,we're being compared to less
experienced consultants, andwhen you look at it, it's not
(02:10):
our expertise, it's not ourknowledge that's the problem, or
our capabilities.
It is honestly how we havepositioned ourselves and the
fact that we have notcommunicated what we do
effectively to the right people.
So a lot of what we're going totalk about today centers around
how we navigate what I like tocall the expert's dilemma.
(02:34):
Now, the expert's dilemma is thefact that you're great at what
you do, but the hard truth thatit doesn't guarantee the
recognition and demand youdeserve.
That is our dilemma.
People are not going to hireyou just because you went to a
certain school or you have aparticular certification, or
(02:55):
you're someone that says thatthey are the best in the
industry.
They're going to hire youbecause they believe in what you
do and they see you as beingsomeone different, not just
another option.
When you are someone that isseen as a commodity, well, look,
people are going to price shop.
They're going to shop aroundtrying to figure out who can do
(03:17):
the work for the cheapest.
That's just the reality, andoftentimes that leaves us as the
person passed over, because youknow that you deserve to
command premium pricing and theappropriate value for the work
that you do.
So the core problem really isnot the fact that you're not
(03:37):
equipped to do the job, it's notyour expertise.
It's, honestly, the market'sperception of what you can do,
and so it's their perceptionthat we actually have to begin
to influence.
Now, what many people think isthat, in order to influence the
market, we need to be morevisible.
We need to show up in all ofthe spaces.
We need to be on LinkedIn andInstagram and we need to be
(04:01):
speaking on stages and we needto be on podcasts.
We need to just show upeverywhere.
So the more that people see us,the more that they are going to
know that we can actually servethem.
And while there is some truthto you being visible, visibility
always helps as part ofmarketing, it does not fix this
(04:22):
problem, because being visiblejust lets somebody know that you
have a service that's available, that you're somebody that has
a business, but it doesn't helpyou land the client.
And so the posting more, thenetworking more, the marketing
more that's not the answer.
We have to start thinking aboutthis differently, because
(04:43):
visibility is not the same asyou being able to effectively
position yourself.
Decision makers, when they goto hire you for a service, as a
consultant, they need to knowthat they are hiring you to do
something that is different,that's of a higher level, and
you don't want to be seen assomeone who is just an average
(05:06):
vendor.
And if your messaging doesn'tconvey that difference, then
they're not going to know andit's not going to convert.
So marketing and being morevisible is part of the game, but
it's not the answer.
It's not the solution.
What we have to actually do isstart to help our expertise to
(05:26):
make sense.
It needs to make sense to theperson who has no idea what we
do.
They don't know all of theyears and the decades that went
into building the knowledge thatyou have and, in all honesty,
the better you are at your job,the better you are at the work
that you do.
You're going to do it faster.
That's actually part of thevalue that you offer.
(05:53):
But when we're used to alwaysfocusing on the task and time
and these other measures ofperformance, it's hard for
people to see the value becauseyou're making it a little easy.
It should be easier for youbecause you're the expert, but
they have to understand why it'seasy, how you have spent so
much time and dedicated so muchinto the ability to make it easy
(06:16):
, and that's what they'reinvesting in.
So we have to begin to shifthow they see us and move from
being seen as a vendor, someonethat's providing a service to an
actual partner, someone thatthey are going to collaborate
with, and when they begin to seeyou that way, it becomes more
of an investment, not justsomething that they can delegate
(06:38):
.
Now we have to accept someresponsibility for this right,
because part of what causes thisproblem is the fact that we
often talk about what we'regoing to do.
We're running through servicesand tasks and deliverables.
And we do that because manytimes being able to communicate
and sell our expertise seemsvery difficult because it's
(06:59):
intangible, it's something thatyou can't really touch or feel,
it's not like a product, and weget stuck in trying to
communicate how that's valuable.
So we rely on the things thatpeople are most familiar with.
They're familiar with receivingsome type of document or an
audit or something that they canactually hold.
(07:20):
We're used to doing that.
It's what makes sense to mostpeople.
But the challenge in that andthe dilemma is that when we're
communicating always based uponthese tasks and these things
that we're doing and thedeliverables that's how they're
going to see us they're notthinking about the value we
provide based upon our thinking,the way that we're thinking
(07:42):
through the process, how we'recoming up with the strategy, the
fact that what we are able toshare is the most valuable.
They're not considering thosethings because we haven't talked
about them, we haven't made ita priority, and so if we haven't
made it a priority, how can weexpect them to understand the
value of our expertise and ourbrilliance?
(08:06):
It's difficult for them toactually do that.
So you may think that this isvery benign.
Maybe it's costing a client ortwo here and there, but it's
really not.
There is a huge hidden costassociated with this.
The fact that you are underpositioning yourself means that
you're going to attract clientsthat are lower tier clients or
(08:30):
misaligned clients, not the onesthat you truly want to work
with.
You're going to spend so muchtime trying to explain what you
do that's going to eat away atyour capacity to do more work to
serve more.
You're going to spend so muchtime just trying to land a sale
that is going to lead to thesesale cycles being longer.
That means it takes more timefor money to come in the door.
(08:52):
You want to be able to do thesethings more effectively so you
can close deals faster, so youcan command higher fees from
better clients and get invitedinto those rooms where even more
lucrative opportunities lie.
So that is what's really thething that you're losing.
That's the cost, all of thosethings that are hidden, and
(09:15):
that's huge while we're tryingto build a profitable business
that is sustainable over time.
Now it makes sense that we havefallen into this dilemma,
because the old way of doingthis is to compete based upon
credentials.
Back in the day, if you were aconsultant, you have been in
(09:38):
practice for a long time.
You typically may have beenclose to retirement.
You had decrees andcertifications and everything
under your name, and people knewwho you were, and so it was
rather easy to build credibilitythat way, because you relied on
what you had accomplished overtime and because people have not
(09:59):
accomplished all of that andthey weren't able to effectively
show and build thoserelationships, then, hey, it
wasn't as competitive.
But the market and thelandscape has completely changed
.
Marketing plays more of afactor now and people are able
to build credibility indifferent ways.
So now you can't rely on justyour degrees and credentials to
(10:23):
get you the business.
Also, we're now used to thinkingabout things based upon value,
and especially in terms of largeinvestments, corporations and
companies and businesses theycan easily figure out whether or
not they are getting a returnon their investment.
They can do those things thatare necessary to figure out
(10:43):
whether or not you are worth theinvestment in the cost.
So we have to do a better jobof being able to explain that up
front.
This comes from owning yourdistinct point of view.
That's the newer way of beingable to get people to recognize
your value.
You first have to stand out,you have to show that you are
different, and you can do thatby showing how you think
(11:05):
differently, how your strategyis different, how you have a
different philosophy about howto approach things in your
industry.
Those are the things thatpeople are going to value, and
then clients come to youpre-sold.
They don't have to have theselong sales cycles and
conversations, because theyalready know where you're coming
(11:28):
from.
They understand who you are,they know what you've done in
the past.
You've talked about yourapproach to the work.
You have laid out yourphilosophy and your perspective
and your way of thinking.
They understand you and theyknow what you do, and that works
for you.
It is literally an authorityasset.
(11:50):
You have things out there inthe marketplace, online that
they can actually tap into andlearn more about you on their
own time.
Most decision makers, they'regoing to do their research first
.
They're going to go online andthey're going to Google you.
They're going to look onLinkedIn, they're going to look
in all these different places tofigure out whether or not you
(12:12):
offer the help that they need,and you have to show that you
have to be able to speak to thatin a way that is different than
just task and to-do items thatthey can delegate out to
somebody else.
They have to see you as beingan authority.
So that's the shift we have tomake.
We have to shift from expert toauthority and that's the shift
(12:34):
in our mindset, in our beliefs.
We have to change the way thatwe think about this process, the
way that we think aboutbecoming an authority in our
space, and then we have tocommunicate that.
That's the part of messagingthat has to change and our
behaviors have to change.
So we're not focused on justbeing visible and being louder
(12:56):
or having the best contentonline.
That's not the focus.
That's not our goal.
Our goal is to share how wethink, to allow them to actually
feel the impact of ourexpertise ahead of time.
That helps to humanize it a bit.
People begin to understand whatyou do because it begins to
(13:17):
change their lives.
It changes their business whenthey take your insights that you
shared and they implement it.
That's what is actually goingto drive yourselves.
That's what's going to lead youto claim the title of go-to
expert or authority in yourspace.
You want to be seen as astrategic asset so that
(13:41):
everything else changes.
The sales cycle shortened,clients come to you and you
literally stop chasing clientsand being frustrated by the fact
that other people, seemingly,are winning out and you aren't.
That will be a thing of thepast.
And so this is just to let youknow that it's not your
(14:02):
expertise that needs to change.
It's not a pivot in what you do.
That needs to occur in mostcases, it is honestly just
understanding your value and howto better articulate that so
that it makes sense to theeveryday person.
Because the person who ishiring you to do the consulting
(14:23):
services they're not hiring youfor consulting, they're hiring
you to solve a problem and youhave to help them understand why
you are the best person to helpthem get to their next step, to
solve that problem, to achievetheir goal.
And when you do thateffectively, that's what
actually changed the game.
(14:44):
This aspect of messaging andpositioning is all fixable.
It's not hard.
It's just a matter of shiftingthe way that we're thinking
about this process and stopfocusing so much on the
marketing aspect in terms oftactics, but think about how we
are actually sharing our thoughtleadership, our thoughts, our
(15:05):
philosophies, our perspectivesmore openly.
That makes the difference inthe consulting world.
So if you're finding that youfeel undervalued, underpaid and
like you're the best kept secret.
This is the change that youhave to make.
All right guys, I hope thisopened up a new way of thinking
(15:30):
about how you're showing up inour industry.
Let me know.
Drop your comments below.
Also, make sure that yousubscribe to this YouTube
channel for more and moreepisodes.
I promise that if you make thisshift, it's going to change
everything in your business,because you deserve to be the
authority, the leading authority, in your space, and once you
(15:51):
communicate that, it's going tobe easy for you to do.
All right guys, take care.
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