As an advisor, you have a duty to be honest and forthright with your clients.
And when your client wants to do things you don’t agree with, you have a responsibility to say something—even if they don’t want to hear it at first.
There will be times when your client wants to do things their way. Maybe it’s what they feel comfortable with or what they’ve always done.
But they hire you for results, right? So it’s on you to make sure they get them.
As a consultant, you are in the unique position of having seen inside a lot of businesses. And with that, you get good at spotting patterns and inconsistencies.
You begin to know what will work and what what needs to be done even before the data is there to show you.
That’s how expertise is formed. Humans are expert pattern matchers, after all.
And that means you’re in a unique position to be their guide. You’ve seen what works and what doesn’t so many times that it becomes second nature.
It’s just in you.
So when your gut, head, or heart doesn’t agree with the direction your client wants to take, it’s your job to stop things in their tracks and speak up.
Your job is to help them see the patterns you’ve discovered, then dig into data and examples to make the best possible decision with your client.
If you don’t speak up when things are hard, you have no business being a consultant.