5 November 2009

John Pope, Hothive Books, £13.99

In my experience, business literature about buying or selling consultancy services tends to fall into two camps. One is to over-emphasise the "special" and "different" nature of the consultancy industry, warning purchasers of the perils of viewing their buying approach in the same way as they might do other types of service. The other is to present readers with the more cynical view that consultancy firms are experts in telling organisations what they already know.

After 40 years in the industry John Pope is a very experienced practitioner in the consultancy marketplace. His informative book offers a practical guide to the way in which consultancy firms can help their customers "buy" their services rather than "sell" them. Pope takes the reader through the steps of the consultancy sales process in bite-size chapters, from how to define the sort of services to be provided through to managing account relationships in the long term.

This book is straight to the point, a very quick and easy read. It might have been even better with a few case studies included, just to bring some of the key points to life a little more. That said, I don't feel this detracts from its usefulness.

Procurement professionals looking to make a bigger impact in this category of spend within their organisations will find this book offers them some valuable food for thought.

Paul Vincent Managing director, Insight Sourcing Solutions

SMnov2009