INTRODUCTION

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING CLIENT ORGANISATIONS

1. WHO'S EATING MY LUNCH?
Why companies have strategies – talking to clients about strategy – vision and mission – normative strategy – Porter's Five Forces – SWOT – matching to the external environment – PEST – scenario planning – top-down and emergent strategies – Mintzberg – Drucker – Boston Consulting Group – balanced scorecard – content and process – the CEO's strategic concerns

2. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Cashflow v. profit – income v. capital – working capital requirement – equity v. debt – security – sole trader – partnerships – private and public companies – directors – shareholders – entrepreneurs – venture capital – accounting terms – factoring – invoice discounting – balance sheets and P&Ls

3. GROW OR DIE: GOING PUBLIC AND DOING M&A DEALS
Exit route – listing, flotation, going public, IPO – listing requirements – underwriting – institutional investors – secondary issues – sectors – multinationals – B2B (wholesale) – B2C (retail) – franchising – mergers & acquisitions – competition policy, monopolies and cartels – takeover timetable – Takeover Panel and Takeover Code – non-core assets – hive downs – MBOs – private equity – golden hellos / parachutes – corporate governance – reading the financial pages

4. BONDS, LOANS AND THE FINANCIAL MARKETS
Public companies as issuers – bonds – basis points – credit rating agencies – junk / high-yield – investment banks – commercial banks – syndicated loans – asset finance – acquisition finance – foreign exchange – spot market – forward – direct and indirect investment – trade finance – inflation and interest rates – risk management – hedging – derivatives – insurance – Lloyd's – shipping

5. BIG ISSUES FOR BIG BUSINESS
The accelerating pace of change – innovate or die – the knowledge economy – technology forcing platform and content convergence – impact of the web – disintermediation – business process re-engineering – outsourcing, offshoring – quality systems – supply chain management – consumerism – data mining and warehousing – client relationship management – mass customisation – longtail effect – globalisation – knowledge economy – privatisation, commercialisation and market liberalisation – corporate social responsibility – corporate governance – what all this means for smaller businesses – government, economics and statistics

PART 2: UNDERSTANDING CLIENTS AS PEOPLE

6. IT'S A PEOPLE BUSINESS
Active listening – EARS – open questions, follow-up questions – be interested not interesting – personality types – organisational politics – asking about a client's role – the client organisation's business, structure and purpose – contextualise the advice – what is the client going to use it for – roles and functions – other professionals and what they do – working together – commercial conflicts – referrals

7. DOING THE WORK
Your first client is your supervisor – being delegated to – feedback – appraisals – team working – Belbin – project management – time management – managing client expectations – handling complaints – empathy and rebuilding trust – problem-solving – flipcharts

8. GET TO THE POINT
Say upfront what it's about – put conclusions first – write the way you speak – simple language and short sentences – getting rid of the structural scaffolding – what readers want – emails – being personal – using visuals – presentations – writing for profile – using stories in brochures – no conclusions, just stop

9. MAKIN' MONEY
The levers of profitability for PSFs – working capital – pricing – what clients mean when they ask about cost – scoping – using previous transactions – alternative pricing structures – risk allocation – value for money – commoditisation of services – post-project reviews – portfolio managing clients and work-types – pricing as a strategic tool

10. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
'Meeting clients' needs profitably' – building your network – multipliers – client relationship management initiatives – pitching process – hot buttons – turning features into benefits – moving the goalposts – follow-up

PART 3: UNDERSTANDING YOU

11. YOUR FUTURE – THE ROAD AHEAD
Becoming a 'reflective professional' – development opportunities – improving incrementally – living with shambolic organisations

12. WHAT ELSE TO READ, WHERE ELSE TO LOOK

APPENDIX: JARGON BUSTER