5 Important Lessons I Learned as a Tech Consultant over the Last 5 Years

Underestimated Skills in IT-Consulting with Lessons Learned.

Lessons are learned through insights, experiences, observations or sometimes even mistakes.

Some of the lessons we learn are small. They are small reminders on the way to what is really important. Other lessons are huge. They fundamentally change us and the direction of our entire lives.

During my last 5 years in the IT industry, I have often asked myself what makes a successful IT consultant.

I have definitely learned that success requires more than just technical knowledge.

Communication, structure, the right mindset and leading clients are at least as crucial.

In this article, I share the five most important insights that have shaped my work as a consultant. These insights not only help you to work more efficiently but also to improve customer relationships.

1 — Support and consulting are not the same thing, but they are often very close

A support request can become consulting.

A consultation can become support.

Knowing which role you are currently in is incredibly important.

Let me share a recent example: I recently received a request from a customer asking why the number of members in a mailing list in Salesforce no longer matched — a classic support request. I analyzed the problem with the request and explained to the customer what she needed to change. At the same time, I noticed that there were a lot of inconsistencies in the data quality in the account.

So, what did I do next?

In addition to explaining the original problem, I listed the various data quality issues and suggested a solution as to how the customer could fix them. Here I switched directly to the role of consultant.

Lo and behold, the customer was able to solve the problem of the original question, thanked me for actively thinking along and immediately went on to tackle the other problems, which led to further support requests for our company.

Lesson learned
Once I understood this, I could easily generate 2–4 more requests from only one support request.

I used the opportunity directly to draw the customer’s attention to further improvements. This, in turn, is not only good for our company (of course, every business needs to make money) — but more importantly, it also makes customers much more satisfied. They know that they are in good hands with you.

You show, that you are actively thinking along with them and not just reactively answering their questions.

2 — Many people need clear instructions on what they need to do — they can’t cope with uncertainty, they don’t have the time or they don’t know where to find the necessary information

When I began to lead projects and was responsible for the support requests of my clients, I sometimes solved requests within minutes.

In the first months, I questioned whether the solution could really be that simple or if I had overlooked something.

And because I questioned that, I went for another spin.

But over time I realized that…

• …as a consultant or support manager, you gradually build such deep knowledge of the system that responding to queries becomes second nature. You start recognizing recurring issues faster and spotting patterns almost instantly. Eventually, you develop an internal library of common questions and solutions — without even noticing how much you’ve progressed.
• …the customer often has a completely different view of the system: For the client, it is the tool that is supposed to help complete his/her various tasks — for example, to send automated event registrations to his/her mailing lists or to inform interested people about a new product. He/She doesn’t really “care” how exactly it works — it should just work. Meanwhile, for you as a consultant, the system is your main job — you do the same thing over and over again for lots of different customers.
• …not everyone has the time or interest to dive deep into a system while managing their daily workload. For many, it’s more efficient to rely on an external consultant to handle these requests. If you’re like me and enjoy exploring tech topics beyond your regular work — or if you simply need to in order to stay ahead as a consultant — you naturally develop a deep understanding of the system and build a strong foundation of knowledge over time.

Lesson Learned
Many people simply want a short, clear answer to their problem and turn to a person who can give it to them — even if it would be possible to find out the answer themselves.

3 — Don’t underestimate 10 minutes before a call with a customer — What you can achieve in 10 minutes with full concentration

I watched my boss and mentor countless times when he had one call after the other at peak times:

Call with customer 1, 3–10 minute “break” (if at all), call with customer 2, 20-minute “break”, project meeting with an employee, call with customer 3. That’s how a morning went…

As a junior project manager or junior Salesforce Consultant, I was usually invited to attend the calls. That meant for me that I could learn a lot during these times — but didn’t have to keep up the same speed, mental load, and performance.

And what did he do during these “breaks”?

He didn’t just wait until his next “obligation” started. Instead, he broke down larger tasks so that this time was also spent useful and productive: He gave our apprentice a task to do while he was on the call (delegation), he briefly fixed a small problem that a customer told him about earlier (support), he had a quick chat with the project manager about what the next steps are in the project (preparing for the next weekly call with the customer) or he had a quick brainstorming session about the next consultation.

Lesson Learned
I remember, as I was a student, I used to think of 5 minutes as “no time” — or better say, not enough time to get anything done or accomplish anything. Today, I think of everything that can be done in 5–10 minutes.

Sure, you can rarely complete your task perfectly in 5–10 minutes. And when you’re a junior, you need more time for everything. But by making use of these little in-between times, you are many times more productive.

However, this way of working can also burn you out and it’s important not to work like this all the time, but consciously take breaks to recover.

Own visualization — Illustrations from unDraw.co

4 — The more projects you take on, the more important documentation becomes — and requests are repeated again and again

The wheel is rarely reinvented.

In the beginning, support and consulting is the hardest because you need a lot more time for everything: you have to research things, you have to find out what best practices are, you have to build a system on how to keep track of your notes or how to write email responses as quickly as possible.

And you have to be the expert for the customer — even if you might not be yet.

What a real game changer for me was when I always used the same process and started to use a “framework”.

My so-called “problem-solving-framework” for support requests:

Problem
I receive the request. I copy it under this point in OneNote or in Notion or in any app where I take notes.

Analysis
I then analyze the problem. This is where I break down the request. Some customers already describe the problem very clearly or may even already have a hint for a solution — others write half novels. Regardless of how the customer writes, filter the problem areas from the message and list them as individual points:

Problem 1

Problem 2

Problem 3

You can then analyze each of these problems and fill in the reasons with screenshots.

Solution
You can then formulate the solution:

• One option is that you describe what the next steps are that you need to take and ask whether this approach is suitable for the customer. This option often means that you have to give a rough estimate of the effort involved, as you have to implement or change something to solve the problem.
• A second option is that you carry out the steps directly, describing the analysis and the implemented steps to the customer. You can do this if you are in a support relationship with the customer and not all hours need to be confirmed beforehand.
• A third option is to guide the customer through the next steps. Here you take on more of an advisory or coaching role. Instead of you doing the work, you show the customer what they need to do to fix the problem.

You have now listed these 3 points — problem, analysis, and solution — in your notebook.

The cool thing about this is that the process is directly documented: If the customer comes back 2 months later with the same problem or something related to it, you can take out your notes again and know directly what you did last time.

You can also write the email directly from the notes: You briefly describe the problem, then what you have found out (analysis) and finally the necessary steps (solution) that you have either already taken or still need to take. In this way, you not only justify the effort you will charge but also help the customer to better understand the problem and the tool.

Lesson Learned
With that framework, you know directly where and how to start with every request.

You have a heuristic tool, so to speak, to reduce a lot of cognitive load: You don’t have to start from scratch. Instead, you can fill in the missing gaps in the framework. Even if you don’t find the problem directly during the analysis, you have already set up the structure and can continue there a few hours later or a day later to narrow down the problem further and further.

It also trains your brain to always think in a similar structure when a customer presents you with a problem.

And the more you do this, the easier it is to apply this framework in a verbal conversation by going through the 3 points — problem, analysis, solution — internally and taking the customer through a shortened version.

The framework sounds so simple, but it has already saved me an incredible number of hours of time and headaches.

And do you remember the library from Lesson 2?

With this framework, you build a collection of problems and their corresponding solutions — essentially creating your own knowledge database.

5 — Training the customer instead of doing everything for them fundamentally builds trust

When I found out that there are two types of customers, a lot of things clicked for me:

The first group of customers are those who make a request and simply want the agency or consultant to take care of everything for them. They want to deal with the system as little as possible. For them, the tool is just a means to an end — in my case, for example, to automate marketing processes. This often includes CEOs or small companies who have to take care of the system in addition to many other tasks, but have neither the time nor the interest to delve deeper into it.

The second customer group are those who have to work with the tool all the time because they have to perform many tasks in their job with it, but can’t fully immerse themselves in it or don’t have the same technical knowledge as an agency. In my area, for example, this is a person responsible for CRM or a marketing manager.

And with this second client group, I learned how much of a difference it makes when you train these clients:

Lesson Learned
Once you start with this way of thinking, you will find many different situations in which you can train your customer. At least that’s how it was for me:

The first option is that the training is a dedicated session: For example, you can offer an introductory training session in which you explain the most important basics of the tool. Or you can conduct an advanced training session in which you present best practices. Another example is to show the customer how to implement this in the tool using a specific use case.

But what is often even more impactful is the second option — training the customer in every support request: Instead of writing to the customer, “Hey, I have taken care of the problem and have already done everything”, you write a small step-by-step guide including screenshots on how the customer can do it themselves. At the end, you ask for confirmation if everything has worked. Additionally, you can also offer to clarify the questions in a short call, where you show them the procedure.

This changes the customer relationship: I am not just the “service provider” who processes requests, but someone who actively transfers knowledge and empowers the customer.

This new perspective — the role as a trainer — has also helped me enormously on a personal level. Before, I focused on solving problems for others. In this new mindset, I see my role much more as empowering the customer to find solutions themselves.

This in turn fundamentally changes the dynamic: you are no longer just the person who implements things that others don’t know. Instead, you become the contact person who accompanies the customer at eye level and you share your knowledge.

And that creates trust.

The customer realizes that you don’t just want to sell them a tool, a solution or a service — but that you are passing on your own, acquired knowledge so that they can then work without you.

This type of collaboration often leads to customers wanting to work with you in the long term because they see your advice as valuable — not just a quick solution to a problem.

These five lessons have fundamentally changed my work as an IT consultant. I have learned that consulting is much more than just technical knowledge — it is about actively thinking along, approaching problems in a structured way, and not just delivering solutions to customers, but empowering them.

This mindset shift has also influenced how I share my knowledge. On my Substack, I regularly write summaries about the findings from my work in the fields of Tech, Python, Data Science, Machine Learning and AI. If you’re interested, take a look or subscribe.

Of course, I can and want to continue to improve in this area. When I observe experienced consultants like my CEO, I am particularly struck by the extent to which they actively think along with the customer. What really helps the customer in this situation? What will move the company forward? Which measures will lead to sustainable success? To answer these questions, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the problems and situation of the company and the customer — and develop solutions that create real added value.