Corrections or additions?
10 Consulting Tips
These articles were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on November 18,
1998. All rights reserved.
When people feel that the corporate world does not offer
them what they want, they are inclined to start out on their own.
“It’s exciting and very satisfying,” says Veronica
Bukowski,
co-founder of Bukowski-Stanton Associates, an international executive
coaching and consulting practice. She discusses “Ten Keys to
Successful
Consulting” at the American Society for Quality on Thursday,
November
19, at the Marriott. Cost: $20. Contact Christine Andreas at
609-406-1357.
Whether you work alone or in a corporation, she says, the bottom line
is being productive and being able to make a worthwhile contribution.
Bukowski, a graduate of the University of Delaware with an MS in
organizational
development from American University, has been in the consulting
business
for 18 years.
Bukowski points out some common mistakes that beginners make:
Concentrating on a single client. Bukowski says that manyconsultants work hard and get one or two big clients and then stoptheir marketing efforts. The client moves away for some reason andthe person is left in the lurch.Losing focus. They turn into “Zorba theconsultant,”says Bukowski. They say `yes’ to everything and get distracted fromthe core objective of their business.Getting discouraged too soon. Consulting can be a lonelybusiness, says Bukowski. You should be able to get pastdisappointmentsand move on.Spending too much money. Many beginners go overboardtryingto build an image, says Bukowski. They spend all their money on theiroffice and beautiful brochures but have no clients. Spend only whatis necessary to build up clients, she says. Her tips for a successfulcareer in consulting:1. A firm belief in your ability to be successful.2. A concise statement that expresses everything you haveto offer in 15 seconds.3. Good marketing.4. Opening relationships rather than selling.5. Networking.6. Speaking and writing. Make presentations, writearticles,let as many people know what you have to offer.7. “Dripping.” Approach buyers when they are readyto buy and not when you are ready to sell. Keep in touch. They couldsay `no’ in March but might consider you in October.8. Develop a personal style that is flexible.9. Keep your values, passions, and goals close to you.10. Get a coach. An outside perspective helps to keepthings in focus, says Bukowski.– Teena ChandyTop Of PageLonnie Steffens at HyattWhen John “Lonnie” Steffens speaks, peoplelisten. Steffens is vice chairman of the board of Merrill Lynch andCompany and ranking officer at Merrill Lynch’s Scudders Mill Roadcampus, and many people in the county are counting on him to gothroughwith the deal to develop 450 acres on Scotch Road with up to 3.5millionsquare feet of office space. Potentially this campus could includea retail village, a hotel, a conference center, and even space forlight industry.Steffens speaks at the Mercer Chamber on Thursday, November 19, at11:30 a.m. at the Princeton Hyatt. With the topic of “MerrillLynch: a Community Partner,” he will discuss how Merrill Lynchis both an international concern and a participant in the community.Cost: $30. Call 609-393-4143.Since Steffens was not available for a pre-meeting interview hereare some queries to consider for the Q&A:Will workforce cutbacks affect Merrill Lynch’s plans todevelop the $400 million, 450-acre park? The first phase ofconstruction,to be completed in the year 2000, will accommodate 3,500 jobs andthe site could expand to 5,000 jobs. Steffens’ probable answer: No,we are going forward with the park.Did the state give Merrill Lynch more than $150 millionto stay in New Jersey? Steffens’ probable answer: No. The state didcome up with a $135 million bond issue that will save Merrill Lynch$8.1 million in sales tax, but that is a loan. The state buysequipmentfor Merrill Lynch to lease, and when the lease expires Merrill Lynchwill have “bought” the equipment without paying the salestax. Actual outright grants from the state total $20 million andinclude$8.3 million to create 1,400 new jobs and $3 million for trainingthe new employees in computer skills.Is Merrill Lynch satisfied with its tax bill fromPlainsboro?Merrill Lynch and Plainsboro Township are currently in mediationover the property tax assessment on Merrill’s office complex andconferencecenter. Even though Plainsboro is in Middlesex County and this isthe Mercer County Chamber, folks from Middlesex (after all, it isgreater Princeton, isn’t it?) are expected to attend. And anyway,everyone’s interested in the Bull’s tax problems. Steffens’ probableanswer: No.Steffens majored in economics at Dartmouth, Class of 1963, andwent right to work for Merrill Lynch as an account executive in hishome town, Cleveland. Seven years later he was promoted to salesmanagerthere, and then went to manage the office in Birmingham, Michigan.In 1975 Steffens came to Manhattan, first to manage the operationsplanning department, then to be assistant division director ofinvestorproducts and services. In 1979 he went through the Advanced ManagementProgram of Harvard Business School. In 1981 he was elected to theboard of directors and became director of marketing for the individualsales division, and three years later was director of national salesfor the consumer markets sector. In 1985 he became president of thatsector (later renamed Private Client Division.)Three years ago he served as the chairman of the Securities IndustryAssociation, and he is currently National Chairman of the Alliancefor Aging Research and a trustee of the Committee for EconomicDevelopment.”The investment in Mercer County by Merrill Lynch has the abilityto transform the total business center of the county,” saysWendellBreithaupt, chairman of the Mercer County Chamber and presidentand CEO of Trenton Savings Bank (Peoples Bancorp). “John’s viewon the region and the world will also be extremely informative.””A speaker of Lonnie Steffens’ stature continues the MercerChambertradition,” says Bill Mate, the chamber president.Top Of PageNegotiate, CommunicateThe Forrestal at Princeton is hosting a day-long seminaron effective communication techniques and negotiation skills onFriday,November 20, at 8 a.m. The workshop is co-sponsored by MeetingProfessionalsInternational, New Jersey chapter, and the New Jersey Society ofAssociationExecutives. Cost: $95; $65 for a half-day. Call 201-998-9157 toregister.John S. Foster III, an attorney-at-law and certified hospitalitysales executive, will present “How to Negotiate Anything withAnyone.” Foster has used his 20 years experience in law andhospitalityto help the beginner and the old pro learn basic principles,strategies,and techniques of negotiating in easy-to-understand language thatcan be applied on a daily basis.Sue A. Hershkowitz-Coore, CSP, will present “Communicationwith Success — Talking, Writing, Interacting for Results.”Author of “Power Sales Writing: What Every Sales Person Needsto Know to Turn Prospects Into Buyers,” Hershkowitz-Coore is aprofessional speaker who has broken down barriers to communicationproblems for corporate, association, and government clients.Hershkowitz-Cooresays you can learn communication skills that will not only get yourpoint across, but also get the results you want.Top Of PageElectronic Funds TransferThe U.S. Treasury Department is encouraging Americanswho receive federal government checks to use the Electronic FundsTransfer (EFT) and have their money directly deposited into a personalaccount at a federally insured bank, credit union, or savings andloan association.While a number of federal agencies have yet to inform beneficiariesof their plans for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and waivers, theSocial Security Administration is giving Social Security andSupplementalSecurity Income beneficiaries the option to “do nothing” andcontinue to receive checks by mail.Some banks, financial service companies, check cashing outlets, andpawn shops reportedly have told some beneficiaries that they mustsign up for the direct deposit option by January 1, or they willreceiveno benefits. Consumer advocates want to make sure the American publicknows its options and doesn’t fall victim to scams.The federal government is offering EFT to 510,300 New Jersey residentswho now receive their checks in the mail. These residents includeanyone who receives federal payments for Social Security, SupplementalSecurity Income (SSI), Railroad Retirement, veteran’s benefits (VA),federal pensions, and federal employees’ and contractors’compensation.Under EFT, beneficiaries can:Do nothing unless notified by the government agencyissuingthe check.Sign up for direct deposit to an existing account or opena new account to receive direct deposit.Consider an Electronic Transfer Account (ETA), which isa low-cost account set up by the federal government and scheduledto become available in 1999.Or request a “waiver.”Some federal agencies may eventually require beneficiaries torequest a “waiver” from using direct deposit or ETA. Accordingto the Treasury Department, beneficiaries may not have to use EFTif opening an account and using direct deposit costs more than cashingthe check; beneficiaries have a physical or mental disability; a bankis not close by; or beneficiaries have difficulty reading or writingEnglish.The Treasury Department claims it saves nearly 41 cents per checkusing electronic transfer, which along with administrativeefficiencies,adds up to about $100 million in savings a year.Top Of PageVolunteer Tax HelpAs preparations for the 1999 tax filing season getsunderway the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) seeksmore volunteer tax-aide counselors in the Princeton area.AARP Tax-Aide volunteers are specially trained, in cooperation withthe Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and New Jersey State Income TaxDepartment, to understand many provisions of the tax code,particularlythose that affect older people. Personal assistance is provided tohelp the taxpayer complete federal and state tax returns.Volunteers come from many backgrounds and have experience in fillingout their own returns. They must agree to assist taxpayers a minimumof four hours per week, from February 1 through April 15, at a seniorcenter or public library in the area. Individual tax-aide sites aregenerally open for four hours, one day per week, Monday throughThursday.Hours are usually 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or noon to 4 p.m.Home study and class participation are required. Training classeswill be held between January 4 and January 12. For information call609-655-4358.Top Of PageCorporate AngelsThe Merck Company Foundation for the seventh yearhas awarded the Raritan Valley Community College Foundationa grant for $50,000 in support of its theater season. “As acommunitycollege, we value the opportunity to provide high caliber artsprogramsand arts education to the community and we are pleased to have Merckhelp us realize our goals,” says Cary Israel, presidentof Raritan Valley Community College. The Raritan Valley CommunityCollege, serving Somerset and Hunterdon County residents, offers 71associate degrees and certificates.The Merck Company Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck andCompanyInc., has since 1957 provided more than $180 million in support ofeducational, cultural, health care, civic, and other non-profitorganizations.The New Jersey Unit of Recording for the Blind andDyslexic(RFB&D) received a grant of $17,500 from the Fred C. RummelFoundationof Summit, New Jersey. Patty Byers, vice president of SummitBank and a member of the Rummel Foundation’s board of trustees,presentedthe check to Eileen Gallagher, director of development, andJames Amick, chairman of the board of directors of RFB&D’s NewJersey unit.The Continuum Group announced the release of a specialissue of limited editions lithographs by artist Ludvic Saleh.A donation of 50 percent of all proceeds from the sale of the editionswill go to the American Red Cross for their hurricane relief effortsin Central America.”The devastation experienced by the people of Central Americahas touched me very deeply. I am glad to do whatever I can tohelp,”said Saleh. The editions titled “Peace,” “Cat,” and”Rooster,” in an edition size of 750 pieces are all handsignedand numbered by the artist. They are priced at $125 each.The editions may be ordered directly from the publisher. Call800-200-2427,or visit the artist’s website at www.ludvic.com. Trade Art & Frame,Monmouth Junction; Art & Frame Source, Menlo Park and Princeton; andDe’Lann Gallery, Plainsboro will carry these editions without anymarkup and will be glad to assist with framing needs. See page 33of this issue for details on other disaster relief efforts.Top Of PageHurricane Relief: Cash CountsMud, devastation, and immense human suffering arethe images being sent to North America in the aftermath of HurricaneMitch, one of the most violent hurricanes of the past 200 years tohit Central America. In Honduras and Nicaragua the death toll isimmense,and more than 1 million are homeless or struggling for their lives.Over 12,000 people are still missing. Hundreds of thousands of people,desperate for food, water, medicine, and shelter, are becoming evermore susceptible to outbreaks of epidemics such as malaria, diarrhea,and cholera.One television newsman, prone to dramatization, announced that inhis 25 years on the job he had never witnessed such devastation, andthat nothing short of a Cold War-syle Berlin airlift could bringrelief.Former president Jimmy Carter, not known for exaggerating aboutanything,was there, too, and he said roughly the same thing.Yet while our first instinct may be to reach for blankets, clothing,canned goods, and even baseball equipment, to help Mitch’s victims,the Red Cross recommends cash donations above all. Launching one ofthe largest international relief operations in the organization’shistory, the Red Cross is appealing for cash because theinfrastructureto receive and distribute gifts in kind has been destroyed.”The most effective means to assist victims of Hurricane Mitchis to make a financial contribution because it can be applied to therapid relief of the affected region,” says David Novack of theAmerican Red Cross of Central New Jersey, located at 707 AlexanderRoad. “The Red Cross is able to move cash instantly through wiretransfer to the affected areas. Moreover the purchasing power of theU.S. dollar allows the Red Cross to maximize the value of eachdonation.”With the cooperation of local Red Cross branches, the Red Cross inCentral America will provide food, blankets, chlorine, kitchen tools,and materials for home reconstruction over a period of two months.Cash contributions can be made to the American Red CrossInternational Response Fund, American Red Cross, 707 Alexander Road,Suite 101, Princeton, NJ 08540-6399 and American Red CrossInternationalResponse Fund, 123 How Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. For credit cardcontributions, call 1-800-HELP-NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish); orlocally by calling 609-951-8550 or 732-418-0800. Internetusers can make an online credit card contribution atwww.redcross.organd choosing the option International Response Fund.In Princeton, concerned individuals, organizations, and businessesare also working to help Nicaraguan hurricane victims:Jill Carpe of the Salty Dog craft shop at 4 Spring Street is helpingspearhead the area efforts of PeaceWorks to send aid into the region.”Nicaragua may seem like it’s very far away and has nothing todo with us here in Princeton, but in fact Princeton Township andPrincetonBorough both have a sister city relationship with Granada,Nicaragua,”she says.Carpe, who has visited the area twice in the past, says Nicaragua’sdeath toll may reach 4,000. Working with the Central Jersey-MasayaFriendship Cities Project and the Princeton-Granada Sister CityProject,PeaceWorks is organizing cargo container aid shipments ofnon-perishablefood items, clothing, and medical supplies. Donations of goods ormoney are tax-deductible. Carpe is earmarking a portion of herproceedsto the relief effort and urges other businesses to do the same.As it has for the other 32 aid shipments it has sent to Nicaraguasince 1987, PeaceWorks will send the aid to Masaya Without Frontiers(MASINFA), a professional organization that is serving as a regionaldisaster relief organizer in Nicaragua. This aid will help peoplewith immediate relief assistance as well as long-term communityrebuilding.The deadline for donations is Friday, November 20. For informationor pickup, call the Salty Dog at 609-252-1815.The Latino Chamber of Commerce of Mercer County, in conjunction withorganizations that include the Latina Women’s Council of MercerCounty,the Latino Law Enforcement Society of Mercer County, Hispanic-AmericanMedical Association, the Mercer County Hispanic Association, and thePuerto Rican Parade Committee, has also launched a relief drive. Thisgroup is collecting non-perishable food, clothing, and medicalsupplies.To assist the Latino Chamber effort, contact Harry Luna at609-695-5600.Members of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System and Network has alsoannounced that its affiliated hospitals, health centers, andretirementcommunities will collect food and supplies for a Thanksgiving shipmentto Central America on Tuesday, November 24. Non-perishable food,over-the-countermedicines, summer clothes, flashlights, batteries, baby items,and building materials are being collected. For the location ofdrop-offsites throughout the region, call 800-242-0022.Top Of PageOUT BELOW!!!In Honduras alone, at least 600,000 people were left homeless by themassive storm and more than 7,000 people are believed to have died.Much of Honduras has literally been destroyed by Mitch which poundedthe country for several days. Preliminary damage assessments indicatethat Mitch destroyed 70 percent of the country’s bridges, 60 percentof its water systems, and vast sections of highways and secondaryroads. Those roads and bridges not simply swept away by floodwaterswere buried by massive mudslides. More than 70 percent of theagriculture– with bumper fall crops almost ready to harvest — wasdestroyedby the storm, a stunning blow to a poor country largely dependenton its domestic food production for feeding its population and forexport income. Nothing like it has hit since the 1974 Hurricane Fifikilled 10,000 in Honduras.In Nicaragua, at least 400,000 people are left homeless, overwhelminggovernment resources and raising the specter of epidemic. Scatteredcases of cholera already were being reported in some areas, and scorchteams have been ordered to burn corpses in an effort to prevent thespread of disease. Hundreds of bodies continue to be pulled fromfloodwatersand mudslides that can be as much as 20 feet deep. The eruption ofNicaragua’s Cerro Negro volcano only added to the miseries of theregion.In many areas, the relief operation is being hampered by thedevastatedinfrastructure. The death toll continues to rise.A Disaster Action Response Team (DART) from Washington, D.C., hasbeen recruited to assist relief efforts. More than 8,000 paid andvolunteer staff from national Red Cross Societies in Central Americahave been working around-the-clock rescuing those buried by mudslidesand stranded by flooding. Red Cross workers are also distributingemergency relief and supporting first aid, evacuation, and shelteringefforts.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
