AgTalk | A Consultant is as good as his last work: HBCI's Harish Bijoor

In the realm of brand marketing, business strategy and as a corporate speaker, he needs no introduction. With more than two decades of successful stint behind him, Harish Bijoor through Harish Bijoor Consults Inc (HBCI) has  presence in the markets of India, Hong Kong, London, Dubai and Istanbul. Based out of Bangalore, HBCI is a private-label consulting firm that does cross-domain work in the areas of thought-leadership mainly in Technology, ITES, Biotech, Pharmaceutical, FMCG, Durables, Entertainment, Education, Media and allied categories.

As a public speaker who speaks to corporate audience Harish Bijoor talks about motivation, people-management issues, brands, marketing and business at large. He has just achieved a unique milestone by completing10,000 hours of public speaking.

Prior to venturing into management consulting practice, Bijoor had a very excellent corporate stint having worked as COO of Zip Telecom besides Tata Coffee and Hindustan Unilever in the brand marketing, sales & distribution functions. He is actively involved in the world of coffee in India, as a member of many active coffee forums and delivers lectures on the subject in India and internationally. He is also a member of the Coffee Board of India under the auspices of the Union Ministry of Commerce. Bijoor is an active member of the Plantations sub-committee of the Planning Commission for the formulation of the XIth Five year Plan (2007-12).

Bijoor has recently published a book titled, “Marketing Trends - Smart Insights into the world of Indian Business” - a serious book written in a style that is distinctly young and MTV-ish! He is currently involved in his second book on core-branding. Bijoor is a member on the Board of Directors of a clutch of companies and his passion lies in the arena of good Corporate Governance. 

On the academic and teaching/training side, Bijoor’s achievements are different and intellectually stimulating in themselves. He has been teaching at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad for the past 8 years. Some of his unique academic credits are as under:

     # His very unique and simple definition of a brand: “The brand is a thought! A thought that lives in people’s minds!”

      #  His theory of the “Love-Hate pendulum” in the realm of brands and human relationships

      # His definitive theory: ‘Customer Orgasm’, the ultimate way to please a customer. Customer Service is passé. As is ‘Customer Satisfaction’. As is ‘Customer Delight’. And as is ‘Customer Ecstacy’! The new era of marketing is all about ‘Customer Orgasm’!

Adgully recently spoke with Harish Bijoor on various aspects of consultancy and on the qualities of a successful corporate speaker. The following is the excerpt of the conversation.

Adgully: You have just logged in 10,000 hours of speaking? Has this become your second profession?

Harish Bijoor: Oops! Now that you say it, I think it has!

It started slow, as all hobbies do. I started 18-years ago with my first paid speaking assignment. I got paid a princely Rs. 3000 for my first talk, which lasted all of 60-minutes. I really don't know how this milestone of 10,000 hours happened. My secretary alerted me last month when I was just 18-hours away!

Today, I spend nearly 50 per cent of my time on my speaking engagements. The rest gets divided on overseeing my Brand and Business strategy firm, and my writing work. Thanks heavens that I have good people who love doing what they do. If they did not do what they do, I would not be able to speak as much. Today, my speaking engagements bring in good experiences, the ability to reach out to diverse audiences across the globe, the ability to be in touch with key business leaders and decision makers, and of course good money, in that order! I get to travel extensively to exotic locales as well. This is a plus and minus. It hurts you physically, but stimulates you mentally! But then I have always been a mind over body person!

AG: What does to take to be a good engaging speaker?


HB: The first take is credibility. A speaker needs credibility. And then it is all about how you weave it all with integrity. A knowledgeable speaker, who can speak about a diverse set of inputs that go to make a business economy what it is, is also welcome.

I do believe content leads delivery. Good content, backed by delivery skills that can keep the audience alive works as a good combination. My talks are led by content (80 per cent) and followed by delivery (20 per cent). If you reverse this, you stop being a speaker and become a demagogue! And who wants them?

An engaging speaker is one who can connect with his/her audience with empathy, integrity and positive human connect.

AG: Please tell us something about yourself. How did you begin your journey?

HB: This journey as a Corporate public speaker has indeed been a long one. A long and fun one really. It started as a hobby. I was a hobby speaker for a start. And then someone decided to pay me for my effort. That bit in. One thing led to another, and I was a newbie on the speaking circuit in India.
And then someone noticed my talks in India and I did my first overseas talk to a group of potential Japanese investors. This was a talk that gave me confidence that unique Indian thought and Indian thought leaders have a major acceptability across the world. This got me onto the overseas talk circuit. 
The fun thing is the fact that I have not ever had to compromise or work too hard on this hobby. I have never had an agent, and I have never canvassed for a talk myself. invites happen. By word of mouth. And word of mouth is possibly the most powerful marketing tool ever.

AG: You are a successful consultant ? What makes a good consultant? Is high education necessary to become a successful consultant? What are the various success factors?

HB: A consultant needs discipline. Discipline in his/her thinking, actions, promises, delivery and time-lines. A good consultant is one who does not necessarily come with long degree tags abbreviated for impact, from foreign and foreign sounding universities for sure. A consultant is only as good as his last work reputation. A consultant is only as good as his delivery is. If you deliver, you are made. If you don't, you are sunk, as is your company. This is a line of business where your contribution is assessed daily. You are literally as good as your day was! Or as bad!

Business and brand-strategy consulting is a niche I defined for my company. We started small. With all of 2 people, and today we are across the geographies of India, Hong-Kong, Dubai, Istanbul, London and a fledgling interest in the markets of China and Sri Lanka. Our 93 partners are all senior consultants with more than 15-years work-experience. I keep saying this is a silver-haired person's profession! Sadly! If you don't have silver in your hair, gold in your teeth will do! Or platinum in your thoughts!

AG: How has the consulting industry evolved in India compared to the West? What is the scope in India? How should consulting firms position themselves?

HB: India has always been used to the consultant. The Management Consulting industry in India is a very old one. This industry however got very clogged with people who just wanted to do it all. In terms of sheer numbers, consultants boomed in India from the seventies, but the value that they commanded in terms of prices kept falling. The demand supply equation worked badly for this industry. Shoddy consultants also spoilt the name of the business. Then in the years of the 2000 series, in came specialization and niche offerings. These did well and flourished.

In many ways this business has evolved in India just as it did in the West. As of today, there is a mass-consulting movement which is reasonably generic and a niche movement that offers specific and specialized solutions. Value lies at the niche end of consulting. And all consulting in this space hinges itself on thought leadership.
I do believe it is good to find a niche and position yourself right. Specialize here and be the company of choice when it comes to your domain. Only the top two in every niche command the big premiums. If you are not among them, you will be an also ran. And who wants to be that?

AG: What are your future plans pertaining to consulting and speaking opportunities?

HB: My consulting business moves on. I just might open an office in China, provided we do cobble together another 6 clients. I am keen not to grow too big. The moment you do that in this space, you stop being niche and become like the big guys in this space. That kills your niche abilities, for which you are really sought after. Small is still beautiful. And in my definition of small is a size of less than 99 Senior Consultants!
On speaking, I will wait for the talk-invites to keep coming. I am now on my 10,004th hour! I will look forward to grow on these numbers. The idea is to hit a big number of corporate speaking hours! Bigger than what is in the kitty now! The more you speak, the more minds you touch, influence and possibly help. 

AG: What advice would you give to prospective consultants and those who want to enter public speaking?

HB: To the consultant, stay niche, stay specialized. To the public speaker, stay close to the knotting of the truth, and you will not go wrong. Focus on the content, and the rest will follow.

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