K, S & A (Knowledge, Skills & Abilities)

What makes a great marketer of oil, gas and/or NGL’s?  For that matter, what makes a great marketing consultant?

In her book “Consulting Mastery – Why Being Good Isn’t Enough”, author Cindy Tonkin describes the 3 key drivers of a consultant’s success; Availability, Affability and Ability.

Availability is essentially getting the word out to prospective clients that a service exists that may benefit them and add value to their business.  Phoenix uses a multi-prong approach by providing comprehensive information about its services on it website, sponsoring local charitable, sports and industry events, donating door prizes to industry social events, publishing papers in industry trade journals, speaking at industry conferences, participating on industry committees and being available for interviews by industry publications, such as Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin and OilWeek Magazine. 

Availability also means being accessible and responsive to a client request for assistance.  The structure and size of Phoenix provides clients with highly responsive “7x24” coverage on a year round basis, which can not be replicated by a sole proprietorship consultant.  Phoenix also tracks client feedback on instances when the client has difficulty contacting its Phoenix representative, which allows us to re-engineer and fail-safe our work flow and communication processes.

Affability is the ability and skill of the consultant to work effectively with people at all levels within the client organization, as well as the representatives of the marketing companies, pipelines, trucking companies, midstream companies, storage operators, banks, government agencies and other stakeholders that the client needs to optimize the marketing of its production.  Phoenix provides its consultants with ongoing training in inter-personal communication and relationship building skills.  Senior management also conducts performance reviews with each consultant every 3 months to provide individual feedback and coaching.

Ability is the measure of the technical quality of the service being provided by the consultant.   This is where the combination of the consultant’s Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (“KSA’s”) will determine the net value of the service to the client.

Knowledge is accumulated through formal technical training, ongoing professional development, on-the-job observation, research and analysis.  Logically, the more knowledge that a consultant has to bring to a client problem, the higher the probability of achieving a quicker, more thorough and valuable solution.  Phoenix’s body of knowledge is comprised of the 200+ years of technical training and experience of its consultants, along with its extensive database, library, seminar materials and proprietary models and templates.  In addition, each month Phoenix’s consultants and staff meet to discuss “What Did We Learn This Month?”.  Ongoing professional development is strongly encouraged at Phoenix and is a topic of discussion at the quarterly performance reviews.

• Inter-Personal Relationship & Cultural Awareness Skills
• Oral & Written Communication Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Negotiation Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Project Management & Organizational Skills
• Time Management Skills
• Analytical Skills

Abilities are those natural innate attributes that an individual is born with, specifically the kind that make the difference between an Olympic-caliber athlete and someone who has read a book on how to run the 100 metre dash and practiced with or without a coach once a week.  In a marketing consultant, key abilities to look for include:

• Self-Motivated & Independent Worker
• Independent, Objective/Impartial & Critical Thinker
• Ability to Influence Others
• Self-Confidence
• Persistent, Tenacious, Complete Finisher
• Excellent & Active Listener
• Excellent Communicator
• Perceptive, Self Aware
• Adaptable, Flexible
• Calm Under Pressure, Can Multi-Task Effectively
• Proactive Style
• Team-Oriented & Collaborative When Required
• High Ethical & Integrity Standards
• Honest & Trustworthy
• Naturally Analytical & Quick to Identify Crux of the Problem
• Creative Problem Solver

Phoenix does extensive pre-employment diagnostic testing of its consultants’ KSA’s.  Not everyone is cut out to be a consultant, even if they have extensive K’s and S’s….

Return to top