online consultancy

Do you or your team have the necessary expertise, talent, and experience in video, audio messaging consultancy?

If it’s yes then it’s time to move your consulting business into digital before it’s late. Since most of the world became online and this pandemic forces everyone to be online even the ones who have resistance, this is the best time to create your online consultancy business, no matter what your expertise is.

E- consultancy is a new way to turn your knowledge into a profit. Being reachable and giving your expertise remotely will be a new phase for your business. Once you have a platform to serve and market your online audio/video/message consultancy services you will be able to meet new consultants around the world no matter your expertise is. Moreover, you will have many options to talk with them either video call, phone call, or audio.

Before I start, let me share the statistical facts why E-Consultancy became an immerging business platform? Do you know that:

• In 2020, 92% of marketers and online entrepreneurs say that video is an important part of their marketing strategy.

• 85% of all internet users in the United States watched online video content monthly on any of their devices.

• 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.

• 87% of marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool.

• There are 3.5 billion smartphone user and its increasing trend. (Source: Statistics).

There are a lot of tricks and tips. that will help you earn a higher profit following the guide below:

1. Choose your niche

Credibility and authority as an expert in your field is most important in e-consultancy business. Choosing right niche where you or your team is expert at, is the initial step of starting online consultancy business.

Some of the businesses which consultants are finding the greatest success online include:

• Life Coaches
• Business Coaches
• Psychologist
• Dieticians
• Doctors (2nd consultations)
• Lawyers
• Accountants
• Private Tutors
• Financial Advisors
• Astrology Advisors
• Real Estate Advisors
• Technology Consultants
• Business Advisors
• Fitness
• Nutrition
• Longevity
• Beauty
• Mindfulness / Spiritual
• Relationships / Dating
• Career / Education
• Mental Counseling

All professionals and/or entrepreneurs who wants to manage a team of professionals are welcome to setup a free and easy-to-manage online consultancy business.

2. Build your online Consulting Platform

Choosing right platform is most essential to success in online consultancy business. There could be few host providers who offer you a limited service.

Always choose the service provider who offer you all-in-one platform that allow you to run all of your business flow and operations with easy panels and engage with your customers at your front website.

Some of the advance features that you need to check with your service providers are:

• Customizable front website
• Having an admin panel
• Agent Panel
• Ready virtual point of sale
• Mobile/web based sessions
• Efficient appointment scheduler
• Audio communication based on GSM
• Live video-based communication
• Message based communication
• Ready to use payment system integration
• Easy management of events
• And much more…

Having a website is not complete to digitize your business. If you are missing following the latest marketing tools, and not providing the  best user experience your website will be lost among the billions of websites on the internet.

Choosing the right platform to start your E-consultancy business is essential. This allows your business flow with upcoming marketing tools and set ahead of your competitor.

3. Expert Management

Depending upon your business strategy, you may need a team of experts to provide services to your clients. Online consultancy business can be a sole run business or with a team of experts working remotely.

If your business includes remote working experts, you need to have an expert management panel. The expert management panel allows the admin to manage the skills or expertise of each expert.

Being a business owner or admin, you need to specify which categories of your experts/agents are in and adding descriptions on their services, even embedding video(s) where experts may explain their consultancy.

Some of the things that you can manage while working with expert team includes:

• Category management: Add/remove the expert category.
• Package management: Add/remove services packages
• Appointment: Manage appointment for clients
• Event management: Organize the events of experts
• Monitoring and reporting: Monitor expert activities with clients

To run a E-consultancy business, either you can be an experts by your own or manage experts and make money selling their expertise.

4. Audience Engagement

In order to maintain good customer engagement your online consultancy platform must consider the following features:

• Document customer inquiries: Priorities customer inquiries, understand the need of the customer, and suggest the right solution. 
• Provide valuable content: Share your knowledge with your customer to make them believe in your expertise via blog posts, social media, etc. 
• Illustrate via update medium: Give your customer a chance to view your content via different mediums. Illustrate your products, services, or content through videos, infographics, blogs, images, pdfs, presentations, and more trending mediums. Don’t limit your business content to boring text files only.
• Easy communication: Effective communication with your client drive to a successful sales. Always maintain quick respond to your customer’s queries. In case customer wants to contact you, your platform should have various communication channel like, video calling, phone calling, messaging, email, taking appointment, virtual assistant and others means of communication. Limiting yourself with traditional ways of emailing may not be effective to grab the customer’s attention.
• Make your marketing more natural: Always maintain quick responses to your customer’s queries. In case the customer wants to contact you, your platform should have various communication channels like, video calling, phone calls, messaging, email, taking the appointment, virtual assistant, and other means of communication. Limiting yourself to traditional ways of emailing may not be effective to grab the customer’s attention.

5. Communication Methods

In any online business, communication methods play a vital role in business growth. If your business service has poor communication with your potential customer, your sales conversion won’t be as high as you want.

Especially in an online environment, you have to be sure you provide the best user experience to your consultants.

To engage your customer at all time your platform may need; 

• Attractive front website
• Blogs, social media pages
• Easy appointment
• Online live video sessions
• One on one communication ways
• One to many communication ways
• GSM based standard phone call
• Message-based communication
• Online voice conversation

And more…

Your response and customer service must be world class. Don’t let the potential customer’s to wait. Nowadays internet user has no patience to wait, they change mind simply and find your alternatives.

6. Receive Payment

Customer’s pay online for E-consultancy services. Your platform needs to have an online payment gateway. There are several countries having limitations on certain payment services. Include the most possible payment gateway to receive payment from customers all around the world.

Building an online business could be intimidating however if you choose the right platform you will able to open your online business less than in two days without any technical background or any need of knowing to code.