It’s an age-old challenge in the consulting industry: how to get your delivery people to develop more business. After all, who’s in a better position to bring in more work than the people who labor side-by-side with the client? But first there are barriers to break through. Read on for four specific strategies that will help your delivery people execute on both project plansand business development plans.

When did financial advisors become telemarketers? Here’s a transcript of a voicemail I received a few weeks ago from a financial advisor named RW—someone I don’t know who represents a major company. It wasn’t technically a cold call, I suppose, because I had a relationship with the company about a decade ago through my former financial advisor. But it certainly wasn’t a warm call. And while RW said nothing whatsoever offensive on her voicemail, it was a perfect example of how the choice to be robotic instead of real kills trust and loses business.

I messed up a few weeks ago. I sent a not-so-nice email to a colleague I’ll call Randy. I did it after I got a fervent complaint from a new client about him. Randy was negotiating something on my behalf and, from the client’s perspective, took a firm stand in a way that did not go over well. The client said the one thing that escalates my blood pressure in a matter of seconds: “Randy could stand to learn a lesson or two from you about doing business in a trustworthy way.” For me, this cued the entrance of the high horse and I immediately climbed aboard.