Five Questions With: Pat Schneider

"Our experience is that both small and medium-sized businesses see the benefit of hiring consultants, since they save on taxes, insurance and benefits."

Pat Schneider is founder and president of Expert Access, a consultant referral firm based in Little Compton. Schneider is responsible for business development and client relationship management. Prior to founding Expert Access 17 years ago, Pat was a management consultant for more than 20 years. She has been a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at colleges, universities and national conferences and is past president of The Box Project, a not-for-profit organization that assists families living in rural poverty. She was a recipient of the Mayor’s Community Service Award for her work in organizational development for the city of Stamford, Conn.
Schneider has bachelor’s degree in sociology from Molloy College and a master’s of social work in organizational behavior from Fordham University.

PBN: As Rhode Island continues its efforts to attract new business, you’ve developed a business model that maximizes your experience as a consultant and also as a liaison. Can you describe your business model and how you developed it?
SCHNEIDER:
After working as an independent training consultant, I realized that I enjoyed helping my clients solve problems and make connections more than I enjoyed the training itself. My elevator speech is, “I’m a matchmaker – a business matchmaker.” The process begins by clearly identifying and analyzing our clients’ outsourcing needs and then matching those needs to the expertise and availability of a pre-screened professional from our talent pool. Our matches encompass a variety of areas, from human resources, executive coaching and organization development to web-enabled training models and even computer-based simulations.

PBN: One of the marketing points of your business that you’ve found appealing to your clients is that you tell them it won’t cost them any more than hiring the consultant directly. Every service has a cost and someone pays. Who pays in this case?
SCHNEIDER:
Our consultants reduce their fees to work with us, since we do all of the sales, marketing, contracting, invoicing and client relationship management for our engagements. Basically, we are buying the services at wholesale and selling them at retail, which means our clients are paying standard market rates for services.

PBN: What kind of consulting services have you found companies most willing to pay for in this business environment, with the sluggish recovery from the recession?
SCHNEIDER:
Businesses realize that one of the best things they can do for their organizations is invest in a leadership development program. They reach out to us to provide ongoing training for their managers and executive staff. A common project is to conduct assessments to identify strengths and weaknesses, then utilize executive coaching with managers at all levels to build on strengths and develop skills to overcome weaknesses. Businesses are willing to invest in their high-performers because they know they’ll be their future leaders. With the bottom line always a consideration, clients sometimes choose to reduce training costs through blended learning, which combines classroom time with webinars, self-paced learning modules and online assignments.

- Advertisement -

PBN: What differences have you found between small businesses and medium-sized businesses in their willingness to stretch the budget for consulting costs?
SCHNEIDER:
Our experience is that both small and medium-sized businesses see the benefit of hiring consultants, since they save on taxes, insurance and benefits. In addition, many small businesses require skills that are far removed from those are required for the day-to- day operations of their business. They find that it’s more economical and efficient to bring in an outside expert. If the consultant is the right partner, the managers and employee can learn new skills and can continue to use the tools after the consultant completes the assignment.

PBN: You’ve worked in the northeast and mid-Atlantic markets and established many business connections in these regions. Why did you decide to base Expert Access in Little Compton?
SCHNEIDER:
The central location of Rhode Island, strategically positioned between Boston and New York and within close proximity to the entire eastern seaboard, makes Rhode Island an ideal choice to set up business-to-business companies. Many large corporations have chosen to base their headquarters in Rhode Island and we see huge potential here. Our Rhode Island-based consultants, for example, an executive coach in Warwick, work in-state, as well as throughout the New England area. Of course, living and working in Little Compton in such a lovely rural landscape, that’s icing on the cake.

No posts to display