Entry is the first step in the consulting process and consists of the first contact with a client before the formal contracting process has begun. Gaining entry occurs generally as the result of a number of intentional and accidental factors. For external consultants, gaining entry is often as the result of marketing and selling one’s expertise or success to a potential client.

External consultants are more likely to use strategies such as networking, phone calls, direct mail, websites, or presentations at conferences to build awareness among potential clients. Even for internal consultants, marketing one’s services is a part of the job. Internal OD practitioners should give presentations, lead lunchtime discussions, create marketing materials, and “take all opportunities to give examples to internal audiences of how an OD engagement can add value and provide results.

The entry process is the first stage in the consultant’s becoming connected to the social environment of the organization, including building relationships with organizational members. A good entry process will thus entail the consultant listening carefully to the client, showing good faith in expressing care and concern for the client’s request. It is the first impression that a potential client has of a consulting relationship.