Statistical consultants play an instrumental role in college and universities. For a consultant to be most effective, however, it is important that he or she is cognizant of the perspectives that clients bring to statistical consulting sessions. This study focuses on statistical consulting sessions from the perspectives of clients involved in these sessions. One hundred and twenty-nine consulting clients at two land-grant universities were surveyed about their consulting experiences. Using the survey data, three factors were identified as being related to the degree to which a client judges his or her consulting experience to be a success: (a) the skills of the consultant as both a statistician and collaborator, (b) the personal qualities of the consultant, and (c) whether or not the client requested the consultant.;In addition to surveying clients, twenty-six statistical consulting clients were observed in consulting sessions and were also interviewed about their consulting experiences. The detailed data produced by these interviews and observations were then used to gain a better understanding of the importance of the factors mentioned above. In the context of these factors, several key considerations of clients engaging in statistical consulting sessions emerged from the data. These considerations are discussed in this paper.
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