Sales approaches of consulting firms have become remarkably sophisticated as the scale of consulting projects sold has rapidly ratcheted up . . . . . . . . . . The economic models of the various consulting firms differ primarily in terms of which of the variables of rates, leverage, and utilization they emphasize to drive profits depending on their core service areas . . . . . . . . . . The consulting industry, once a client-focused profession, has increasingly become a revenue-obsessed business . . . . . . . . . . Your purchasing function, which may be skilled at driving down the prices, may not promote the required business objectives because they do not fully understand the impacts to scope and consultant resource selection that arise from squeezing fees . . . . . . . . . . Buyers of consulting services should look at the economic model of the consulting firm and consider whether the services being offered are appropriate to it from both a capability and a cost perspective . . . . . . . . . . Simply following a methodology will not guarantee the end result; it could in fact waste a lot of time, effort, and money if unnecessary steps are executed or circumstances arise that are not anticipated by the methodology . . . . . . . . . .

Welcome

Time to Even the Odds

This site is designed to provide a repository of information and collection of resources for buyers of management consulting services. There is a lot of information available to support user’s of management consultants, but it is scattered all over the internet and beyond. This site is intended to consolidate various types of information related to the management consulting industry, from a buyer’s perspective. It is designed to be a virtual instruction manual and toolkit that will assist organizations to get greater value from management consultants.

On this site you will find pointers to:
- The Consulting Industry – Industry level information – news, analysis, academic and other research,
- Resources for Buyers – Practical Advice on when and how to use consultants
- Food for Thought – perspectives and commentary designed to get you thinking, and hopefully get you participating

We hope to help to even the odds by providing buyers of consulting services access to knowledge and information equivalent to that management consultants have when selling and delivering their services.

Suggestion on other resources or links to include on this site are welcome – please contact us.

Below are some of our recent posts – more topics can be accessed from the sidebar menu.

7 Dec 11 – Consult Magazine – What Clients Really Want

29 May 11 – Don’t let consultants dictate the team composition

25 May 11 – Consulting project should be planned based on the your pace, not the consultants’

4 May 11 – Interview with Professor Robert Barnwell

23 Apr 11 – Buying Consulting Services In Asia

9 Jun 11 – Clients and Consultants: Mars and Venus?

31 May 11 – Nuuko, a new kind of consulting company

28 May 11 – Profession or Business: Consultants and Lawyers face similar issues

26 May 11 – CEOs don’t think – they hire McKinsey to do that

24 May 11 – The terrible threat of unlicensed interior designers

“It is an infallible rule that a Prince who is not wise himself cannot be well advised.” – Niccoló Machiavelli, The Prince. 1537.