Reasons for Selecting a Particular Consulting Firm

Both clients and consultants agree that the ability to deliver is the most important reason why clients chose a particular consulting firm (see Table 1.2). Clients do not want consultants who fall into the conventional trap of writing a report, then walking away from its unfeasible recommendations. They want consultants who are committed, who can roll up their sleeves and make things happen, and who are accountable. Consultants, too - as the case studies in this book demonstrate - are keen to slough off their hit-and-run image.

Table 1.2: Factors leading clients to select a particular consulting firm, ranked by importance

Rank	Attribute
1	Ability to deliver
2	Experienced consulting team
3	Specialist expertise
4	Originality of approach
5	Experience of client sector/market
6	Reputation
7	Existing relationship with individual
8	Technological resources
9	Recommendation from client networks
10	Existing relationship with firm
11	Price competitiveness
12	Size of firm/team
13	Geographical representation

Given the focus on delivery, it is not surprising that the next most important factors in choosing a consulting firm are specialist knowledge (the consultants know what to do) and an experienced consulting team (they have done it before). Perhaps more surprising is the importance of originality. Surprising in the sense that innovation does not often sit comfortably with experience and track record. The former implies doing something differently; the latter, doing something the same way. But research has repeatedly suggested that this combination of the new and the tried-and-tested is exactly what clients want. They want, in effect, to have their cake and eat it.

For consulting firms, this poses a real challenge, as the people, process and systems that encourage innovation are not necessarily those that guarantee results. Another challenge is the relatively low level of importance accorded to some of the traditional tools of competition - geographical coverage, a firm's reputation, word-of-mouth referrals, existing relationships, even price. These factors are important, but, when it comes to choosing consultants, nowhere near as important as being able to deliver.

Of course, no two consulting projects are alike. To what extent is it possible to draw conclusions across an industry where the work undertaken varies from strategy to systems integration? Segmenting the MCA Awards Survey data reveals differences, not just between types of consulting projects, but between the attitudes of clients and consultants.

Firms involved in strategy consulting tend to think that clients rely more on traditional selection criteria - a firm's reputation, word-of-mouth referral and original thinking - than they do when purchasing other types of consulting (see Figure 1.1). In practice, strategy clients' attitudes are close to the overall average (see Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.1: Consulting firms' perceptions of the evaluation criteria used by clients when hiring strategy consulting firms, compared to the other types of consulting

Figure 1.2: Clients' actual evaluation criteria when hiring strategy consulting firms, compared to the other types of consulting

In HR consulting, clients' and consultants' views of selection criteria are closer, although consultants appear to underestimate the importance attached by clients to a firm's knowledge of a particular sector. HR clients are also less likely than other kinds of client to rely on existing relationships and word-of-mouth referral. The factors involved in selecting IT-related consultants differ from those used elsewhere: both clients and consultants agree that technology resources, geographical coverage and size of firm are all more important.

Given the growth of offshore outsourcing, it is perhaps surprising that geographical coverage is less important to outsourcing-related consulting. In fact, this probably reflects the fact that the MCA Awards focus on consulting around outsourcing deals - sourcing strategy, supplier selection, negotiation, change management - all of which activities are likely to happen close to the client's site, rather than overseas. Word-of-mouth recommendation is more important for outsourcing-related consulting - and is certainly more important than consultants seem to realize. By contrast, change management clients agree with consultants that existing relationships are particularly important for this type of work.