How to Successfully Manage Your Consulting Firm

Interview with Keith W., Global sales & Marketing Enablement – SAP America
 

Tell me about your past experience managing consulting firms. What were the lessons learned?

Usually you engage with a third-party firm because you need help, you are overwhelmed and have a time constraint. You want a consulting firm that will help you and not consume more of your time. You want a company that has a large list of quality resources.

In the past with Clarity, I have indicated what we were looking for and received a focused list of candidates and resumes that matched the profile I required. I narrowed it further to two or three candidates and brought them in for interviewing before selecting the consultant. This process made it easier and faster to bring a resource onboard to contribute to the project right away because they were exactly what we were looking for.

What are some best practices for managing consulting firms? What do you think are the most important concepts and have these helped you?

One of the main reasons relationships with consulting firms and consultants fail is because the goals of the project were not determined in advance or communicated clearly. The client has to be sure to communicate the goals clearly and provide the project description.

Anything the consulting firm can do to make the process faster and easier, and to narrow the search, is a benefit. When we do need help, it is important to make the firm’s search for a consultant more efficient and effective to get the right person onboard. Making sure we have the right skills and abilities make sure there is not a steep learning curve. The consulting firm needs to understand the client’s needs. We need to communicate expectations early on about the project as well as necessary skill sets and “nice-to-haves” of consultants.

Customer service is another important best practice that has helped in the past. With Clarity, the follow-up was really good. Every week or two, Clarity would contact me to see how things were going. If action was required it was prompt and appropriate.

An important concept is making it a simple engagement process/business practice so it is easy to work with the consulting firm and to simplify bureaucracy. When we bring on a full-time employee, it can be cumbersome. When bringing on a consultant for a short-term project, it is best for the consulting firm to simplify the process.

What does managing a vendor entail? Is there a process you use?

During the vendor search and relationship, we follow some key questions and processes. We review how long they have been in business, what types of projects/issues they specialize in, what markets they serve, how they measure successes and what resources are available for completion of the project (staff, sub-contractors, etc.)?

Then we look at their ability to meet schedules, what communication tools they use to inform clients of the project’s status, how they charge (per hour, per day, per project), and the overall billing rates. Lastly, we want to know whether or not they guarantee value-added outcomes?

Managing a vendor was pretty simple since it was a simple process with Clarity. I talked with others internally who have worked with Clarity in the past and they gave good reviews. It is easy to do business with Clarity. I did not need a demanding process managing Clarity as the communication was consistent. I was trying to manage the consultant and act as a liaison through the consultant and the third-party. If the consultant had a problem, we tried to solve the problem together.

How much time do you generally spend when managing a consulting firm? How much time do you think is necessary?

I would hope the amount of time spent managing one consulting firm to be less than one hour a week. The less time spent managing a firm the better.

What do you expect from the consulting firm when handling issues? Do you want the firm to propose solutions and findings?

I expect a consulting firm to provide flexibility and quick response when dealing with issues. If it is not the right fit, the consultant is not happy or there is a contract issue, the firm needs to be flexible and responsive. Do not force fit a relationship if it is not going to work.

I am open to other options and do listen to the firm’s idea on how to fix an issue. The consulting firm should keep emotions minimal, provide a professional response and do their due diligence.

What expectations do you set early on with a firm? Do you set up a process for vendor management?

The expectations we set early on came from our project plan, including the skills and qualifications of the consultant, the anticipated length of the project and how long we would need the person. The budget or cost was discussed later in this case.

There is an internal process working with preferred vendors. If we have never worked with a vendor before, it does take some time before being added to the preferred vendor list. There is more effort to work with a new vendor than with an existing and preferred supplier.

How often do you schedule check-in points with the vendor throughout the duration of the project?

I did not need to schedule any check-in times as Clarity’s Business Development Manager (Alicia) was proactive. She checked in with me every two to four weeks.

How do you build a relationship with a consulting firm? What key qualities or expectations are needed? What type of relationship do you usually seek with a vendor (hands-off, micromanage or monitor)?

Building a relationship with a consulting firm takes time. The competencies I look for in a firm are previous experience in the area, experience with similar projects, success stories and testimonials, real-life examples and references. If a firm doesn’t have these qualities, then it would make me hesitant.

I prefer hands-off management by exception. If the consultant is either really good or really bad, then I would approach the vendor. It would drive me crazy to have a vendor following up with me daily.

The working relationship with the firm should be easily manageable. The key quality for consulting firms would for them to meet the client’s expectations and do what is agreed upon.

How do you manage the relationship with the consulting firm?

Consulting firms should check in with clients regularly. Checking in through email is acceptable. I should expect proactive communication from vendors.

How do you evaluate a vendor’s performance?

A lot had to do with our project success. You evaluate a vendor’s performance based on the project outcome and the consultants’ performance. In this case, the Clarity consultant and the project were both on time, within budget and of good quality. If the project was not successful, then part of that would be based uon the consultant’s we brought on board. Some vendors do guarantee value-added outcomes, but in this case it was not an issue since I had seen samples of the firm’s work inside our company as well as a client list with names and phone numbers of references.

When a project is wrapping up, how do you end the relationship with the consulting firm? Will you stay in communication should a new project need arise? What factors do you consider when not contacting the vendor for future project needs?

At the end of a project, there should be a debriefing conversation with the consulting firm. This will allow us to state the lessons learned along the way and explore what things made a successful project.

We have a list of vendors with successful relationships. It is always easier to go back and work with someone you had success with before working with a new consulting firm. We did have periodic check-ins for future opportunities from Clarity, which I do not mind as long as it is not daily.

When considering vendors for future projects, we look at past experiences. If a consulting firm sent us poor quality consultants who did not help the project, we probably will not contact them again. This has happened in the past, where a firm sends a few really good consultants that only stay two to three weeks. This bait and switch tactic, where the firm replaces the really strong consultants with several less experienced consultants that stay longer, is not helpful. You will have all these consultants showing up and you feel the firm is just trying to take advantage of the situation. Some of the larger firms try this scope creep strategy.

Word of mouth is important. We communicate with internal groups who have worked with a particular consulting firm to find out their experiences. If there is a firm that I am not aware of, I ask for references to see what others have to say.

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