539: A strategy to navigate a paradox (with Wendy Smith)

In this podcast, and related article, we are going to talk about value-based fees. And I am going to explain to you why value-based fees seldom work. We will also explain why value-based fees are misunderstood. And they are misunderstood in a very fundamental way. Value-based fees can only work if certain supply and demand conditions in the market are met, or if your client is naïve. If a consulting firm understands this concept, they have a higher probability of securing higher-margin value-based fees. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE STRATEGY TRAINING PODCASTS: If you enjoy our podcasts, we will appreciate if you visit our Case Interviews podcast or Strategy Skills podcast on iTunes and leave a quick review. It helps more people find us. COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn WANT TO LEARN FROM FORMER STRATEGY PARTNERS? REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

20 Touko 20167min

A very common strategy for a management consulting firm to displace an incumbent and serve a client is to show an problem / insight / opportunity that the client has not realized before. Unfortunately, this does not work that well in building client relationships and driving sales. In fact, a brilliant insight by itself may even lead to more work for the competition. In this podcast, and related article, we discuss this issue and address how to fix it. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

13 Touko 20166min

In this podcast, and related article, we discuss how to manage failure. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

7 Touko 20167min

In this podcast, and related article, I discuss how to resign, and especially how to resign if you are part of the inner circle of the firm and office. The business model of McKinsey, BCG and that of other firms expects this. When not expected at your firm, it is even more important you handle this correctly. If you are part of the inner circle most of the best practices you read about will not apply to you. Most of the company rules and guidelines will certainly not apply to you. I also discuss some ways in which members of my inner circle resigned. Never ever repeat their mistakes. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

20 Huhti 201615min

The importance of gaining a client's trust via a solid reputation in the market places a premium on leaders who are skillful in building client relationships. No one would expect a consulting firm with poor reputation to thrive. After all, any firm's future is only as bright as its reputation in the market. It takes a strategic eye to focus on building client relationships for the long-term, even if it means sacrificing some revenue, and individual compensation, in the short-term. In this podcast we talk about how we approach building client relationships. More specifically, we discuss how we handle negotiating fees with clients. We dive into: Should you consider competing on price? What competing on price does to your firm? If you compete on price what signal are you sending to the client? Competing on price may bring in some extra revenue in the short-term, but will be damaging to the health of your business in the medium and long-term. Hence, competing on price actually destroys value and should be avoided. However, if you are a small boutique consulting firm and you choose not to compete on price, how should you compete? In this podcast we also share with you an alternative to competing on price that works for us. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

8 Huhti 201611min

The Emerging Leaders Program (also called Emerging Fellows Program) is a scholarship we award to promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds. We help them plan their studies, select schools and map out their entire path to elite consulting firms, and beyond. We carefully train and groom them. This is a significant scholarship and we have high expectations. In this podcast (and related article), using Sveta’s story, we discuss what we expect of scholarship recipients and why we have this expectation. We also discuss how we develop young people with tremendous potential. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

1 Huhti 201612min

In every single season of The Consulting Offer female PhDs have dominated the show through their skills, learning pace and performance. And they have all been foreign. Two are Chinese and one is Nigerian. In this podcast we discuss why this may be the case. Why does this one group do so well over MBAs and undergraduates despite the general consensus that PhDs are weaker in cases. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

24 Maalis 201610min

This is a frustrating topic for many reasons. You will see it cropping up in TCO III a lot, and hurting one participant significantly. Therefore, we want to address this topic via a podcast and hope it never comes up again. Too many clients want to use a resume format because it (1) looks good, (2) was recommended by the school, (3) they spent a lot of time on it, (4) it is a better use of space or (5) they cannot understand why it should change. In this podcast we explain why a bad (in your opinion) resume format needs to be evaluated using very different metrics. This is an important podcast. Listen to it. SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR CASE INTERVIEWS OR ON HOW TO CONDUCT STRATEGY, OPERATIONS OR IMPLEMENTATION CONSULTING STUDIES REFER TO THE FIRMSCONSULTING ORIGINAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.

17 Maalis 20167min