Winning New Business in Management Consultancy ... the Critical Success Factors

Policy Publications is an independent research and publishing company which specialises in producing research reports that help managers develop world-class company performance.

Real-life

experience from

82 management consultancies

Winning New Business in Management Consultancy

...the Critical Success Factors

Discover best practice among other consultancies

Learn new marketing strategies and techniques

Focus on issues that increase new business win rate

*Special offer for IMC members

(see below)

Published by Policy Publications in association with the Institute of Management Consultancy and the University of Luton

A practical report that helps you adopt

best practice when winning new business

Winning New Business in Management Consultancy...the Critical Success Factors is an essential new report that focuses on a core issue -- how do you win new business in a market that is becoming ever more competitive?

The market for management consultancy continues to grow... but, paradoxically, selling consultancy services is getting harder all the time in the face of more discriminating clients and a sharper focus on value-for-money results.

Of course, there have always been plenty of theories about what makes one consultancy more effective than another at selling its services. Now there are hard facts.

Winning New Business in Management Consultancy is based on the real-life experience of 82 consultancies... large, medium and small. Researchers collected performance data on 128 activities and issues concerned with winning new business in each of the consultancies.

Using a unique computer program, they analyzed the data to discover precisely which activities and issues separate the most successful (those that win more than half their pitches for new business) from the least successful (those that win less than half their pitches). Then the research team interviewed consultants to gain further insights on the findings.

The result is a fascinating picture which provides a best-practice outline for winning new business. And what makes it so relevant, is that it focuses on the issues that you face every day as you respond to enquiries and pitch for new projects.

Step by step, Winning New Business in Management Consultancy takes you through the analysis, carefully exploring each of the issues and pointing up the lessons. At every stage, you can see how the most successful compare with the least successful... and, of course, the average.

Moreover, because Winning New Business in Management Consultancy is part of a larger research project which is exploring how different professional services advisers win new business, the report provides fascinating comparisons and lessons from the broader world.

Throughout, the report is written specifically with the working management consultant in mind. It explores why consultancies want to develop new business and the role different members of staff play in developing it. It shows why the most successful consultancies are much better at getting business from some sources than the least successful.

It shows how the most successful consultancies beat the others hands down when it comes to making themselves attractive to potential clients -- and winning new business from existing clients. And how they also perform better at proactively seeking new business through different techniques.

But that's not all. The report explores which issues consultants consider important when deciding to pitch for new work -- and which factors might make them turn down new business.

Throughout Winning New Business in Management Consultancy scores heavily by providing practical how-to advice. It focuses on the key issues you should address as you prepare a proposal for new business.

The report takes you systematically through all the stages... preparing the proposal... making the pitch... communicating with clients... and negotiating to a successful close. Then it shows why the most successful consultancies are far better at learning from their new business pitches than the others.

Winning New Business in Management Consultancy...the Critical Success Factors is the output of an intensive nine-month research project carried out by Policy Publications in association with the Institute of Management Consultancy and the University of Luton.

Its full findings are not published anywhere else. This is a heavily action-oriented report that is essential reading and reference for any management consultancy that wants to develop its marketing and sales skills, access best practice and win more business.

Focus on the benefits you gain...

Provides detailed framework for winning new business.

Describes how to develop your consultancy proactively.

Shows how to make your consultancy more attractive to potential clients.

Identifies issues which make the big difference for the most successful consultancies.

Shows how to respond to new business enquiries more effectively.

Stimulates debate about how to improve competitiveness.

Focuses on the role staff can play in winning new business.

Provides insights into winning strategies and practices in other sectors.

Learn from the experience of other management consultants...

Winning New Business in Management Consultancy...the Critical Success Factors is rich in case study material. The case studies are all chosen to illustrate key aspects of best practice in winning new business.

W S Atkins uses its multi-disciplinary practice to establish footholds in new markets and then create business opportunities for other units in the firm.

French Thornton won a public service contract by consistently producing a quality response at every stage of a lengthy tendering process and by treating every interaction with the client as a sales opportunity.

Boardwish Change Management targets clients on the basis of extensive research and market knowledge and offers immediate value with each interaction.

FBI Consulting used its membership of consultancy network, the Richmond Group, to field a multi-disciplinary team and win a major piece of public sector market-testing work.

Tony Scott, a sole practitioner, took on a major insolvency practice, in order to win an important consultancy and training contract, demonstrating how differentiation can pay dividends.

Metra Martech overcame national barriers in opening up international markets and moved to establish itself in the US market.

Contents Summary

Executive summary

1 Developing new business

How the research was carried out

Overview of survey findings

Defining the most and least successful consultancies

Why companies develop new business

The roles people play

Where existing business comes from

Case study: playing to your strengths

2 Winning an invitation to bid

Learning from competitors and other professions

Becoming attractive to clients

What to do to attract bid invitations

Case study: developing long-term client relationships

3 Selecting the best prospects

Learning from competitors and other professions

What to consider when choosing new clients

Reasons for turning down new business

Case study: using research to target clients

4 Preparing the proposal

Learning from competitors and other professions

Key factors when preparing proposals

Communicating with the client

Building a winning pitch team

Case study: pitching within a virtual team

5 Making the pitch

Learning from competitors and other professions

Key factors when making a pitch

Case study: differentiating expertise during the pitch

6 Negotiating to a successful close

Learning from competitors and other professions

Conducting successful negotiations

Case study: winning new business in overseas markets

7 Learning lessons from the best

Why management consultants should learn from competitors and other professions

Learning from previous new business pitches

Key factors that point to best practice

Appendix 1: Statistical summary of questionnaire results

Appendix 2: Further reading

A top rated research team...

The research team for Winning New Business in Management Consultancy...the Critical Success Factors brings together a leading commentator on the management consultancy profession with an well-known practitioner and an experienced business editor and author.

Mick James (author) is a respected commentator on the management consultancy scene both in Britain and across the world. He was for five years editor of the industry's leading magazine Management Consultancy and has written about many aspects of consultancy for other business magazines and newspapers. He has a particular interest in the marketing of professional services. James is a regular conference speaker on consultancy subjects.

Colin Coulson-Thomas (executive editor) is director of the Business Development Forum and chairman of the ASK Europe plc group and other companies. He has marketed consultancy services in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia and has advised the boards of more than 50 major companies on strategic performance and business development issues. He is a visiting professor at Luton Business School. He has written more than 30 books including The Future of the Organisation and Individuals and Enterprise.

Peter Bartram (editor) is a business editor and author who has written widely on business development issues. He has helped dozen of companies develop and use winning marketing and sales messages. He has developed numerous innovative business research projects designed to help companies develop their businesses.

Policy Publications is an independent research and publishing company which specialises in producing research reports that help managers understand emerging business issues and develop world-class company performance.

The Institute of Management Consultancy was founded in 1962 and is the UK body which promotes excellence in management consultancy and the awarding body for the international Certified Management Consultant (CMC) qualification in the UK. IMC qualifies, supports and regulates individual management consultants whilst providing a forum for all management consultancy stakeholders. IMC's Client Support Service assists clients with the selection and use of management consultants. IMC currently has 3,700 members and 215 Registered Practices.

The University of Luton is one of the newest and liveliest universities in the UK and was the first to become an Investor in People. It has pioneered the development of transferable competencies and has established a portfolio of strategic customer relationships with major companies.

*A special offer for members of the

Institute of Management Consultancy

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