There’s a long-standing joke about consultants borrowing your watch and then charging you to tell you the time. In the past, this was a reasonable observation and a passable business joke! However, things have changed. Consultants today have to deliver clear business benefit and be seen to deliver it. The ‘hit and run’ is no longer acceptable, not only to clients but also to consultants themselves.
A better route is to build a partnership to deliver value over time. Progressive organisations recognise the benefits of engaging independent and objective expertise to stimulate insights and ideas that may not otherwise emerge within their own organisation. They are also more open to business models that supplement core capability with other specialist skills, bringing a mix of knowledge and creative thinking to bear on the challenges of succeeding in today’s competitive and increasingly regulated markets.
In fact, this is good old-fashioned common sense: no-one is good at everything and collaboration can often unlock greater benefits than flying solo.
At Customer Journey Consultancy, we re-focus and re-energise our clients’ in-house knowledge and ambition to better advantage. Of course, we have to ask questions, review data and assess results. Depending on the objective, we may have to facilitate, support, influence or coach project teams in order to deliver the best possible outcome. We are happy to discuss ROI although we will need to understand our client’s base data and established practice in order to have a meaningful dialogue.
We bring our own expertise and experience of working across a range of sectors and challenges, sometimes augmenting our in-house capability with that available from our selected network of proven experts. Our clients value our ability to ‘flex up’ and agree that it provides a cost-effective way to ensure that the most relevant and skilled team helps to resolve their challenges. Whether considering a new initiative or seeking a fresh injection of energy to a project that has stalled, it makes sense to consider external help.
What we do not do is appear at the beginning and then leave you in the hands of graduate trainees until its time to pay. We are involved throughout assignments, either doing or managing or both.
If you are interested in exploring how we might work together to solve your key challenges, please call Stephen Grey or Martin Wright on 0845 8382 159.
