When the Financial Times reported its annual list of consulting firms, it triggered an interesting challenge from Source Global Research, one of the industry’s most respected commentators. In their blog, Source questioned why the Financial Times report had not included more client feedback and opinion on the performance of consulting firms. They went a step further, stating that according to their own research only 38% of clients agreed that consulting firms had added more in value than they charged in fees. An alarming statistic.
My heart sunk. I’ve invested 30 years of my life in Operational Consulting, almost all of it with Proudfoot. One of Proudfoot’s key business model components is our ability to deliver realized, sustainable results tracked to the client P&L and signed off and agreed by the client management team. Of course, we do this through our client’s people, working side by side with them to realize those results.
This statistic led me to ask my team to go back to our knowledge management system and track the results of our last 1,000 engagements. The results are remarkable and I feel compelled to tell the story, to bring confidence to clients that returns can be realized far greater than the investment they made. Of those 1,000 engagements, 621 were results based (the difference between 1,000 and 621 were milestone based pieces of work).
The scorecard was overwhelming:
- We delivered 110% of the benefits we committed to – that means we under promised and over delivered
- We realized some US$5.6 billion in annual benefits from those 621 operational improvement programs
- On average, we delivered a 4:1 return on the consulting investment. Of course, that comes from a range that tops out at 12:1
Those are results to be proud of. I’m thrilled we can give our clients that confidence and our teams the reward of a job well done. While you may not read about us in the Financial Times, our teams along with their clients, routinely and quietly, overachieve.
I’m thrilled to continue to see Proudfoot delivering results for our clients. Whether that is $295m in annualized benefits for a global gold mining asset in South America (12:1 ROI) or $36m for a food processor in California.
And it’s all through the transformative power of people.
What if you could utilize your most valuable resources in a more effective way?
With Proudfoot, you can.
Article by Pamela Hackett, CEO, Proudfoot
