Leadership and talent through recession (and beyond)
This post follows Rob’s and Simon England’s article on protecting value through a recession.
Protecting value and succeeding beyond recession
By Rob Garner and Simon England Uncertainty in business is not new, but few would disagree that the current landscape has more than enough of it. Even before the political upheaval and market turmoil seen in the last half of 2022, there had been a gathering of storm clouds: continuing disruption from the Covid pandemic; […]
The right time to deploy a PSA
There are plenty of articles about the benefits of deploying a Professional Services Automation solution in a growing consulting business – not least from the platform vendors themselves. The challenge is often choosing the right time to do so: do it too soon and you risk selecting a solution that fails to keep pace with […]
Creating an effective operating model for a professional services organisation, without adding bureaucracy
Introducing new processes into a workplace isn’t always popular. People associate them with needless admin and extra work. But well thought out structured processes do the opposite – they streamline activity and boost productivity. And at some point in the journey of every growing business, creating them becomes vital. That moment often arrives when your […]
A simple guide to vastly improving your sales process
For some reason, ‘selling’ has always been an unsavoury word in the consultancy business. Some see it as being beneath them, some will outright refuse to do it. But why? There’s nothing to feel uncomfortable about. Selling is, in essence, exactly what good business is about on almost every level. The key is to recognise […]
How to successfully sell your consultancy
By Rob Garner Selling a consultancy business – or any business for that matter – isn’t rocket science or a dark art. But it does require careful planning and execution if you’re going to maximise the capital value of the business, and secure the right buyer. Let’s consider the selling process in those two phases […]
Using a weighted sales pipeline to make better resourcing decisions
By Stuart Gallie “…you can’t please all of the people all of the time” Anyone who’s ever worked in resourcing, capacity management or talent deployment within a services business will recognise the words of poet John Lydgate. When allocating people to engagements and projects, “all of the people” can include clients, sales executives, account managers, […]
Why do I need a PSA anyway?
Many businesses reach the point where investing in an accounting package makes much more sense than continuing to manage the firm’s complex finances on a spreadsheet. And the same logic holds true for investing in Professional Services Automation (PSA). When driving improved business performance becomes important and you need to manage your back and front-office activities more effectively, […]
Good governance has never been more important
How your business operates is always important, but it’s particularly critical in more challenging times such as the ones we’re facing at the moment. One of the keys to operating effectively is good governance, underpinned by accurate and relevant management information (MI). Real business impact When you’re battling to stay buoyant in stormy economic times, […]
Using good governance to win ‘good business’
One of the key benefits of establishing good governance is the role it plays in enabling you to win “good” or profitable business that you can successfully deliver. Failure to do so can result in you taking on “bad business”, which could lead to both a loss-making project and, critically, reputational damage if you have taken […]