When instability is coming from each course—the financial system, political setting, wars, and the job market —how do consulting companies survive and thrive?
Conditions like these are precisely why the Hinge Analysis Institute conducts its annual Excessive Development Examine of the consulting trade in partnership with Deltek. Consulting companies—like all different skilled providers companies—are nonetheless experiencing vital uncertainty. Over 300 consulting companies participated on this yr’s research. Their high concern for 2023? Unpredictability within the market, adopted intently by a scarcity of high expertise. As we speak’s consulting companies are keen to seek out new methods to lift their visibility, entice new shoppers and broaden their current shopper base, however they usually don’t understand how. Top-of-the-line methods to attain enterprise progress is to study from the methods and ways of the trade’s most profitable companies. We name these organizations “Excessive Development Corporations.”
On this article, we spotlight a couple of of the findings from the 2023 Excessive Development Examine: Consulting Version by outlining the 4 key benefits of Excessive Development consulting companies that helped cement their path to progress and profitability. Specializing in what you may management in an unsure setting will assist consulting companies like yours develop a advertising and marketing system that delivers highly effective outcomes yr after yr.
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Defining Excessive Development Consulting Corporations
The Hinge Analysis Institute defines a consulting agency as a “Excessive Development” agency when it has a compound annual progress price of 20% or higher over a three-year interval. What’s spectacular is simply how briskly these companies are rising. Within the determine under, we see that Excessive Development consulting companies grew 4 instances quicker than their Common Development friends.
Not solely are the quickest rising companies far outpacing the No Development and Common Development consulting companies, Excessive Development consulting companies are additionally twice as worthwhile.
Key Benefit 1: Know-how
This yr’s information revealed that Excessive Development companies undertake and use enterprise improvement and advertising and marketing software program at a higher price than their slower rising friends. Whereas digital transformation has been a buzzword within the consulting trade in recent times, the very best performing companies are strolling the stroll. Many consulting companies are possible serving to their shoppers with their digital transformation technique and implementation. And lots of Excessive Development companies have turned these abilities inward and are having fun with the advantages of a profitable digital transformation. The determine under reveals that Excessive Development Corporations are over 3X extra more likely to have gone by way of digital transformation than their No Development friends. There are nonetheless many companies, nonetheless, which have but to finish their digital transformation and benefit from the fruits of a totally deployed system. This can be a key benefit now, however ultimately the pack will catch as much as the leaders.
The research additionally highlights which enterprise improvement applied sciences are utilized by Excessive Development companies to enhance effectivity and use information to grasp the evolving wants of shoppers and prospects. On this means, consulting companies can ship a extra personalized resolution with higher effectivity to their shoppers—a win for each side: higher deliverables utilizing fewer labor sources.
Key Benefit 2: Expertise
At Hinge, we’ve got been listening to from our consulting shoppers that it’s taking longer to shut new enterprise, and potential shoppers are urgent for a similar worth at lowered prices. On the identical time, consulting companies are fishing in the identical pond for the highest expertise to satisfy these increased shopper calls for. On this yr’s research, we discovered that to catch the very best individuals, you want a nice firm tradition constructed on transparency, authenticity, and team-focused initiatives. We additionally discovered that Excessive Development companies are doing a greater job of constructing that firm tradition, as illustrated within the determine under. Having a fascinating firm tradition is likely to be the ultimate deciding issue when high candidates are deciding between a number of presents.
Within the research, we dive deeper into which actions and advantages are most crucial to constructing an interesting firm tradition. We additionally discover what particular abilities staff at high consulting companies want to satisfy at this time’s shopper wants. We additionally discover what abilities Excessive Development companies are more than likely to outsource, and why.
Key Benefit 3: Advertising and marketing
This yr’s research dives deeper than ever into Excessive Development companies’ high advertising and marketing priorities, high advertising and marketing methods, use of social media, and the way they’ve expanded the position of the advertising and marketing workforce into non-traditional areas.
There may be one query that’s on most consulting companies’ minds: “How a lot ought to I allocate to my advertising and marketing price range?” The figures under present that Excessive Development companies are spending extra on advertising and marketing and are seeing a considerably higher variety of digital leads.
A vital means Excessive Development companies generate these high-quality digital leads is by producing a gradual stream of high-quality instructional content material. Actually, this was the primary precedence for all consulting companies within the research. However it’s not sufficient to easily produce content material. It’s good to produce and advertise accurately. Take a look at this current submit by Lee Frederiksen to study why and the way a content-based advertising and marketing program works.
Key Benefit 4: Technique
One final benefit loved by Excessive Development companies is within the realm of technique. One key differentiator of Excessive Development consulting companies is that they look ahead to the long run as an alternative of turning to the previous for steerage. With the extent of uncertainty within the present market, nobody has a crystal ball to make sense of all of it. However some key challenges are starting to emerge, as you may see within the determine under. Excessive Development companies’ high three considerations are market volatility, elevated competitors and downward worth strain on providers. Whereas there’s a substantial amount of settlement on this checklist between Excessive Development and No Development companies, be aware the areas the place No Development companies differ most: the necessity for brand new abilities, managing a distant workforce and generational adjustments. These are points that many Excessive Development companies have already handled. The largest space of distinction for Excessive Development companies—automation/synthetic intelligence—is a sign of how these companies are trying additional forward than their slower-growing friends. Excessive Development companies normally see the tide coming in earlier than the others. Corporations can have a look at this checklist to gauge the place their enterprise challenges stack up. Is your agency apprehensive in regards to the incorrect factor and placing an excessive amount of effort into one thing that received’t remedy future issues?
The complete report additionally examines the position of M&A within the consulting trade, what subjects and traits consulting companies wish to study extra about in 2023, the best way Excessive Development companies versus No Development companies are approaching ESG (and why), and the way conducting analysis can inform your agency’s key strategic choices.
Placing the Knowledge to Work
As we’ve discovered over the eight consecutive years we’ve got performed this research, {the marketplace} is ever-evolving. In case you are feeling the challenges of an unsure market, you aren’t alone. Uncertainty is the primary enterprise problem dealing with skilled providers companies at this time—and consulting companies are not any totally different. What separates Excessive Development consulting companies from their No Development friends is the delicate advertising and marketing system they’ve constructed to drive progress and profitability, yr after yr. You should use the info in our report to assist your agency navigate the unsure instances forward and begin to construct that profitable advertising and marketing system. And if you happen to want some assist, make sure you attain out to us right here at Hinge.
