In-house consulting and strategy groups are becoming a popular alternative to external consulting firms. Today, many large companies like Cisco, Siemens, Google, Disney, IBM, and Deutsche Bank, contain consulting groups to help solve operational problems. Major companies have discovered that internal consulting groups are more cost-effective, attract top talent, and have higher levels of confidentiality than external business consulting companies. The following are the top tips for companies that want to set up an In-house consulting firm.
Set Size and Objectives. Decide how big your In-house consulting firm will be. Your firm must be small enough to justify expenditures, but big enough to handle the workload. Also consulting managers must establish and maintain clear objectives to measure success.
Carefully Pick Projects. Extensively research, staff, and deliver projects with clear objectives, deliverables, and start and completion dates. Avoid requests to work on projects with no clear ending dates or fuzzy deliverables.
Fund From Within. Charge full costs to clients. Ensure that clients are willing and able to pay all the fees from their own budgets. Self-funding ensures that the group remains neutral to the parent company.
Pay for the Best. Invest in recruitment. Focus on professional development, offer opportunities for advancement, create clear paths for advancement, and have a fun team. The entire team should be involved in the recruitment process. Try to allocate 5-15% of the team’s time to running recruiting campaigns, and interviewing candidates. Offer competitive salaries or bonus benefits to attract top talent.
Exceed Client Expectations. It is not enough to win on price alone. You must consistently go beyond customer expectations. To do this consistently, management must foster a culture of excellence with clear values. Staff should challenge each other and hold one another accountable. This ensures that employees will give their best to every project even when management isn’t looking.
The business consulting industry is undergoing a transformation. Major and medium sized companies are starting to realize the cost savings and security that comes with In-house consulting groups. If you are a business consulting merchant interested in In-house consulting, you will need an experienced payment processor to handle client payments. EMB is the #1 business consulting payment processor online. Start your application today.