Top Consulting Firms

Information technology consultants are particularly helpful if you have a certain program or system that your company is implementing. IT consulting and strategy firms have highly skilled and qualified experts in place who will be able to come to your offices, implement a program, troubleshoot any issues while the implementation is taking place, and train full-time employees how to properly utilize any system.

Some IT consulting firms will be able to send consultants who are well-versed in developing programs too. This may enable them to customize certain programs or software to your business goals, ensuring that you find even more success with the product AND their assistance. IT consulting agencies can also include certain security analysts, website developers and computer network architects.

Marketing consulting firms gather competitor analysis, detailed audits, market share information and business and demographic data to advise a business on possible marketing ventures. Top marketing consulting firms can also work with companies on executing a new marketing strategy across applicable channels.

However, they shouldn’t be confused with digital agencies -- although they can sometimes see a similar focus, marketing consulting firms provide a much more mathematical, analytical approach to marketing. They are well-versed in overseeing projects, budget management, and translating data into actionable outreach.  

Human resources (HR) consulting firms are contracted to help businesses with employee relations. They aren’t a replacement for a traditional HR department. Instead, they should be used to improve the general function of an HR team or department.

Specific tasks that HR consultants can assist with improving include defining employment terms, facilitating a change in upper management, determining retirement processes, overall talent management, and implementing career development and growth opportunities for various team members and the company at large.

Financial consulting is another highly coveted strategy firm that businesses enlist. The best financial consulting firms offer a wide variety of revenue-related services, including risk management, investment opportunities, tax assistance, company restructuring and real estate.

Top finance-centric consulting and strategy firms usually have access to top talent pools. Consultants are highly-screened, heavily tested, and usually held to a strict GPA cut off from top MBA programs. Enlisting the help of a financial advisory firm will give you access to brilliant minds that will help to keep your business safe.

One of the best aspects of partnering with a consulting and strategy firm is their personal attention to a client’s individual needs. Not every business is the same and not every company operates in the same way or is striving towards the same business growth goals. Therefore, the following questions will give you a better idea how they will adapt their skill set to you -- not your business to them.

• How dedicated will team members be to our company/project?
• Will any consultants be placed in our office?
• What is your plan for tailoring your services to suit our business needs?
• How do you determine achievable business growth goals?

The way in which a best consulting and strategy firm works is imperative to its success. How consultants operate, create a strategy and ultimately deliver results should be streamlined and organized -- anything less may be a waste of your time and money, resulting in less-than-desirable outcomes.

In addition, make sure you understand how the firm develops a process logistically -- is it a simple step-by-step course of action (linear) or is it more collaborative, free-flowing and able to adjust as information is continually gathered (iterative)? The questions below should help clarify this.

• How long do you think the project will last? How did you determine that timeframe?
• How often will we be communicating with the consultants from your firm?
• What is your process for creating a roadmap or strategy?
• Is the process linear or iterative? Why do you believe this is the most successful route?
• How do you plan to hold consultants and team members accountable for deliverables and deadlines?
• How will you solidify the results we will be striving towards?

Your objectives may seem difficult to quantify -- especially with a more abstract project, like improving company culture. However, every project should be striving towards a specific goal, and top consulting firms are very familiar with how to accurately measure the success of them. Don’t be afraid to ask specific questions about the process and previous successes or failures, like the questions below.

• What clients have your firm worked with?
• What similar project have you worked on and what were the results?
• Have clients been happy with the results following similar projects?
• Have you ever had to revisit a project with particular clients to improve results after the initial end of a project?
• How do you plan to measure results?

Of course, the cost of services should always be discussed before committing to a consulting or strategy firm. However, take special care to understand exactly who or what you are paying for, how often, and if there are any special deals or long-term partnerships you could strike -- especially if you are in need of several services.

• What is the cost of your service(s)?
• Are their tiers to pricing?
• Is there a discount or lesser price is we use your firm for more than one initiative?
• Are costs one-time, based on results, per hour or for a general time frame?
• Are there any hidden costs we might accrue throughout this project?

When you hire a top consulting and strategy firm, you aren’t just paying for their stellar reputation -- you’re paying for a collection of experts who will help advance your business. Therefore, you need to take the time to understand each potential team members history, areas of expertise and prior successes and failures.

It’s important to remember that a firm or consultant’s failure shouldn’t necessarily be a red flag. “I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000,” former Chairman and CEO of IBM Thomas John Watson, Sr. famously said. “No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?” If you notice a project that didn’t produce great results, instead ask the consultants or firm what they learned from their mistakes and how they would prevent them from happening in future projects.

Incorporating a consulting and strategy firm into your business plan means that you are essentially handing the keys to your business to an outsider. So, it is imperative that you develop a strong and trusting relationship with the agency AND its consultants before you sign on the dotted line.

As President and COO of Luxor and Excalibur Hotel and Casino Renee West said: “You can have the best strategy and the best building in the world, but if you don’t have the hearts and minds of the people who work with you, none of it comes to life.” It’s your duty to make sure that any consultants are as invested in the success and well-being of your company as you and your internal employees are.

Unfortunately, cost is always a factor when choosing the perfect business consulting agency to outsource to. Although it shouldn’t be your end-all, be-all, make sure that the overall price, team size and personal attention all suit your needs AND your budget.

For example, a small startup may find more success working with a smaller boutique consulting firm that can work with their flexible budget while giving them copious amounts of personal attention as opposed to a global agency with higher-profile clients and larger accounts.

When all is said and done and you’ve discovered the most outstanding consulting and strategy firm that will champion for your brand, work with your legal team to create a comprehensive contract.

Although run-of-the-mill contracts may seem good enough, it might also be worth your while to draft a separate non-disclosure agreement to protect private business data, information and future plans. While no one enters into a professional partnership expecting it to sour, airtight contracts will protect both you AND the firm and will ultimately breed a safer and more positive working relationship.

Before signing a contract, it’s important to understand the firm’s history of success. Top consulting firms will have long track records of getting results for their clients. They should be open to sharing examples of past projects with you and to detailing their approach (without giving away any sensitive information, of course). Make sure to take the trouble of checking the references provided by the consulting firm, and ask specific questions about the reference’s experience of working with the firm. A proven track record of success is the best indication that the firm is capable and effective. 

Solving difficult problems requires creative thinking, and it’s important that the consulting firm you end up working with will be able to come up with innovative ideas to meet the challenges inherent to your project. Top consulting firms value creative thinkers and make these people central to their organization. Be sure to try to get a sense for the firm’s team before making a decision. Are the consultants on the team passionate? Interested in your business? Committed to thinking outside the box? If so, it’s a great indication that they’ll bring value to your project.

Any relationship between a client and a consultant requires open communication. Communication is essential to making sure goals are met, challenges are communicated, and issues are resolved before they become catastrophic. The top consulting firms in business today understand that they live and die by their ability to communicate with their clients. Look to partner with a firm that values transparency and honesty -- that’s how you’ll know that together you’ll be able to weather the issues, delays, and challenges that are part of any project.

Top consulting firms have exceptional leadership. Culture is a huge element of a firm’s ability to be successful. It contributes to employee happiness and productivity. It makes sure quality talent is recognized and promoted. It guides the team’s approach to their work. A happy culture is good for clients. An unhappy one doesn’t bode well for your project. The thing about culture is that it begins at the top, so look for a consulting firm that has a strong leader steering the ship. Check out what people say about the company on social media and how employees rate the experience of working there on websites like Glassdoor. Doing so can offer insight into how the company is run.