Welcome back to Smart Consulting Sourcing, the only podcast about consulting procurement. In this journey called “How to buy consulting services like a pro,” together, we’ll explore insider knowledge and help you master the ins and outs of the consulting procurement world.
Today, we’re going to dive into the next steps of finding the perfect consulting firm – refining your list of candidates and checking their references.
Let’s kick things off by revisiting last week’s episode and having a recap on the key takeaways on how to identify the best consulting firm for your project.
So, how do you find the perfect consulting firm? First, you need to define your Consulting DNA markers and prioritize them based on your project’s unique needs. It’s like finding a soulmate, but for business!
Before you go searching for external consultants, make sure to do a quick make-or-buy assessment to see if you’ve got the resources in-house. Don’t want to outsource something you can do yourself, right?
When looking for consulting firms, don’t forget to tap into internal sources like your company’s preferred providers, databases, and colleagues. They might have some valuable recommendations or warnings!
External sources like consulting directories (shout-out to Improveo.app!), articles, and professional associations can also help you broaden your search. And let’s not forget the trusty search engine!
Not all partners within consulting firms are created equal, so make sure you identify the right ones for your project. Improveo.app, LinkedIn and thought leadership pieces are great tools for spotting partners and evaluating their expertise.
Follow these steps, and you’ll have a solid list of potential consulting firms that match your ideal Consulting DNA profile. It’s like building a dream team, but for consultants!
In case you missed our previous episode, you can listen to all our episodes on Spotify, iTunes, or YouTube. And if you prefer reading, you can find the full transcripts in the Thought Leadership section of consultingquest.com.
Today we’ll be diving into the next step of finding the perfect consulting firm for your project: connecting with potential partners and verifying their interest, availability, and fit. Let’s get right into it!
Streamlining Your Candidate Pool and Verifying Their References – An Essential Stage in Your RFP Process
Now that you have your list of potential consulting firms, it’s time to get to know them better and refine that list. How? By having a good old-fashioned conversation.
Talking to the partners you have identified is crucial to understand their culture, approach, and expertise. During these calls, you can also check whether they are a good fit for your project and whether they are available to work with you.
Now, don’t spill the beans just yet! This is an exploratory call, not a briefing, so you don’t need to give away too much about your project. Instead, describe the expertise and experience you are looking for and provide some details about the team in charge of the project.
You can also give them a rough idea of your budget and timeline, so they can assess whether they’re a good fit for your project. Remember, these exploratory calls are precious to check your assumptions and make sure they’re interested in the project you want to launch.
Once you’ve narrowed down your list, it’s time to confer with the project sponsor and leader to decide which consulting firms you want to include in your RFP process.
Reference checks: The Crucial Final Step in the RFP Process
After you have shortlisted a few consulting firms and started the RFP process, the last step is to check their references. It’s important to take the time to verify the skills and expertise of potential consulting firms before making a final decision. Many companies make the mistake of believing the words of consultants without actually checking their references, and this can lead to disappointment and wasted resources.
Checking references allows you to gather feedback from former clients and evaluate the consultants’ performance on important dimensions, such as their ability to understand your situation and the challenge you’re trying to solve, their knowledge and experience in the relevant area, and their fit with your team and culture.
Additionally, it’s important to note that consultants aren’t just a sum of their skills and experience. Some consultants may be highly technical and focused on hard aspects, while others may be more focused on soft elements like people and relationships. Depending on your project, you may need one or the other, so it’s essential to know what type of consultants you’re dealing with. You may not find this information on their website, so checking references can be a valuable source of insight.
Ultimately, checking references is a crucial step in finding the right consulting firm for your needs. It can help you avoid disappointments and ensure that you’re working with a consultant who truly understands your situation and has the expertise to solve your challenges. So, don’t underestimate the importance of checking references when selecting a consulting firm.
When Is the Best Time to do reference checks?
The best time to check references is during the final selection round, after you have shortlisted three to five consulting firms at most and have reviewed the last version of their proposals. It’s important to ask for references early in the process, so you can get feedback from former clients and use it to feed your grading of the different proposals and impact your decision.
But you also don’t want to ask for references too early, when you have a long list of potential candidates, as it could be overwhelming and time-consuming to check references for all of them. So, wait until you have narrowed down your list to a manageable number before you start checking references.
Essential Questions to Ask Former Clients of Your Consulting Firm During Reference Checks
What do you need to ask them? Remember, your goal is to assess if the consulting firm is the right fit for your needs. Here are some questions you can ask:
∙ Have the consultants demonstrated a good understanding of your situation and the challenge you’re trying to solve?
∙ Do they have the knowledge and experience to resolve the issue at hand?
∙ Will you be able to collaborate effectively with the consultant?
∙ This is what we call the notion of “fit.”
Now, if you’re thinking, “Wow, this list is pretty short,” don’t worry, we’re just getting started.
Your questions should be based on your priorities and applied to all consulting firms. However, some questions should be specific to one consulting firm, addressing the weaknesses or grey areas that you’ve identified in their proposal or their website.
For example, let’s say you’re looking for expertise in gas distribution in Europe. You may want to make sure that all the consulting firms have experience in this area. Alternatively, you may have had a bad experience previously with a consulting firm and want to look at their capacity to form relationships as well as how effectively they handle their customers.
Their project management skills should give you a good notion of how successfully they manage projects and whether they stick to deadlines or not. And their capacity to make an impression.
However, there might also be a fog of doubt. And that’s where you should make use of the grey areas you’ve discovered in their offer.
Now, let me tell you a secret to getting genuine feedback when checking references. It starts with giving your consulting firm a few days to contact their clients and let them know that you’ll be reaching out. This simple step will increase the chances of getting a response and encourage former clients to be more forthcoming about their experiences.
When it comes to reaching out, you have options. You can go for a traditional phone call, a Zoom meeting, or an online survey. Whatever you choose, make sure you’re clear on your objectives and respectful of your contact’s time. Remember, many of these people hold high positions in their company, so you want to be mindful of any political considerations.
Reference Checks – The Consulting Quest Way
At Consulting Quest, we have a special approach to checking references that we call the four-R reference check procedure. What’s that, you ask? Well, it means that we make sure the reference is real, relevant, recent, and related to the project in question.
Let’s break that down a bit.
First, the references must be real. We check the background of the reference to make sure they’re a real person who has actually worked with the consulting firm. We don’t want to waste time talking to someone who doesn’t exist or has never worked with the firm.
Consultants sometimes count on the fact that you won’t check their references, so it’s essential to do a bit of research and make sure that the person is indeed a real reference and not just some lip service from a friend. Don’t be afraid to dig deeper and ask for more information if you’re unsure about the validity of a reference.
Secondly, the reference must be relevant. You don’t want to hear about a project that has nothing to do with what you’re looking for, right? It’s like asking your friend who’s a great chef for a recipe to make a cake, but they give you instructions for making sushi. It might be useful information, but it’s not going to help you make a delicious cake. For example, let’s say you’re looking for a consulting firm to help with a project in the chemical industry, but their references are all about aerospace and pharma. Is it relevant? Well, it depends on what specifically you need help with. If it’s about org design, like in our example earlier, then the reference could still be useful. But if it’s a market entry project, then you might want to look for references with experience in the chemical industry.
Third, the reference must be recent. We’re not interested in ancient history here. We don’t want to hear about a project that was completed ten years ago, because let’s face it, the business world changes faster than you can say “consulting”. We need to make sure the consulting firm is keeping up with the latest methodologies and trends, and not living in the past.
We once had a consultant show us a slide with all the M&A deals they’ve worked on, but when we did our research, we realized they were all from more than five years ago. And know what? Five years in consulting is like a century in dog years. That’s why we recommend a limit of three years for reference projects.
And last but not least, the reference must be related to the project at hand. Think of it like a football game: you don’t want to hear about the star striker who scored five goals in a game last year if they’re not even on the team anymore! It’s the skills and performance of the project manager and team that matter most.
Consulting firms can have a high turnover rate, so you want to make sure you’re getting references from the people who actually worked on the project you’re evaluating them for. Don’t just settle for generic white papers and references that are five years old. Who’s leading your project and who are the experts involved? Ask for references for the main individuals in the team who had an active role in the projects being referred to. This will give you a better idea of what kind of people you’ll be working with and what they’re capable of.
And there you have it, our four-R reference check procedure. It may seem simple, but it’s a powerful tool for getting genuine feedback and making sure you choose the right consulting firm for your project.
And before we wrap up, let me leave you with this crucial piece of advice: don’t settle for mediocre references. You want to hear about the consultants’ positive impact on the company and their performance in areas that matter to you.
If cultural fit is a priority for your project, don’t be afraid to ask questions about the consultants’ ability to adapt to different cultures and work effectively with diverse teams.
And if a consulting provider is using confidentiality as an excuse to withhold references, don’t hesitate to call in a third-party player like Consulting Quest to check them for you. We’ll make sure to follow our 4R reference check procedure to ensure that the references are real, relevant, recent, and related to your project.
So, go ahead and check those references, ask the right questions, and choose the consulting firm that’s the perfect fit for your project.
Interested to find out more about our 4R method? Check another interesting episode here.
Let’s Summarize the Main Points to Remember From Today’s Episode
Checking references is an essential step in the consulting firm selection process. Don’t skip it! And don’t rely on flashy websites or smooth-talking consultants.
Make sure to ask the right questions during reference checks. Focus on the consultant’s understanding of your situation, their knowledge and experience, and their fit with your team and culture, or whatever is relevant to your project.
When checking references, use the 4R approach to ensure that you’re getting genuine feedback from relevant and recent projects and related individuals.
And finally, don’t compromise on the references. If a consulting firm refuses to provide references or uses confidentiality as an excuse, don’t hesitate to call in a third-party player like Consulting Quest to help you check the references and ensure that you’re making the right choice for your project.
Remember, checking references is not only about ensuring that the consulting firm has the necessary skills and experience but also about ensuring that you have a good fit and working relationship with the consultant team. So, take the time to do it right!
That’s a wrap for today’s episode! Now, you might be wondering, what’s next? Stay tuned because next week, we’ll talk about how to brief your consultants to get the best proposals possible. Because let’s face it, the real goal here is to get some fantastic proposals to choose from. So be sure to tune in!
Till then, stay safe and happy sourcing and if you have any questions regarding today’s topic or any consulting procurement-related topic actually, remember you can always contact Helene directly on LinkedIn or by email because Helene is always game for a chat.
Bye and see you next week, au revoir.
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