It’s all a matter of perspective.

Countless books, reports, and journal articles lament the decline of the consulting profession, couching this grim forecast in phrases like the “end of big ideas.”

Instead of writing the profession’s obituary, APQC has reached a different conclusion after studying the consulting buying needs of more than 70 companies. We don’t believe maturity equals the death of the consulting marketplace. Maturity brings wisdom. Sophisticated buyers are still buyers.

It’s okay to reminisce about a generation ago when personal relationships were the key to winning bids, when big brands mattered, when consultants wanted to spend a career inside your firm. But there’s no reason to have a wake.

The consulting profession isn’t dying—it’s evolving. Clients are progressing. Those firms that are ready and able to adjust will thrive.

In August, APQC conducted two Webinars focused on how demand is changing and what firms can do to better capture that demand. And the truth is that while the economic situation in the United States is still fragile (and the market in Europe is even more delicate), there will likely be more consulting demand in 2013 than in 2012. As we’ve shared on this blog the last few months, the key to being among the first to act on market trends is to be among the first to understand what’s going on under the surface.

The flood of consulting talent that left the profession and was absorbed into industry during the last decade has created a dynamic market shift. There is not only more consulting talent within the rank and file of corporations (including procurement and internal consulting practices), but senior leadership has more confidence to use this talent to do the work that previously would have been the exclusive turf of external consultants.

As a result, needs aren’t going away—they too are changing. Clients need discrete help with specific kinds of projects, they need project managers who can partner with client-staffed teams, and they need to know what they don’t know.

More specifically, buyers of consulting services tell us:

• They value external consultants that will partner with them by collaborating on solutions. Gone are the days when it was okay to be an external consultant who thought: “You wouldn’t have hired me if you could handle this on your own. Get out of my way so I can fix it.”
• They are motivated by risk mitigation. Anything you can do (from offering up unique related experience, to providing flexible fee arrangements, to offering up your guidance long after the project is over) to align your incentives with those of your client will go a long way toward assuaging fears and winning more work.
• They don’t care about company size, ranking it the lowest selection criteria used for dwindling down short lists. Clients know that big firms don’t have a monopoly on good ideas. And, as a result, the playing field has never been more level for small to mid-sized firms.

Can your firm adjust the leverage model to partner with a client’s staff rather than man the teams yourself? Can you make your fees flexible enough to cope with each client’s individual issues? Can you fend off competition from smaller firms?

Most importantly, is your firm’s culture prepared for the changes? The most successful consultants of the last decade may not be among the leaders this decade ̶ it’s all a matter of perspective.

Which Consulting Projects Are Most in Demand?

 *Areas of high priority and relatively high likelihood of requirement.

APQC. “What Will Your Clients Invest in Next? Part 1: How is Consulting Demand Changing?” APQC Knowledge Base, 2012.

How Can You Better Position Your Firm?

 APQC. “What Will Your Clients Invest in Next? Part 2: How Can You Capture That Demand?” APQC Knowledge Base, 2012.