Strategic consulting is a set of measures aimed at researching, creating and implementing productive business development schemes. During the development of a strategy, the question arises of when exactly and whether the involvement of strategic consultants is required.
There is no single answer for all cases, however, the owner of the company should evaluate the arguments in favor of turning to the services of consultants:
specialists within the company do not have experience in creating a strategy and have no idea how exactly to start development;
the owner concludes that the desired development of the company is absent, as a result of which he resorts to the services of consultants to resolve related issues so that the activity “does not go in a different direction”;
consultants share the methods they intend to use;
there is a need for a strategy that will be provided to a potential investor. There is an expectation on strategic consulting that it will justify the quality of the strategy being developed, as well as ensure that the project is presented at a professional level;
the management team intends to entrust the development to professionals who will confirm or identify inconsistencies in the current strategy against the background of the potential and real capabilities of the company;
a complex business structure is provided, and its divisions may conflict and enter into contradictions, defending resources through competition;
the owner acquiring the company is interested in clarifying all significant aspects of the company’s activities as soon as possible;
management is unable to provide internal resources to create a full-fledged strategy;
the owner is focused on finding new, innovative products that can gain a position in the market;
the owner distances himself from the strategy, wanting to see it as a product of cumulative analysis and the approach of leading specialists on the team.
Of course, in addition to the presented list of advantages of interacting with consultants, there are other benefits. The owner of the company faces a test: to determine which of the listed factors are relevant for the company, and is it not justified to take steps to start a consulting project?
Involving consultants: contraindications
First of all, this applies to the case when you entrust all responsibilities to them. This, as a rule, does not happen; time and money are wasted, and there is no result.
This also includes the situation when the owner believes that strategic consultants are able to falsify this situation, as if the company is in a better position, and then it will look in a more favorable light to investors and other parties interested in cooperation. Ignoring the moral side of the issue, take into account the fact that decent consultants who are ready to conduct a comprehensive analysis will never deliberately distort facts, and unscrupulous ones will only ruin an already not the most promising situation.
On top of all this, not every strategy team can be trusted. And this argument is more than enough. Strategic consulting is considered a sphere of trust in business, without which it is impossible to build productive cooperation with providers of such services.
The quality of strategic advice makes as much sense as the treatment of a professional physician. A highly qualified specialist will help the company get out of problems, as well as stably remain at the desired level, if you give him such a task. A professional consultant will always try to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the work done.
If the contractor is not ready to provide the desired result, he will definitely warn you about it. Otherwise, the hired specialist puts his reputation at risk.
The difference between a good and a bad consultant
Some tips for choosing professional consultants:
Reading specific literary sources. There is a lot of open access material created specifically for consultants. They set out in detail the basics of cooperation. For example, it is worth paying attention to such a source as “Trusted Advisor” by D. Meisters. A consultant who builds a relationship with the owner on the advice of the author, as a rule, also complies with other fundamental principles. Such an employee will be focused on long-term relationships and will also strive to provide you with maximum benefit.
Be vigilant about consulting companies. Organizations that base their activities only on an instrumental approach force a more balanced owner’s approach to their methods of research. Unconventional thinking, the ability to take into account all the nuances and evaluate the overall activity when developing a strategy is one of the main conditions. After all, the instrumental method does not allow us to analyze the problem entirely.
In practice, this means that if the strategy development service within the company is able to carry out the entire list of tasks, then there is no need for the services of strategic specialists. And it’s a completely different matter if the situation is different.