Value Realization of Management Consulting

Time: Afternoon of July 17, 2003

Location: Beijing China International Trade Center

Moderator: Liu Lan, Editor-in-Chief of "CEConline"

Discussor: Li Bo ( Chairman of Yuanzhuo Management Consulting Co., Ltd.) Chen Qingwen (Senior Consultant of Hamp Management Consulting (China) Co., Ltd.) Zhao Yufeng (Operation Director of Zero Point Forward Consulting Co., Ltd.) Lan Bo (Consulting and Training Director of Lianji (Tianjin) Management Technology Consulting Co., Ltd.) Wang Fuming (Trainer of Peking University Guanghua Management Training Center) Zhang Weibai (Analyst of Beijing Anbang Consulting Company) Wang Zelun (General Manager of Beijing Dingxin Xinghua Management Consulting Co., Ltd.) Wang Zhiwei (Deputy General Manager of Beijing Chengjun Weiye Consulting Co., Ltd.) Wu Xinsheng (Senior Consultant, Beijing Jonid Technology Co., Ltd.)

The management consulting industry has risen in the West, and its development in China is very rapid but also twists and turns. Many domestic enterprises have always been dubious about the value of management consulting. Domestic consulting companies have to face the problem of making enterprises realize the value of management consulting and helping clients realize the value of management consulting.

How to make enterprises realize the value of management consulting?

This question actually contains two questions, one is how to get clients to recognize the value of the management consulting industry, and the other is how to get clients to recognize the value of a management consulting company.

Wu Xinsheng, a senior consultant at Beijing Jonid Technology Co., Ltd., believes that it is difficult to get clients to recognize the value of the consulting industry. Moreover, customers often demand benefits from management consulting companies. Even if the information flow within the company is better than before, and the feedback is timely, but the customer pays more attention to the expansion of market share, which will not be reflected immediately at that time.

Li Bo, the chairman of Yuanzhuo Management Consulting Co., Ltd., and Lan Bo, the consulting and training director of Lianji (Tianjin) Management Technology Consulting Co., Ltd., respectively gave the following methods according to their own practice.

Teaching industry best practices Li Bo said that it is necessary to make clients understand that the consulting industry can teach industry best practices. After all, there are so many large state-owned enterprises in China. They need to learn foreign transformation models and industry experience. Consultants can visit different enterprises, which has advantages in this respect and can give customers better experience.

Helping clients save time Li Bo believes that the consulting industry can help clients save time. Li Bo said that we serve multinational companies, and the time cost of foreign managers is very high. One of our project teams costs 200,000 US dollars a month, but if he recruits people to do this in the labor market, he will put these people after finishing the work. It will cost more money to be dismissed. If we can now serve from a time value point of view, it will be easier to gain recognition.

Emphasizing opportunity cost, Rimbaud believes that talking to customers about time value now may not be very persuasive. The consulting industry should emphasize opportunity cost more. When Rimbaud talks to companies, he tells them cases, "From target management to performance management internal management system, if you have a professor with practical experience, you may be able to do it in half a year to a year, and you do it very well. The places that should be omitted are complicated. But if you are exploring by yourself, you can take a lot of books, and you can waste all your general managers, team leaders, and directors constantly discussing there, and the discussion can be the same for two or three years. If the consultant To do it, he has done it before, he understands the experience of failure and success, so he will do well."

The market of management consulting industry is developing rapidly, and the competition is intensified, Beijing Dingxin Wang Zelun, general manager of Xinghua Management Consulting, felt that "the market is getting more and more chaotic". Zhang Weibai, an analyst at Beijing Anbang Consulting Co., believes that the client does not have the ability to identify the solution during the project negotiation stage. "He is looking for you with a problem, but he does not know that it is a good solution if you give it a solution." So how can clients recognize the value of a consulting firm?

Strengthening his professional ability Lan Bo gave an example. When they received on-site improvement cases, their consultants were not talkative, but they had more than 20 years of experience on the scene. He walked around twice and said three One of the things is to say to the general manager of the other party that I saw that only one worker here is qualified, and he said why that worker is qualified, because that worker is watching the surveillance screen, standing very straight, and has visited The worker didn't move for two laps. As a result, the project was signed immediately, because the company leaders felt that the consultant grasped the main problem immediately.

Accumulate customer experience Chen Qingwen, senior consultant of Hamp Management Consulting (China) Co., Ltd., said that Hamp has many customers and has accumulated very good customer experience. Our target customer group should be more fancy. Wang Zelun, general manager of Beijing Dingxin Xinghua Management Consulting Co., Ltd., believes that if he has worked in this industry before and has the same customers, he will be more convincing.

Showing brand advantages Li Bo believes that a company's brand is very strong, and its appeal will be strong. At the same time, its skills in all aspects should be more avant-garde, and it can impress customers in all aspects. This customer thinks that the results are not important, but that I am in Over the course of several months spent with the best consultants in the world.

Possessing Unique Resources Zero Point Advance Consulting has its own unique resources. First, they have accumulated a number of clients through surveys, and secondly, they have accumulated methodology through surveys. In addition, Zero Point has a cost advantage. When other consulting companies conduct investigations on customers' customers, they have to arrange special personnel or hire investigation companies. It shows that the local advantage Now many multinational consulting companies are attacking cities and looting territory in China, and domestic consulting companies can emphasize their local advantages. Li Bo said that now many of our clients have used multinational companies, and they have realized that multinational companies' consulting is high and high, and they need to land. Our advantage is that the combined cost is lower than theirs, and the overall quotation is half or one third lower than that of multinational companies.

In addition, it is also important for management consulting firms to choose the right clients and the right projects if they want their clients to recognize their value. Don't do what you can't do.

How to help clients realize the value of management consulting?

When you provide management consulting services, you will encounter problems such as communication, obtaining high-level support, and implementation. Users say that you are very good and your things are right. I agree, can you come and help me implement. There are also some disagreements on this issue internationally, whether we should help the implementation of management consulting companies, or just provide solutions, there are different approaches. So, how to help clients realize the value of the management consulting services they provide?

Prepare to grasp customer problems Chen Qingwen believes that the judgment of a problem is not independent, and must be systematically thought. No matter where a problem occurs, a company must think comprehensively. Accurate confirmation of the problem is very important. This accurate grasp involves whether the company believes that the problem is urgently needed to be solved, and whether the consulting company can solve it.

Let the boss think clearly that Rimbaud has made a plan before. The client used to be purely logistics, and later planned to enter the steel circulation industry. In this process, the general manager's idea is gradually formed, but the staff below are not aware of this and cannot do it, and then his management system can't adapt.

In the process of making plans, they live completely with customers, re-examine the industry, re-examine the changing trends of the situation in the region, and then communicate with the boss constantly, first let the boss's thinking be clear, and then implement it downwards In the process of publicity, the boss and them worked together, system setup, sales management, market positioning, etc., from beginning to end, and the result was very satisfied with the customer.

Guarantee customer communication and participation Chen Qingwen believes that in the whole process, in fact, the process of knowledge transfer, the training of the enterprise and the communication with relevant personnel at all levels are very important factors to ensure the realization of the effect. . The participation of customers is also very important. From the beginning of the design of the plan to the later promotion, the participation of customers is required. Some clients think that it is enough for me to invite you to do it. If the degree of participation is not strong, it will affect the effect of implementation.

Follow up the client's execution Li Bo does not agree that every time the consultant company follows the enterprise's operation plan, because the implementation environment is affected by all aspects, which is not the consultant's ability to undertake, but it is not excluded from certain industries that are particularly certain. Take a walk with the client. If you can help clients successfully execute one or two projects in one or two industries, you can greatly enhance your future competitiveness.

Ensure project coherence To help clients realize the value of management consulting, it is necessary to ensure project coherence. Li Bo said that when a client asks you to do a project, it depends on which piece the client needs to do first. If there is no strategy ahead, it is problematic to do human resources. If you only do salary, it is fine, but if the assessment is to come in, and the assessment is combined with the strategic business goals and the goals of organizational adjustment, then the assessment is not easy to do. After the assessment is made, the customer will definitely not be able to use it, and no matter how great the skill is, it will not be able to do it.

Chen Wenqing also said that, for example, if we want to install an ERP system, we need to sort out the business process in the early stage, including the sorting out of the business model. If these things are not standardized, the system will be garbage.

In addition, Wang Fuming, a trainer at the Guanghua Management Training Center of Peking University, believes that consultants should not promise too early or too much, which will mislead customers. Make it clear to clients that the value of a consulting project will take some time to manifest. He said that two years ago, we did a franchise system for a client, and we didn't recruit businessmen for the next six months, so the client felt that it was no good. But now this client called me again. He has developed six companies abroad and more than 20 in China. He is very grateful to us now.