Strategy consulting & your business: how to choose wisely?

Lately, the area connected with strategy consulting has been flourishing. The good news is that clients have various consulting companies to choose from. However, how to make sure that you hire the best strategy consultant for your company? To choose wisely, let us first start with basics.

What is strategy consulting?

Strategy consulting is about crafting tailor-made strategies that are grounded in facts, industry experience and common sense. The main idea is to use deep industry knowledge in order to deliver the best results. Professional consultants rely on their experience and in-depth market analysis rather generic visions or dreams.

What is the role of strategy consultant?

The role of a strategy consultant is to help a client identify his/her company’s strengths and weaknesses in order to, either meet the client’s basic defined goals, or identify strategies that will increase revenue and market share by improving competitive advantage. The consultant analyzes the situation from every angle possible to reach valuable conclusions.

How does the work of strategy consultant look like?

In order to deliver the best-in-class results, the strategy consultant may perform such activities as:

surveys and/or interviews
hypothesis-testing
(fact-based) data analysis
examine the company’s product range
examining the skills of its employees
examining its customer base
examining its marketing communications
analyze a range of opportunities
compare market requirements with the company’s capabilities

After the phase of examination, the strategy consultant works on a range of options for the client to choose. The options are based on a market research performed by the consultant. The expert takes into consideration all the advantages and disadvantages of a given solution. It is essential to present to the customer not only the positives but also to underline the associated risk and advise specific changes that need to be implemented in order to succeed.

What are the main skills of strategy consultant?

It is important to remember that not only in-depth business experience make a good strategy consultant. When choosing a proper person, the client should also look for experts who have such skills as:

adaptability – not only connected with the client’s deadlines and changes in his/her company but also sudden changes connected with the client’s goals and current market situation
strong interpersonal skills – the strategy consultant works not only with the client but also with the company’s employees. The expert needs to be client-focused but also must know how to talk with people in a way to make them speak freely and sincerely about the company’s challenges
analytical skills – it is a must for a good strategy consultant. One of the main parts of the advisory field is conducting research and analyzing large amounts of data. Without analytical skills, the consultant is not able to properly identify challenges within the client’s company and propose the best solutions.

Apart from the above-mentioned skills, the strategy consultant must have proven experience in various sectors. However, given experience should not block the consultant’s creativity as his/her decisions need to be not only based on data but also fresh look on the current and future market possibilities.

When to hire strategy consultant?

Many clients have doubts considering hiring the strategy consultant. Some challenges may seem not worth it or the company is tight on a budget. The question is: when to hire the strategy consultant? When it is necessary or may really help the company?

If the company wants to:

have essential competitive advantage
increase revenues smartly
make key decisions about it’s operations based on solid- ground experience
identify specific drawbacks standing behind stagnation
establish strategic priorities and measurable goals
discover ways of differentiating the company from it’s competition
find ways to improve systems and operations which will have positive impact on the future growth,

the help of the strategy consultant may significantly rise the chances of success.

Examples of strategy consulting

Adaptive Group cooperates with the clients on determining and redefining strategies, tactical and operating plans adopted to the market conditions and the best-in-class practices. The Adaptive Group experts support strategic workshops and implementation of the recommended solutions along with the communication and change management process.

Since 2015, our specialists to share with the clients the best practices within the following key areas: