Sublime

Since wealth is discretionary time, reducing labor intensity is as important as raising fees.

ERIC SCHMIDT

If Sally Scarlet, the purchasing director at Sereus Dough thinks she’s clever, she might ask for a hybrid structure that pays $25,000 per month but caps consulting fees at $150,000. Many purchasers of consulting gravitate toward this structure because intuitively it seems to be the best of all worlds. Their intuition is leading them astray.

Hire a relationship manager.

new clients are worth more to the firm than the value of the initial engagement, because they offer the potential for additional future revenues.

An important new factor in recent years has been the acquisition of smaller companies by larger ones, usually as part of a diversification program. In these cases the consideration paid has almost always been relatively generous, and much in excess of the bargain levels existing not long before.

such alumni are often the source of future business for the firm when they recommend to their corporate employers hiring their old firm

The ability to place ex-staff in prestigious positions is thus one of the prerequisites of a successful churning strategy.