When Huthwaite was founded nearly 30 years ago there were a few well established consultancies, such as McKinsey and a large number of smaller organisations, covering a whole range of specialist areas from industrial relations, remuneration, marketing and business strategy. There were also specific industry consultancies such as construction and engineering. IT consultancy was then in it's infancy: today it forms one of the biggest market sectors employing many thousands of people on a global basis. We have created a dedicated IT consultancy web area within our IT sector website, so if it is of interest to you, please visit the IT consultancy area .

Over the past 30 years the market for all forms of consultancy has exploded to become one of the major contributors to the service economy. Despite this growth, many consultancy organisations today face a number of challenges arising from the changes impacting upon their specific market place. So while it is difficult to summarise a list of issues applicable to all consultancies, the following are typical of those that clients have discussed with us:

• Pressure on fee levels from clients more willing to shop around than ever before.
• The need to win more profitable business in the face of growing competition.
• The need to develop a strategy for managing major accounts.
• The need to develop selling skills with professional staff, who do not regard themselves as salespeople.
• The need to change the attitude of some partners and senior professional staff towards selling.
• The need to expand business within client accounts through referrals and by involving colleagues from other disciplines.
• The need to be able to respond quickly and effectively to invitations to tender.
• The need for a consistent approach to clients on a global basis.
• The need to establish a new organisation, brand name and pipeline for a business de-merged from its accountancy parent.

At Huthwaite we have been working with consultancies for nearly 30 years to meet challenges such as these, and as a consultancy business ourselves we understand the problems of selling into an increasingly competitive market.

Some of our earliest clients such as McKinsey, worked with our founder, Neil Rackham, to develop bespoke programmes to work on client engagement skills. Today we are working with some of the smaller, more specialised, organisations to develop selling skills to match today's environment. As a result, we feel we are better placed than most organisations to help any consultancy to compete in this changing environment.