Sai Suresh Medicharla

A CRO needs to bring in a strategic perspective to the firm in several areas: - Target markets: The CRO should have a sharp perspective of where the next wave opportunities will come from - which geographic/industry/demographic markets and which markets are likely to shrink - Products/Services and Capabilities - In line with the target market strategy, the CRO should be able to define relevant products/services the firm should build and the required capabilities to build/grow that practice - Concurrent Hunting & Farming Strategy - A CRO should be focused equally on new logo acquisition as well as growing the existing client portfolio; he/she should have an eye for the right type of sales talent required to drive both sides of the business.

An effective way to ensure users absorb the training content and are able to apply the training is to deliver the training via an omni-channel platform, to be able to start a module on a computer at work and continue the same on a tablet or smartphone. Short online quizzes that can be taken on a mobile device could also improve and accelerate learning. Gamifying the learning experience can be a big enabler.

While scope creep is a real challenge for most consulting engagements, a bigger issue is signing up to solve an insignificant problem or to do a project that has no real value potential for the client. Sufficient time needs to be spent 'discovering' the problem space to define the right scope for the engagement.

We are living in a world where every conventional way of doing things is being challenged, more so in business and at work, for good reason. ChatGPT can probably write a more flowery elaborate report on how to do Digital Transformation than an average business consultant. The ability to achieve significantly higher proftability on consulting engagenents can only come through pricing models that assure 'meaurable outcomes' to clients, that can be tied directly to the consulting engagement and charging a percentage of the gains or savings as fee, rather than hourly rates or fixed fee. There should also be consequences for the consulting company (of not being paid) if the outcomes are not achieved, to make the model credible.

Some outsourcing engagements involve changes to the roles of and/or scope of work performed by employees of the client organization. Needless to say, not all changes are welcome, irrespective of size or scale of the organization ornature of business. For the outsourcing engagenent to be successful, it is necessary for the employees of the outsourcing provider to be empathetic to those of the client organization. There needs to be a culture of understanding and working patiently through resistance and push back.

For a consulting strategy to be successful, the most critical component is credibility; credibility of the team/people, the approach & methodology and the tools. Needless to say, the consulting firm has to choose each of these carefully and communicate the credentials to the client organization to gain confidence. It is imperative then, that the consulting firm lives up to these expectations and it cannot afford to wait to receive any negative feedback, as it might be too late to address any sticky negative perceptions that have might have set in, in the client community. The consulting team should have a keen eye/ear for any early warning signs from the get go, to swiftly implement course corrections for any potential issues.