September 2003

Recipe for Success
WIC asked customer Esther Kuijver, Director, QuickBooks Industry Solutions, Intuit to share her unique recipe for successful consulting relationships.

What are the types of projects for which you hire consultants?
Our consulting projects vary from very execution-oriented, such as marketing campaigns and research projects, to more strategic projects, such as developing business and marketing strategies, recommending investment levels and organizational structures, and defining the value proposition for new businesses.

What types of projects are inappropriate for consultants?
We do not hire consultants for projects that involve critical knowledge or core competencies that we need to retain in-house, and initiatives that require strong internal buy-in and ownership. For example, we may hire an outside firm to conduct customer research, but we do the analysis of customer research in-house.

How do your consultants typically work?
The majority of the consultants we hire are project-based, though if the projects are short or tactical we use hourly consultants. Our consultants are generally not treated like contract employees as they do the majority of their work off-site, and tend to work independently. The only time we use contract workers is when we're trying to fill a position but don't have a headcount, or to cover someone who is out of the office on an extended basis, including employees on maternity leave.

We want consultants to focus their best efforts to deliver as required on the scope of the projects regardless of the time it takes. It is much easier for us to budget for consulting services bid on a project basis because the expenditures are predictable — we know up-front how much it will cost assuming the project scope does not change. Of course if the project scope changes, which it often does, we are willing to re-negotiate the fee.

What are the ingredients in your recipe for consulting success?
As the client, we have obligations to the consultant to make a project successful. Project results are at risk if we fail to do this effectively.

First of all, it is critical that we define projects effectively so that the consultant is clear on what is expected. Projects need care and feeding — they will not run by themselves. It is critical to brief the consultant with the appropriate background on the project, as well as the players and the landscape of the organization. We really try to help them avoid pitfalls and ensure we give them access to the right people, and give them the right information. It requires us to make investments in time, relationships and access within company.

In return, we expect our consultants to work with us to find the best way to ensure open and effective communication. For example, it is critical that the consultant communicate schedule changes well in advance of the deadline so there are no surprises.

Communications is just one part of building strong working relationships with the hiring manager and team so the consultant will be perceived as a valuable part of that team. Much of our success in working with consultants comes from the ability to build a virtual team without investing in the "overhead" associated with an employee relationship.

Finding a consultant with the appropriate skill set and expertise is also critical to project success. We need to check references to ensure a consultant is qualified, and to make sure the they have the right skill set to deliver the results we expect, and that they do not to oversell their skill set. We value consultants who can recommend or pull in other external resources as needed to augment their expertise or deliver additional results.

One critical trait we look for is flexibility. We expect the consultants we work with to adapt their tactics to meet our unique requirements. This means the consultant must be a skilled listener who can understand our needs and adapt the project as needed.

It is also critical to ensure the consultant doesn't alienate internal and external resources. When consultants burn bridges it creates more risk for the project and can have long-term relationship implications.

What are some of the unexpected benefits you've received when hiring consultants?
One side effect of project work is new and fresh ideas. Consultants bring external expertise on a business topic so they often bring a different perspective and develop new approaches that would not have emerged using internal people.

Also, with outside consultants, the speed of execution is faster. Consultants are focused on the project and dedicate 100% of their time to delivering results on the project. That alone makes the project move faster.