Case Studies

Situation

This firm reached out to us as they received a poor performance report from their accountant, confirming a below peer net margin to varying levels across all departments. The firm had no pressing financial issues resulting from it but was convinced that there must be something they could do to at least get on par with their competition. After first trying to approach this issue internally, then with the help of their accountant and also from an former managing partner consultant, the firm decided they mustn’t narrowly approach the issue but find an innovative partner experienced in solving complex and wide reaching business problems.

Task

Kies Consulting was engaged to lead on a 10 week business problem solving project with the objective to:

1. Identify the biggest levers that influenced the poor net margin performance;
2. Create a proposal for a more effective future mode of operations;
3. Lead on the implementation of suggested change initiatives.

Action

When initiating the project the joint team agreed to focus all it’s attention on cost driving factors as the firm’s work was priced competitively and common issues such as timekeeping and billability did not promise enough gain.

By mapping out the key operational processes in each department the engaged industry leading business analysts were quickly able to identify the most significant saving opportunities. With these core issues identified the team started to work with business analysts but also with specialised IT process automation experts to draft a proposal for each department’s future mode of operation that heavily focused on higher quality outputs and serious cost savings. The implemented proposal was supported by process automation elements but also by creating a clearly defined operations model that allows for SMART measuring of a department’s performance in support of a now bolder client centric strategy.

Result

Through the effective combination of process, managerial and technical measures the firm increased its net margin by 29%. Furthermore, the problem solving project inspired the firm to implement a continuous improvement process that achieved, over a period of 4 months, an additional 16% increase of their net margin.

Situation

This firm reached out to us as for over a year they were unable to significantly increase their new business pipeline despite having launched extensive marketing campaigns in collaboration with a renowned agency. They further engaged a client experience consultant whose research attested  to very poor quality in the way the firm engages with potential and existing clients. Despite the clear message from the market the firm was unable to implement effective changes to their mode of operation and decided they needed to look deeper and work on the roots of this performance issue.

Task

Kies Consulting was engaged to lead on a 10 week business problem solving project with the objective to:

1. Review and catalogue all client facing operational processes;
2. Identify the biggest levers that influence client acquisition and retention;
3. Create a proposal for a more client centric future mode of operations;
4. Lead on the implementation of suggested change initiatives.

Action

After the project initiation and the review of all client facing processes it became clear to our business analysts that the organisation was lacking the right level of support their staff needed to provide the service they’d like to.

Calls from potential clients were answered in a differing quality of ways as there was no definition of what ‘good’ looks like or how to track the different types of leads.

Due to the lack of tracking, the management was left in the dark on the actual performance of their marketing campaigns but also of their staff in turning these leads into prospects. Furthermore, not all staff were equally capable or comfortable to drive new business conversations. It also transpired that despite their business model being highly dependent on other 3rd party organisations (i.e. estate agents) the firm had effectively no relationship management in place with those partners.

The new mode of operations that was implemented was supported by:

• Business Development Training for all staff;
• Defined Business Development processes including SMART KPIs;
• Sales Pipeline Management Coaching;
• Alliance Management Strategy;
• Matter Management Process and KPI Controls;

Result

Through the wide and diligent approach to the discovered issues the firm was very quickly able to provide a much better experience for their existing clients, which translated in better referral and cross sales opportunities whilst their efforts to build trust early on with potential clients translated into an increase of 86% in new business. Due to the success of the project Kies Consulting remains engaged in an advisory and coaching capacity in order to continue to increase the effects of the implemented changes.

Situation

This university reached out to us as they had initiated a new Law & Business Undergraduate Course with a bold and nationwide unique strategy that heavily focused their program of teaching on creating highly employable law graduates already equipped with as many practical legal and service skills as possible.

To achieve this the university was looking for an innovative partner with extensive experience of the legal sector’s business challenges and a strong vision on how to resolve those.

Task

Kies Consulting was engaged to:

1. Consult the director of the Law & Business Course;
2. Design a practical business skills program;
3. Deliver these lectures and workshops to the Law & Business students.

Action

We started our design work following some initial consultation sessions with the heads of the law and business faculties that had the objective to derive our tutoring plan from the existing strategy.

The practical business skills program we designed included the following modules:

– Active Listening – Personal Effectiveness – Financial Acumen – Networking – Negotiation

– Business Development – Career Growth – Matter Management – Digital Marketing – Business Writing

Each module delivered through lectures and workshops was accompanied by a comprehensive handbook we created as a guide for the students in preparation for when they start working in the legal sector.

Result

This program of work is still in progress and the feedback from the students, lecturers and course directors has been overwhelmingly positive. An increase in the students’ success in communicating with potential future employers and law firms has been reported and have positively confirmed that the designed skills program will significantly increase their attractiveness in the market.