ProfessionaLink: Features and Benefits for Consulting Firms

e-mail:
password:

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Home | Site map | Contact us


	ProfessionaLink Info

About Us

How to find consultants

How to find projects
Range of project topics
Project examples
Benefits
· Apply now

Tour & Map

Start using our service

(expand menu)

1)	Lower sales and marketing costs
2)	Higher average utilization of both professional and administrative resources
3)	Avoidance of 'cash crunches' associated with fluctuations in business
4)	Focus on projects in the 'sweet spot' of their capabilities, increasing employee satisfaction, minimizing cost overruns and enhancing a reputation for quality
5)	Ability to find high-quality sub-contractors

The overall effect on professional firms' economics is profiled below:

	Typical Boutique Firm	PL Member	Comment
Revenues (index)	100	125	Billability 60->75%
Professional staff costs	40	40	Higher utilization
Administrative staff costs	30	30	Higher utilization
Space, equipment etc.	10	10	Higher utilization
Partner bonuses	5	10	Bonuses doubled
Operating Income	15	35
Fess to PL	0	5
Profits	15	30	Profits doubled

PL's screening process is based on both expertise and quality. This is essential to deliver the economic and other benefits above. Unlike other services in this field, PL does not operate a posting process in which dozens of firms may end up bidding on the project, imposing significant screening costs on clients and subjecting professional firms to a low-odds, arduous contest with firms offering radically different quality levels and price points.

PL's proprietary process systematically rewards the most-qualified, best-performing companies, allowing the 'cream to rise to the top' and helping high quality firms achieve rapid growth rates and utilization levels.

In exchange, member firms must agree to:

a)	nominate a few specific areas of expertise which represents their best work and capabilities
b)	provide at least 3 client references who can provide detailed insights into the quality of work performed in the selected areas of expertise
c)	permit PL to collect feedback from clients following PL-placed projects to update their ratings
d)	share a small % of their fees with PL for found, incremental business

These data will be kept in strictest confidence by PL and will only be used to select the appropriate recipients of leads generated by PL. From time to time, senior PL executives will be pleased to discuss overall scores and feedback from clients with selected representatives of member firms, again on a confidential basis.

More Information:

ProfessionaLink (PL) is an exciting service which eliminates much of the prospecting and marketing costs faced by most 'boutique' professional firms. We use information technology and Internet -based processes to facilitate this process for buyer and seller.

PL provides professional service firms with a reliable stream of qualified leads, increasing billings per professional, avoiding downtime and providing engagements which best suit their capabilities. PL is paid a small % of professional fees from the firms when - and only when - they are paid by the client.

PL addresses the main concerns of both buyers and sellers. Buyers worry that the (typically few) companies they know may not be qualified to address the particular issues on which they need help, while firms with relevant expertise are hard to identify and may not deliver high quality work.

Professional firms spend a large percentage of their resources (as much as 20-25%) just finding leads, which depresses their overall utilization (i.e. the percent of time spent generating fees). They also experience costly troughs in activity following busy periods when marketing is neglected. While they try to find work, which exactly matches their areas of greatest expertise, it is very hard to achieve this on a consistent basis and keep marketing costs manageable.

PL identifies and cultivates corporate buyers of professional services. It provides an easy-to-use process for submitting and responding to Requests for Proposal to ensure a successful placement. PL identifies, screens, classifies and qualifies professional service firms to develop a deep 'bench' of talent far more extensive than resources available to any individual corporate buyer.

When a client is ready to submit a proposal, PL guides them through the process (as needed) and identifies no more than four firms, which are qualified to meet their needs and are among the best-performing firms, based on feedback on prior projects from clients.

In Summary:

Low cost source of business opportunities. Typical cost of a generating a project lead amounts to 20-25% of boutique consulting firms' revenues, absorbing much the time of the senior, most experienced partners. ProfessionaLink charges a fraction of this cost.

Higher utilization. Utilization, a key profit driver in consulting, can be sustained at a higher level. Lulls in business - sometimes lasting as much as 6 months, often following a period of high utilization - can have a disastrous effect on boutique firms' economics. ProfessionaLink can fill these gaps with attractive project opportunities.

Reinforcement of the firm's key practice areas. By providing leads in each firm's area of greatest expertise, it allows consulting firms to select higher quality, more suitable business opportunities rather than overextending the firm beyond it's core capabilities. This also avoids project cost overruns and risk of client dissatisfaction.

Is there a problem with the website? Report it here.