THIS IS WHAT WE THINK . . .
Consultants are often viewed, perhaps appropriately, with a suspicious eye. One website we stumbled across referenced the pool of available consultants as "shark infested waters." On some level, we agree with that statement. Leave it to a consultant to opportunistically seek out the business swimming a bit slower than its competitors, offer "professional support and advice," only to take an arm and a leg in return.
We truly envision Glatt Consulting, LLC as a consulting alternative. Our objective is not to line our pockets, but to develop a business sought after by financial entities because our advice and support are known to leave clients in a better position than they were prior to our assistance. While it may seem that most consultancies are structured this way, we can assure you that they are not. Glatt Consulting, LLC is different. Let us tell you how.
Our Compensation Structure
While we know exactly how much we must charge to cover operating expenses and overhead, and we can tell you what our billable hour rate should be per project, we never bid an open-end project. Every engagement proposal is fixed fee, meaning that clients know how much they will pay for our support no matter what. And to make our proposals much more meaningful, we break down how many hours we plan to give the project in order to meet a project's objective. This structure keeps us focused on the objectives. We have no incentive to drag a project out, nor do we have an incentive to short-cut our work. Every client knows what they are paying for up front, before they even sign a contract.
What this means is that we spend a fair amount of time up-front determining the exact needs and objectives of our clients before finalizing a proposal. The better we understand what a client wants, the more accurate our proposal. This also means that our work product will be more accurate and supportive because we will know from that start how to approach the project to maximize the value of the time and money invested.
We knew we were getting it right when a new client said upon selecting the firm for a planning engagement that the Glatt Consulting proposal "was the only proposal that incorporated our specific needs."
Our Success Metrics
We track the main financial benchmarks most successful businesses track. We know our cash flow velocity, net income, overhead as a percentage of sales, etc. These numbers, however, are not how we really measure our success. We measure our success in terms of client satisfaction.
Satisfaction is a difficult thing to measure, and we are continuously working on identifying the most appropriate set of measurement characteristics to define "satisfaction," but we have generally decided that if a client has improved its financial or strategic position relative to its corporate vision and mission due in whole or in part to our assistance, then we have a satisfied client and have met with success.
Our Team Structure
Some consulting firms are awash in partners, and will partner with almost any firm for any service, while others claim that partners "cheapen" the consulting brand and would never stoop to partner with anyone. At Glatt Consulting, LLC, we believe that carefully selected partners enhance our ability to serve our clients' varied needs. While our expertise is in organizational strategy, organization and product design, and enhancing corporate culture, there are so many nuances within our consulting framework that we cannot be experts in everything. We are experts, however, in bringing the best solutions to bear for clients. That is why we have partners with expertise in technology, human resources, compliance, and asset and liability management.
While partners are an important part of our business, we are also solidly focused on developing an internal team that manages the specific needs of clients. Most of our consulting work can be handled in-house, and the internal team, which is in constant development as we work to recruit new personnel, will always be structured as a professional resource in its own right.
