It seems everything is now delivered ‘as a service’, and for sound business reasons. Indeed, the abbreviation ‘XaaS’ (which refers to the provision of software, platforms, infrastructure and cloud-based IT services) literally means ‘Everything as a Service’. We are now seeing a proliferation of cutting-edge managed business services including, even banking, content, security, transport, financial directorship (as in the case of the FD Centre), and recruitment (referred to as RaaS) being delivered by third-party specialists, without the traditional and not inconsiderable financial, operational, and legal implications of completing such undertakings in-house.
In this article, we will delve into the burgeoning world of Consultancy as a Service (CaaS), explaining its value modern businesses in terms of regarding the budgetary control, quality of outcome, and business agility.
Budgetary control
Traditional consulting services typically charge for the time taken, on an agreed hourly or daily rate. As those who have been in business for many years know all too well, there is a natural tendency to understate the actual time required for a given project, especially if scope creep is not managed. CaaS works differently; a set budget is typically agreed, and in return, either a set number of hours of consultancy work or a fixed scope of work will be delivered. Most importantly, this will be agreed between you and your CaaS provider of choice, so you can be confident your enterprise will receive the level of service and quality of deliverables required to meet its objectives.
Efficiency and best practice
Today’s leaders in CaaS follow carefully honed processes to undertake their task both comprehensively and efficiently. Expert lifecycle models are now commonly used to take clients from initial conception to execution in a clearly defined and logical manner. While many businesses may have tried similar processes internally, having an external specialist who will ultimately be judged on the results they achieve means progress is achieved more assuredly and rapidly. Remember, CaaS providers must get results for their clients – their reputation depends on it. In the case of Reach Revenue, our raison d’être is to achieve your sales goals through best practice approaches to sales and marketing. As such, constant refinement and improvement of our process is integral into how we run our business, based on the results of prior engagements – this way, you benefit from our years of accrued learning.
Agility is the key to your ability
In an article by global consulting firm McKinsey, entitled ‘Why Agility Pays’, looking at organisational health, performance, and flexibility, it was found the firms which had adopted agile working methods saw significant gains regarding organisational health when compared to those that were not agile. Based on their ‘Organisational Health Index’, agile businesses scored considerably higher for factors such as role clarity, top-down innovation, capturing external ideas, process-based capabilities, operational discipline, knowledge sharing and inspirational leaders.
CaaS lends itself and is integral to organisational agility principally because ramp-up time is minimal; from the initial business idea to having a team of specialist consultants in place and actively making progress, and within a defined budget, engaging a specialist CaaS provider offers considerable speed benefits over seconding or hiring internal resources. Given the time it takes to train a new team member, and then the question of whether those internal resources will have a role following completion of the project – the advantages of CaaS are being realised by the most agile of businesses.
Refine, Refine, Refine
The lifecycle approach is core to the model used by specialist CaaS providers. The process does not cease with a single pass through. The nature of sales and marketing consultancy, for example, is that we start with an initial strategy based on the information and data provided, and then by using iterative targeting and testing, we find the model that works best. It is not sufficient to establish a single static sales and marketing strategy; once the correct personas are established, nuanced approaches for each may be necessary, and this may vary by offering, and/or time of year, weather, or any other manner of real-world variables.
This is precisely where the CaaS model adds considerable value to clients as once the initial work is completed, by working on a fixed price retainer basis, the sales and marketing strategy can be reviewed and refined based on sales data and new information each month. The work undertaken each month will then be based on an iterative review of the work completed in the previous periods.
In summary
Amid a backdrop climate of geopolitical uncertainty and technological revolution, CaaS provides the ability for SME’s, regardless of location, to benefit from best of breed business expertise which can be embedded rapidly, while proving the assurance of fixed costs and scope. Gone are the days when firms gained a competitive advantage solely through in-house sales and marketing strategic expertise; CaaS specialists provide more for less, with the knowledge the results they achieve for you are crucial to their own success and reputation.
Reach Revenue works with business owners, leaders and investors to develop high performing sales and marketing teams aligned to the strategic objectives of their business. To find out how we can help you, please call 0203 858 8030 or email info@reachrevenue.net