Consultants at risk of undermining the trust at the heart of client relationships

Driven by a post-pandemic consulting slump, and the need for cost-cutting measures, firms are turning to more self-serving practices to meet client demands, such as reducing hiring and capitalising on the boom in AI to meet growing client demand. But, with reports of the Big Four failing to deliver on promised outcomes to replacing seasoned experts with junior teams or AI, some industry experts are warning that this may place the client-consultant relationship under strain.

Businesses engage consultancies to address critical challenges with their current technology landscape.  For some, this involves investing significant financial resources and a lot of faith in their chosen partners.

The UK’s Big Four accountancy firms were recently reported to be significantly increasing adoption of generative AI to automate the entry-level administrative tasks, resulting in graduate job intake seeing the chop with cuts as high as 29% in some firms. Replacing entry-level roles entirely with AI tools may appear to be a short-term fix to solving client workloads, but according to Bance, in reality, the truth is far more nuanced.

Offloading your client workload onto AI purely for time management rather than efficiency or effectiveness is purely self-serving.  The promise of technology innovation quickly becomes a smokescreen for diminished quality and a less personalised service.  AI is not a replacement for strategic thinking, and when it comes to client relationships, expertise needs to lead before tools.

The right client-consultancy relationship is built from people first; that means the right team, the right experience, but also the right minds of the future getting stuck in.  A consultancy that is using AI to augment their existing talent rather than replacing them is the better option, as they accelerate and redefine delivery for the sake of the client rather than prioritising saving their operational costs.

Increasingly, clients realise that selecting a consultancy partner is a massive decision in itself. They are not just bringing in expertise; but trusting someone with their company’s goals, resources and, ultimately, success. A successful relationship of this kind has to be built on firm foundations, then.

The cornerstone of successful client-consultant relationships begins and ends with trust.  Without trust, even the most detailed, tailored strategy can feel unsteady and unlikely to last. And in today’s business landscape, it’s all the more important to have a partner that you can rely on to keep you competitive. One of the most prevalent complaints that consultancies face is the failure to deliver on agreed-upon requests. Ambitious proposals and eloquent presentations secure the contract, but the subsequent execution falls short, leaving clients with unmet expectations and a significant dent in their budgets.

A long-standing model of “over-promise and under-deliver” may not only damaging to the client’s business, but also tarnishes the reputation of the consulting industry as a whole.  That’s something which he believes is further amplified by the ‘bait and switch’ tactic for talent – with clients often wooed by a consultancy’s ‘A-team’during the sales process – a roster of highly experienced, senior consultants – before a less skilled team steps in as soon as “the contract is signed and the initial payment is made.”

Businesses must hold their consultants accountable. If there is no deliverable evidence of a beneficial relationship, maybe it’s time to rethink your approach. A client wants to be able to put their faith in the right people and have those same experts oversee a successful project from beginning to end. This means a work ethic of integrity, dependability and a genuine commitment from their consultancy team. Having that reassurance and faith that your partner has your best interests at heart is key to building a successful partnership that lasts well into the future.