This Week in Consulting
Friday, September 28th, 2018
Customer experience is everything – Get it right
THIS WEEK’S MUST READ
“Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and smart test automation are enablers in ensuring end-user satisfaction through QA. As AI in Testing and QA matures, three new roles will distinctly emerge: AI QA strategists, data scientists, and AI test experts.”
For several years the importance of end-user experience has been on the rise, but for the very first time IT professionals have ranked customer experience as the number one priority of their quality assurance (QA) activities, with automation and AI set to accelerate in the coming years.
This Week’s Must Read is a report from Capgemini, which highlights the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and analytics, and their use in enabling smart automation as the biggest disruptive force to drive transformation in QA and testing over the next two to three years.
Read on to Find out More: “Customer experience is now the top priority for quality assurance“, featuring Stephen Easton and Hugo Evans from AT. Kearney.
INDUSTRY NEWS & INSIGHTS
- Infosys acquires Salesforce cloud consultancy Fluido: Fluido, a Salesforce cloud consulting, implementation and training partner with reach across Europe, has been acquired by global professional services firm Infosys. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, however a regulatory filing revealed it had a $76 million price tag attached. | Infosys press release
- Oliver Wyman’s Lippincott helps Bain Capital redesign its brand: Lippincott has helped Bain Capital to design its brand strategy. Lippincott helped Bain Capital to map out the dimensions of its company, uniting independent business units behind a single brand. Lippincott is a part of leading management consultancy Oliver Wyman, a collaboration which the company says allows it to draw on deep industry knowledge and specialized expertise to drive enduring impact for its clients.| Lippincott Newsroom
- Consulting industry of Asia and Australia grows 6% to $50 billion: The consulting industry of the Asia Pacific, consisting of Asia, Australasia and a number of other very small markets, is expected to grow by 6% in 2018 to hit a market value of $50 billion. The market has seen consistent growth of more than 6% since 2015, but while this has primarily been driven by the growing economic clout of China and India, the largest consulting markets in the region remain Japan and South Korea| Consultancy uk
- Sia Partners acquires British boutiques Inzenka and SKT Consulting: Sia Partners has bolstered its presence in the UK with the acquisition of London-based consulting firms Inzenka and SKT Consulting. The deals add around 30 consultants to Sia Partners’ UK team, taking the firm’s headcount to 80 partners and consultants. The two acquisitions come two years after Sia Partners bought Molten, a move that at the time doubled the firm’s headcount and established the consultancy as a serious player in UK’s £9.8 billion consulting industry.| Sia Partners Newsroom
TRENDS
Congratulations to the Consulting Quest Team!
It is with great honor to announce that Consulting Quest has been chosen as a finalist for the Best Procurement Consultancy Project Award for the World Procurement Awards 2018! Do not forget to check out our nominated case study.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
- Experience is everything-Here’s how to get it right: What truly makes for a good experience? Speed. Convenience. Consistency. Friendliness. And one big connector: human touch—that is, creating real connections by making technology feel more human and giving employees what they need to create better customer experiences. People are increasingly loyal to the retailers, products, brands and devices that consistently provide exceptional value with minimum friction or stress | David Clarke and Ron Kinghorn, Pwc
- Customer Experience Tools and Trends 2018:When it comes to using tools that improve the experience, it pays to go all in with a few rather than dabble with many. The greatest benefits typically result from major efforts and investment in a handful of tools, not from limited efforts in a broad range. Executives are most bullish about three trends: a substantial drop in cash transactions, automated in-store checkout and automatic shipping of products when customers run out. | Gerard du Toit, Andreas Dullweber, Richard Hatherall and Martha Moreau, Bain & Company
- The role of customer care in a customer experience transformation: Achieving a customer-experience transformation requires top-line strategy, but its success ultimately hinges on the outcome of millions of individual touchpoints. Stitching these interactions into a cohesive, granular picture of customer segments is no small task: it requires insights from across the organization. As the front line, customer care should not just have a seat at the table; the function and its managers should be prepared to lead the charge. | Stephanie Lotz ,Julian Raabe and Stefan Roggenhofer, Camelot
- 3 Core Elements of Successful B2B Customer Experiences: For brands that are in the B2B market, customer experience is an increasingly important source of growth and relevance. Executives need to keep in mind that at the end of the day, great customer experience “remembers the human” and should be designed to effect memorable moments that leave the customer walking away satisfied and committed to action. | Kevin Grubb & Saurabh Wahi, Prophet
EVENTS
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CONSULTANT CORNER
- Avoiding the Disappointment of Data: The disappointment of data comes down to one thing: a disconnect between strategy and execution. As you are helping your clients defining their data strategies, check if you have executed on the strategies you advocate first. | Patrick Siconolfi, Gensquared
- How Winning Organizations Last 100 Years: Latest piece from HRB, filled with valuable tips and advice that you can implement to your own consulting business and make your organization last 100 years (as you wish).| Alex Hill, Liz Mellon and Jules Goddard, The Centre for High Performance, Duke CE and London Business School
CONSULTING CAREER
- How to Get a Job as a Consultant: The recruiting season is here. Here’s the information you need on education and experience requirements, where to find job listings, how consulting firms recruit and tips for acing a consulting interview. | Alison Doyle, The Balance Careers
- How to Become a Consultant: Management consultants work to increase efficiency. But that is a very simple way to explain what they really do behind-the-scenes for large companies and organizations. Here’s how their days break down. | Learn How To Become
CONSULTING JOBS
- Are you a Consultant with Supply Chain background or prior experience working in Retail/CPG? This may be the opportunity you have been long for. A Client of Consulting Quest – an Asia-based small Global Consulting Firm – is seeking to hire an Engagement Manager to join their newly established office in New York City. Learn More
Hélène Laffitte is the CEO of Consulting Quest, a Global Performance-Driven Consulting Platform and author of “Smart Consulting Sourcing”, a step by step guide to getting the best ROI from your consulting. With a blend of experience in Procurement and Consulting, Hélène is passionate about helping Companies create more value through Consulting.
