The Secret Sauce of Success

Along with hundreds of my fellow retired partners, I recently received a copy of The History of Accenture.  This privately published book is a retrospective look at the development of the information technology consulting business from the perspective of one of it's most successful players.  I was proud to be a partner of Andersen Consulting/Accenture (AC/ACN) from 1991 until 2002.

The book also made me think about why AC/ACN was so successful at building new businesses.  AC/ACN was, and is not today, a monolith controlled top down by a leadership team--the typical style of many modern businesses.  The secret sauce was that the individual partners were all entrepreneurs and responsible for building and maintaining a book of business at key clients, with partner/client relationships often going back over decades.  AC/ACN maintained a stable of skills, ranging from strategy, through supply chain and into information technology which could be used to meet the evolving consulting needs of large clients.  Designated "client" partners basically walked the halls of their customers on a daily basis to meet with key executives and see where emerging business needs could be tackled with AC/ACN's toolkit of skills. Partners with the relevant skills were then brought in to began discussions with the executives and Voila! a new project was initiated.  Well, it was not quite as easy as it sounds, but AC/ACN has had remarkable success in satisfying and growing it's global client portfolio over the last five decades.

So, how can start-ups learn from such successes?  There are at least three ways in which a start-up can use the lessons from Accenture to better manage their own business:

1. Everyone's a Salesperson.  You could not survive very long at Accenture, above the entry level consultant anyway, unless you were good at building profitable client relationships.  I see too many start-ups where all members of the senior management team do not work to develop and sell clients on a daily basis.  All senior executives, as well as many mid level managers, at start-ups need to wake up every day and ask themselves what are they going to do today to attract and close new business. You do not need to spend 1/2 of your day doing it, but certainly a few hours is minimum.  It helps to keep you focused on what counts in small businesses--bringing the right clients into your world.  Selling also keeps you close to your current/potential customers and their needs as you develop and evolve your products and services.
2. Network of Trust.  I continue to interact with my former Accenture partners on a daily basis, even though I have been retired from Accenture for over four years.  Some partner with me as CEO's/executives in my investments.  I co-invest with another group of retired and active Accenture partners in Tumri, Biflex and Vtrenz.  I use many retired and active partners as sounding boards for my new investments.  I help them get new jobs.  I just like them as friends.  Why do I do it?  The simple answer is that I implicitly trust them to help me make the right business and personal decisions. The value created in having a network of trust within your business in incalculable.  Being able to draw on the skills of knowledgeable people, whether within your own start-up or with  your channel partners, vendors, advisers, etc. is critical to help you make the right decisions.  When an Accenture partner in a large client came across a supply chain problem, he or she did not try and convince the client that they were an expert in that space.  They would call on one of their supply chain partners with the appropriate skills to come in and address the issues.  Start-ups need to realize that bringing the right skills to the opportunity is critical to their long term success, even if it means sharing some revenues with knowledgeable business partners.
3. Effective Marketing.  Start-ups cannot afford to have legions of high paid partners roaming the halls of key clients looking for new opportunities.  They can, however, take advantage of new marketing automation tools to keep in touch with key buyers and influencers at target clients to make sure that when an opportunity comes along, they will be on the short list of possible vendors contacted to respond.  I know, you are thinking that this is a shameless ad for one on my investments, Vtrenz.  You would be correct.  Vtrenz uses permission-based marketing techniques to provide you with the next best thing to a partner roaming the halls--frequent communications with your likely buyers in target companies. Coupled with related sales tracking tools, such as salesforce.com, start-ups are able to maximize the probability that they will successfully execute against desired business opportunities.

Of course, many other factors will influence your success over time.  I do believe that the three areas outlined above should definitely be in the top five or ten success factor list for your business.  I have seen too many companies with great products and services, often far superior to ones already on the market, fail because marketing and sales were not considered to be the key driving force of the business.