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Dealing with Government Clients in India – New Era for the Consulting Profession

Post a Comment May 11, 2009 – 11:44 am | Permalink |  Print This Post |

It is clear that recession has affected most industries, while investment banking has been affected the most; the consulting industry has also been affected to a large extent by the sudden and unexpected downturn in the global economy.

The current liquidity crunch in India seems to be creating a problem for Consulting Firms as many of the corporate clients are delaying payments. While consulting assignments from corporates are harder to come by, there is a growing demand from government agencies for consulting.

High value & long term contracts coupled with security over payments makes government run institutions as  the most coveted clients for consulting firms.

Successfully executing an engagement for a government client in India can be a challenging task. Some handy tips include:

1. Timing: Employees at most government institutions start working at approximately 9 30 am and end working at 4 -4 30 pm with an one lunch between 1 and 2 pm, as a consultant, it is imperative that you plan your day accordingly, essentially, you should be at the client site 40 – 60 minutes before the employees start rolling in, idea is to get organized and have you’re questions/queries prepared, so that you can interview the client personnel as quickly as possible.

Essentially, 10 am – 4 pm should be used to interview the relevant client personnel, and time post 4 pm should be used for data analysis.

2. Hierarchy: Government run institutions are hierarchy driven to a large extent, being polite is the key to effectively extract maximum information from the client personnel. First name culture, which is a norm in most corporates, has not quite caught on with the government institutions, and salutation “Sir” works better.

3. Dressing: Most consulting firms will teach you that it is better to dress up, rather than dressing down at a client site, while this holds true for corporate clients, however, while dealing with government client’s it is better to dress up for a first couple of days and for meetings with senior client personnel (wear you’re business suits and ties) , however, it is a good idea to dress down while interviewing client personnel at lower ranks, tie’s and business suits can be a little intimidating for client personnel at lower ranks and could lead to unsatisfactory interviews.

4. Email Culture: While dealing with corporate clients, it is advisable to keep track of all email’s and data requests sent to the client. However, at government institutions the task is often complicated since many of the client personnel don’t use computers or simply don’t check emails.

An effective strategy in such situation is ask for the data during the interview itself and follow up on the data request every few hours (but don’t over do it).

5. Work Culture: One of the prominent differences in corporate and government clients is the work culture, Government client personnel tend to be relatively less proactive and laidback, it is important to respect their work culture and find ways to get you’re work done quickly and effectively. Being Polite yet persistent is the key to successfully handling an engagement for a government client.

These were some of the tips that can come in handy while dealing with government clients in India.

Please feel free to add you’re tips by commenting on this post, or emailing us at contactus@consultingnetwork.co.in or mohit.kant@consultingnetwork.co.in

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