[Partner's message] Small Firm, Big Ambitions

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(This article was written by Franklin Yao, Managing Partner of SmithStreet.)

I am writing this message from Chicago O’Hare Airport which is the busiest airport in the world.  In the last month I have been traveling a lot: I have been to Shanghai three times, New York three times, and was in Beijing, Stockholm, London, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan, and Paris.  Why am I traveling so much?  First, our multinational clients are all around the world and second, most of the important China decisions for our clients are still made outside of China.  If China is changing so fast, and is so complicated, why aren’t multinationals trusting local Chinese executives to make more decisions?  There may be many reasons for this, but I want to focus in on the issue of trust.

Trust in this case means two things: do you think that a local executive will make a decision that is free of his or her personal agenda and for the best interests of the company?  Do you think that that executive is armed with all the right analytical tools to make the right strategic decisions?  Removing self-interest and treating business as a science are the essence of what we do as a consultants.  It is our goal at SmithStreet to further the practice of these skills in China.  China needs more consultants, we would like to produce them.

The other reason I am traveling so much is that you can’t “sell” consulting services, the client has to want to “buy” our services.  And when they want to buy we have to be right there for them.  We have to work really hard, there are a lot of disadvantages that we face: when they meet us we don’t have a Bain or BCG business card with our names on it; we are young, I don’t have much grey hair yet, how can we be any good?  I used to be able to say that we are cheaper than McKinsey, and while that may still be true, our price is no longer the advantage it once was.  Besides, for the problems we are looking to solve, saving money on consulting is not as important for the client.

So how can we win if we can’t be cheaper?  We have to be better.  Does better mean working harder?  Yes it does.  If you join SmithStreet, you are going to be in for a lot of hard work.  But it mostly means we need to have better ideas.  When you present a great idea to an open-minded client, you will see a light-bulb go off in his or her head.  That then gives you a window to prove to the client that you can execute the idea that you proposed.  What ideas do we have?  We have something we call the Product Experience Curve, we solve retail problems through real estate analytics, and we believe that WeChat is changing everything for businesses and consumers.  We are so far away from where McKinsey, Bain, and BCG are but we will have to compete with ideas.

We are going to keep pushing on these fronts: it is going to take a lot of hard work, it is going to take sacrifice without seeing immediate rewards, and it is going to take creativity.  These are things that people tell me the Post-90s generation is not capable of in China.  I struggle to believe this.  We are not a prestigious or safe career choice; we are just a small firm with big ambitions.  Your parents may not support you joining SmithStreet, will you do it anyway?

We still have a lot of places to go, will you join me on this journey?

写下这篇文章时我正身处世界上最繁忙的机场-芝加哥奥黑尔机场。上个月我去了很多地方，曾三次飞往上海、纽约，并在北京、斯德哥尔摩、伦敦、哥本哈根、法兰克福和巴黎等地逗留。为什么我要去这么多地方？这是因为我们的跨国公司客户遍布在世界各地，而且更为重要的是，跨国公司大部分重要中国决策并不是在中国制定的。倘若中国市场如此复杂多变，跨国公司为什么不交由中国本土管理层制定决策呢？这其中牵涉诸多原因，但是我想强调的重点在于信任。

我所指的信任有两点：第一，你是否相信一个本土管理者会做出不含个人利益、只考虑将公司利益最大化的决策；第二，你是否相信该管理者会动用所有正确的分析工具来制定出最正确的决策。而咨询正是一项能够去除利己因素、视商业为科学的工作。斯密街的目标就是将这些科学的方法更深入地运用于中国，China Needs More Consultants，我们非常乐意提供这个平台。

还有一个原因也促使我经常出差，就是我们并不是在“卖”咨询服务给客户，而是客户要“买”。当客户有咨询需求时，我们要在第一时间为客户提供服务。我们必须拼尽全力做好工作，因为我们要面对很多不利条件：与客户见面时，我们的名片上印的不是贝恩或波士顿；我们如此年轻，依然满头黑发，教客户如何相信我们能够做得出色？过去我经常说我们比麦肯锡更有价格优势，但现在这种优势已经变的微乎其微了。此外，对于客户，我们是否能够帮助他们解决问题要比咨询费的高低更为重要。

那么，斯密街如何才能赢得竞争？我们要做的更好！更好意味着更加努力吗？对，的确如此，如果加入斯密街，你要面对很多艰苦的工作。但这更意味着我们要有更好的想法。当你将一个好的想法呈现给一个思想开放的客户时，你会看到他或她豁然开朗的表情，这样你才有机会向客户证明你可以将你的创意变为现实。我们有哪些想法呢？我们有一个称之为“产品经验曲线”效应的创意，我们通过对房地产行业分析来解决零售问题，我们相信微信正在改变中国的商业和消费者。虽然目前我们离麦肯锡、贝恩、波士顿还很远，但是好的想法帮助斯密街获得竞争优势。

我们要不断强化这些观念：要不断努力，要看到长远利益，要懂得创新。有人告诉我中国的90后做不到这些，我并不相信。斯密街不算有名望，选择我们或许要承担职业风险，但是我们年轻，有雄心。你的父母或许不会支持你加入我们，但你愿意一试么？

我们的旅途还很长，你会加入我们的旅程吗？