Cliff Consulting

Bob Cliff, founder and CEO of Cliff Consulting, with Robin Nasatir, president and chief operating officer

Cliff Consulting knows what it is. And Bob Cliff, founder and CEO, would have it no other way. Unlike the other six firms on this year’s Small Jewels list, Cliff isn’t a new, niche firm that’s looking to break out. An IT and operations project strategy firm focused on financial services and healthcare delivery, it may be the profession’s prime example of “slow and steady wins the race.” But don’t let that fool you into thinking there’s nothing flashy about Cliff. In fact, by today’s consulting standards, nearly everything is flashy about the firm. It has no travel budget, it’s employees don’t have titles, per se, and junior staff is non-existent. Some clients date back to the Gerald Ford years, and most of its consultants date back to at least Ronald Reagan. The average Cliff consultant’s level of experience is 25 years and average tenure with Cliff is 13 years.

“We’re certainly a different kind of firm,” says Cliff, who founded the firm in 1972 after stints as an industrial engineer and a professor at U.C. Berkeley. “Our experience and our tenures are so remarkable, and unprecedented really, in this industry.” The reason no one leaves, he says, is because “Cliff offers people the opportunity to do what a consultant really wants to do—get embedded into an organization and really consult with them without other distractions.” And that’s the way it’s been at Cliff for the last 36 years. He started the firm with a few associates and grew it to a dozen billable consultants. It’s pretty much stayed there ever since.

“Growth is a business choice, not a mandate,” he says. “I call it ‘right-sizing.’ For us, this is the right-size firm. It allows us to preserve a healthy work/life balance that is so important to the success of the firm.” That work/life balance includes travel as a choice and the ability for consultants to manage their own work schedules. “That’s one of the main reasons we have associates who have been with us for more than 25 years,” he says. But with such an experienced staff, the inevitable is finally happening at Cliff. Two senior people are going to semi-retire this year, so Cliff finds itself in the unusual position of having to hire new people.

“We’re looking for very seasoned professionals, people with a minimum of ten years’ experience in consulting, industry or a combination of both,” says Robin Nasatir, who was appointed president and chief operating officer of Cliff last month. Nasatir, who has been with Cliff for 20 years, was previously vice president. In her new role, Nasatir will run the day-to-day operations of the firm. Cliff will stay on as CEO and will still guide the strategic direction of the firm.

“I think hiring is a little more difficult for us,” Nasatir says. “I think we have a cultural difference in our approach. We call it the ‘Cliff way.’ Our style is very collaborative with the client; we partner with them on everything we do.” The result, she says, is an approach that’s different from most other consulting firms. “We try to bring out the best in our clients. We’re going to work through them, empower them, train them and motivate them,” Nasatir says. “It’s not all about us. We’re helping the client grow and develop.”

The approach is something Cliff calls “egoless consulting.” At Cliff, “we’re not looking to show off or dominate the conversation,” he says. “At the end of the day, the finished product is the client’s product. They very much feel a sense of equity in the result. That means there’s a high success rate.”

That type of investment from Cliff leads to those deep relationships with clients, he says. “I absolutely love what I do, and I think it shows when I’m with a client,” Cliff says. “I almost hate to say it, but I’ve had a lot of fun working. It’s really too bad more people don’t.”