Deloitte's Jessica Blume says her clients have had enough of this bad economy
Jessica Blume is a national managing director for Clients & Industries for Deloitte Consulting. While there's no denying that its been tough sledding of late for consultancies and clients, Blume is refreshed by clients who suddenly want to talk about the other R words: rebound and recovery. She also sees opportunities in what might seem like unusual places. Consulting recently caught up with Bloom to discuss this newly found optimism among clients.
Consulting: Are clients really ready to talk rebound or is that still sort of wishful thinking?
Blume: Oh, it's not wishful thinking. It's funny, when I walk into a client now and tell them how we can save them 20 percent in costs, they look at me and they listen, but then they tell me they really don't want to talk about that anymore. They're tired of that. Take a look at banking, how long has the banking industry been in crisis? It's been more than a year. Clients are asking us what are other people in their sector thinking about right now?
Consulting: And what, specifically, are you hearing?
Blume: Well, it depends on the industry, but generally, we're hearing people talk about positioning themselves for either new product launches, or expanding an existing product line or positioning themselves for a new geography. Despite what we hear all the time, there are a lot of companies with cash right now, and they're looking for something to do with it. The bigger and more solvent companies have their shopping lists, and I think we're headed for a healthy period of growth.
Consulting: Where are you seeing that the most?
Blume: Well, energy and resources, including utilities, oil and gas are hot spots. First off, they're getting stimulus money so they'll have some money to rebound quickly. A similar thing is happening in financial services, including banking. There will be regulation and that will drive into a rapid movement to meet the new regulatory demands—especially in the banking sector.
Consulting: What do you think this new regulatory environment will look like as it relates to banking?
Blume: We believe there will be a move to "de-conglomerate." So if the regulation went that far to put some limits on the size a bank can be or if the consumer confidence just doesn't come back, then we think we'd get back to a more community-based bank environment. There would be big opportunity there in the mid-tier banks. I'm talking about strong, regional banks with roots in a geographic area—those banks are primed for success. They're not overleveraged, and they did get some bailout money. Many of those banks can use that money to improve everything from their technology operations to their cash positioning.
Consulting: How is your business?
Blume: We are not where we hoped to be, but we're still tracking at probably 4 to 6 percent growth. We just began our new fiscal year, and we believe the first half will be a little soft, but we think by the middle of the year it'll pick up.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.