Not many management consultancies can say they got their start during the Nixon Administration, but Cliff Consulting can. In 2012, Cliff will celebrate its 40th anniversary and President Robin Nasatir says the Oakland-based firm has big plans to celebrate the start of the firm's fifth decade in business. What's on the agenda? Here's a hint: It involves, like nearly everything Cliff does, partnering with its clients, some of which—like Wells Fargo—have been with the firm for more than 35 years. Consulting One on One sat down with Nasatir to discuss the anniversary and just what lies ahead for the niche IT operations and strategy firm.
Consulting: So, let's start with your 40th anniversary. How do you plan on celebrating that landmark?
Nasatir: Like everything we do, we wanted to do something focused on partnering with our clients. So, we'll be reaching out to all of our clients and ask them to nominate San Francisco area-focused charities. We'll choose four to six of those nominations and partner with clients to help them make an impact to the charity of their choice. These are not just financial contributions, but more time and talent contributions where we would really be able to make a considerably larger impact to an organization. So, that's one aspect of it. But we didn't want to limit ourselves to just the four or six big partnerships we end up choosing, so we're also asking all of our clients to identify a charitable organization, and then we'll donate money to the nonprofit on the client's behalf. So it's two tiered: There will be four to six big-impact partnerships with clients and their nonprofit organization; and then there will be other monetary donations on behalf of all of our clients.
Consulting: That's an interesting way to celebrate your anniversary. How did you decide on that approach?
Nasatir: Our philosophy in our work has always been to partner with our clients—so we thought this was fitting. The reason we've been so successful all these years is because we have wonderful consultants who have long and deep relationships with their clients, so we wanted to do something to celebrate those relationships. And since we focus almost exclusively in the San Francisco Bay area, we thought it was fitting to focus our efforts locally.
Consulting: Cliff was recognized as one of Consulting magazine's Seven Small Jewels in 2008. Where's the firm today?
Nasatir: We were, at the time, about 12 consultants and a little under $3 million in revenue. As you know, we have a little bit of a different model. We're small by choice, and we're really not interested in a lot of growth. Having said that, we have grown a bit since the Small Jewels recognition in 2008. We have 15 core consultants with us right now and a few more out there under the Cliff Consulting banner. This is the biggest we've ever been, and I don't think we'll get any bigger. When I took over as president [in 2008], the firm was just under $3 million, and we'll be at about $4.5 million in 2012. So, overall, we've grown revenue about 50 percent since 2008.
Consulting: How is your business doing right now?
Nasatir: We do a lot of work in the compliance and in the merger & acquisition space. M&A seems to happen in both good times and down times. But right now there is so much work in compliance—especially in financial services and healthcare, the industries where we do the majority of our work. We're as busy as ever. As you know, we have a senior model and clients love the fact that we bring in very senior people on the project. At most firms, this level of senior talent would cost two to three times what we cost. So, our clients—and especially procurement—like that. And procurement also is focused on working with minority and women-owned businesses so that's an extra-added bonus some of our clients are excited about. In fact, half of our staff are women, so we're very unique in that respect. Two of our women—Carol Piette and Suzanne Stuart—have actually been with the firm for more than 30 years. I've only been here 25 years. But Carol and Suzanne have taken on many leadership roles in the firm. They work with me on the day-to-day operations, and they are very involved in the recruiting and hiring process and represent a significant part of the leadership of the firm.
Consulting: How much of a challenge is finding, recruiting and hiring talent?
Nasatir: Well, our biggest challenge is finding people who fit with our firm. We are unique and that can be a challenge. There's a growing population of people who are later in their career who are really looking for an opportunity to get back to doing really good work. They don't want to retire, but they want to slow down a bit and be at home more or maybe work part-time. We know those people are out there, and we're not sure they realize we are here. We don't do a lot of outreach and we don't do a lot of marketing, but we think 2012 is the year to do it. It's our 40th anniversary, and it's time people knew what Cliff Consulting is all about.
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