2022 Global Leaders in Consulting: Razaam Shafqat

Razaam Shafqat has more than a decade of experience in the SaaS field. He is an experienced consulting leader with broad enterprise solutions experience across finance, sales, supply chain, legal, and procurement, leveraging cloud technologies to solve for a variety of challenges.

Joining the Spaulding Ridge team in 2019, Razaam is an Associate Partner and is responsible for developing the European Markets strategy and execution, leading the day-to-day of sales, marketing, recruitment, and services delivery with a specific focus on the Spaulding Ridge DocuSign business. As the first employee in the UK, Razaam has led expansion efforts, building a team capable of achieving a $10m+ revenue target in just over two years. He's also been integral in establishing Spaulding Ridge as the most trusted DocuSign partner across the European market. Born in Manchester but made in London, Razaam is the youngest of five siblings. He lives near his family with his wife and beautiful son. In his free time, Razaam supports causes related to Orphan Welfare and Disaster Victims.

Razaam graduated with a 1st Class Bachelor Honors Degree in Accounting and Finance from the Manchester Metropolitan University and is an ACCA (Associated of Certified Chartered Accountants) Fellow.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

Professionally, I consider my greatest success the incredible team and pipe I've built at Spaulding Ridge. I joined as the #1 employee in in Europe and have quickly built to a team of 20. I measure success in repeat business, and the majority of our clients have come back to ask for follow-up or support work – that's certainly a mark of achievement in my book.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

I'd give the best advice I was given: "Listen first, then speak." Clients want to not only be heard but understood. They're human and you're human – connect on a human level. In that same vein, be agile. You should come in with theories and ideas, but having a rigid methodology isn't going to gain you the favor of clients, or the ultimate expression of a good partnership: return business.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

I love technology, I love providing amazing outcomes for clients, but I have to say that the thing I've loved the most is building the right team and support them to be self-sufficient leaders. As a unit, my team and I have been able to help so many companies, to launch two successful service line and positively impact the general vendor ecosystem.

It's become about so much more than me, now, and seeing my team succeed is my favorite part of my journey at Spaulding Ridge. I can't help but do a plug here, but Esmee Lobely, a senior associate on my team, won the 2021 TechWomen100 Award. Providing the support she and the rest of my team needs to do great things is on top of my to-do list constantly.

What's the best advice – personal or professional – you've ever received?

The best advice I've ever received professionally is definitely, "Listen first, then speak." The key thing for me as a tech advisor and implementor is to first get into the client's frame of mind and put myself in their shoes. To do that, a lot of what I do in the beginning is listen, understand their pain points, and hone in on what the client wants their solution to be.

What does being honored as a Global Leader mean to you?

Being recognized as a Global Leader means a lot both to me and my firm. We conduct business differently, with a lot of humanity, something other firms overlook. Earning an award like this affirms that we're not only doing something different, but doing something good for business and, hopefully, the world.