成为中国最好的咨询公司 – 姚嘉诚 (CEO of SmithStreet)

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We recently lost a consulting project for a client thatwe desperately wanted to continue working for; our competitors were Deloitte,Bain, AT Kearney and another local consulting company.  The client companychose Kearney.  This was disappointing because we worked very hard on ourproposal, and our pricing was very competitive.  But we know why we lost:we didn't have a strong enough reputation and we didn't demonstrate ourindustry experience (although we had a good amount of it, we did not show thisin our proposal.)  The first issue is a long-term issue that we need tocontinue to address through better public relations, marketing, andknowledge-sharing.  The second issue is a short-term issue that was causedby not thinking hard enough and carelessness.  We need to put our bestfoot forward.

最近我们从客户手中失去了一个项目，尽管我们非常期望能与该客户继续合作；我们的竞争对手包括德勤（Deloitte）、贝恩（Bain）、科尔尼（Kearney）以及其它一些本地咨询公司，但最终客户选择了科尔尼。这个结果让我很失望，因为我们已经很努力地撰写项目建议书，而且我们的价格也非常有竞争力。但失败的原因我们心知肚明：因为我们公司名气还不够，并且我们未能展示足够的相关行业经验（其实我们已具有相当行业经验，但这些却没有写进建议书里）。名气问题是一个长期问题，需要我们持续不断地做好公关、市场营销、知识分享等工作；而后者是由于考虑不周和粗心大意所导致的，是个短期问题。但是，我们需要时刻展示出最好的一面。

Why am I talking about our losses instead of ourwins?  Why don't I talk about the work that we are doing to bring one ofthe largest US women's fashion brands into the China market?  Or thecutting edge work we are doing in e-commerce for one of the coolest andfastest-growing UK firms in the clothing brand industry right now?  I canalso talk about how we beat out IMS Health on a medical devices value-chainstrategy engagement, or the work that we recently did on determining customerand product strategy for the world's leading nutritional supplementsbrands.  Why don't I talk about all the good things we are doing? Because it is not good enough, and we are not good enough.

为什么我要在这谈我们的失误而不是取得的成就？为什么我不谈我们为美国最大的女装品牌之一进入中国市场所做的工作？或者我们正在为服装品牌业中最酷、发展最迅速的英国公司之一在电子商务领域所做的最前卫的工作？我也可以谈谈我们是如何击败艾美仕市场研究公司（IMS Health）而取得的医疗设备价值链战略合作项目，又或者是我们最近为世界上最领先的营养补充剂品牌制定消费者与产品策略所做的工作。为什么我不谈这些我们所取得的成就？因为这些都还不够好，我们做的还不够。

We founded SmithStreet five and a half years ago becausewe believe there is a different and better way to do consulting to address growthstrategies in China.  To be honest, it has been harder than I thought itwould be.  We started from nothing: no clients, not an experienced team,and no reputation.  And we are facing competitors that do good work andhave 81 more years of experience than us.  To compete, we have to dobetter work at a more competitive price.  It is an uphill battle, but wewant to be the greatest consulting company in China.  If this is not ourambition then what is the point?  I am not saying the world (just do the bestwork in China). As a graduating student who has your whole career infront of you, you need to have more ambition.  If you want to doconsulting, apply to McKinsey, Bain, or BCG.  Otherwise, work fora company like SmithStreet and help to topple giants.  Don't bother withthe Big Four.

我们在五年半前成立了斯密街，因为我们相信在中国我们可以用一种更好的方式提供市场战略咨询。说实话，实际情况比我想象的要难。我们是从零开始的：没有客户、缺乏经验的团队、没有任何名气。同时我们还面临着拥有比我们多出81年从业经验的优秀竞争对手。要与之竞争，我们必须在做得更好的同时提供更低的价格。这是场艰苦的战斗，但我们要成为中国最好的咨询公司，这不是雄心壮志那还能是什么？我并不是说要成为世界上最好的（做中国最好的已经足够）。作为一名毕业生，你在面对自己的整个职业生涯时，需要有更多的雄心壮志。如果你要做咨询，那么就去申请麦肯锡（McKinsey）、贝恩、或波士顿(BCG)。或者就来像斯密街这样的公司工作，去推倒那些行业巨人。不用迷恋 “四大”。

If you join SmithStreet, you should be ambitious. Every day you should think about how you can make Partner: how to be a TrustedAdvisor to your clients, how to lead a team, and how to break new ground andfind new solutions to business problems through your consulting work.  Wewill teach you and help you along this path.  Your personal ambition isonly good for SmithStreet, it is the only way we can grow.  If you don'twant to do consulting, be ambitious in whatever field you choose.  Yourambition is only good for China.

如果你加入斯密街，就必须有野心。每天你都应该思考如何成为斯密街的合伙人：如何成为客户值得信赖的顾问、如何领导一个团队、以及如何开辟新的领域并为咨询工作中碰到的业务问题寻找新的解决方案。我们会教你、帮助你走过这条路。你的个人野心只会更有利于斯密街，这也是你成长的唯一途径。如果你不选择咨询行业，那么无论你选择什么其它行业都必须有野心。你的雄心壮志只会让中国更好。

It must all be done one step at a time though, startingwith this: the next time we compete for work with that client, we will win.

当然，这都没有捷径，我们必须一步一个脚印往前走，让我们从这里开始：在下一次争取这个客户时，我们要赢。