Twenty client managers, twenty copies of the spreadsheet
Your firm has a well-regarded maturity framework, say for procurement or data capability, and uses it at the start of engagements. It lives in an Excel workbook: questions on one tab, scoring on another, a radar chart on a third. For each client, a consultant sends copies to twenty managers, collects them back, fixes the ones where someone typed over a formula, merges the scores, and builds the report slides.
The firm has run the assessment on many clients, but the results are scattered across folders, so nobody can say how this client compares with others in its sector.
Why the assessment stays stuck in Excel
- The framework was built in Excel and nobody has had time to move it.
- Distributing and merging copies is manual and error-prone.
- Scoring logic is hidden in formulas that participants can break.
- Reports are built in PowerPoint by hand for each client.
- Results are not stored in a way that allows benchmarking.
Ownership is part of the problem. The framework belongs to a partner or practice lead who built it, and changes are made to their master copy. Consultants use older copies, questions drift, and results from different engagements stop being comparable without anyone realising.
What that costs
| Issue | Effect |
|---|---|
| Manual distribution and merging | Consultant time on admin |
| Broken spreadsheets | Scoring errors, rework |
| No benchmark | The firm's biggest selling point goes unused |
| Hand-built reports | Slower insight, inconsistent quality |
An assessment that can say 'here is how you compare with similar organisations' is far more persuasive than one that only describes the client. The data to do it exists in the firm's folders, unused.
The framework's value also leaks. A spreadsheet emailed to twenty client managers is easy to forward, and the firm's intellectual property ends up in circulation without its name on it. A hosted tool keeps the scoring logic inside the firm.
How we build an online assessment
- Your framework, questions, levels and scoring rules are set up in an online tool, with your branding.
- Consultants create an assessment for a client and invite participants by email, with roles or functions recorded.
- Participants complete it on any device, with guidance text for each question, and can save and return.
- Scores are calculated using your model, by participant, function and overall, with spread shown where participants disagree.
- A report is generated in your template, charts and commentary placeholders, for the consultant to complete with their interpretation.
- With client consent, anonymised results feed a benchmark by sector and size, which appears in future reports.
- Past Excel results can be imported to start the benchmark.
The framework is your intellectual property, and it stays that way. We build the tool for your firm, and you decide who can use it and how.
We usually start by reviewing the framework with its owner, tidying question wording and scoring rules where needed, and fixing a version one. Importing a few past engagements' results then tests the scoring and gives the benchmark a starting point.
What an assessment looks like afterwards
Consultants launch an assessment in minutes and see responses arrive. Scoring is instant and correct. The report draft is ready for their commentary, and the benchmark adds context the client could not get elsewhere.
The assessment can also become a lead generation tool, offered as a lighter version on your website, if you want it to be.
Is your framework stuck like this?
- Your assessment is emailed as Excel files.
- Responses are merged by hand.
- Participants break formulas.
- Reports are built slide by slide.
- You cannot benchmark clients against each other.