Accenture - "Mastersful" Marketers

Over my career, I have competed against Accenture (back when it was Andersen Consulting and when I was at PwC) and analyzed it (while at Gartner). I even started a company (IQ4hire) with an Aceenture partner and several other Accenture alum.  They are disciplined and to use Geoffrey Moore's terms, they are really good "tornado chasers".  They are never first in too many markets, but as market segments  take off - be in ERP in mid 90s, eBusiness in late 90s, now BPO - they are present in force and at high margins.

While at Gartner, I remember listening to an Accenture executive use the word "value" 20 times in his presentation.  I asked him what value his clients got when they paid $ 200 an hour for some mundane SAP report writing skill set. He did not skip a beat - "They paid our bills - they must see the value".

I can take ANY Accenture contract and easily find 10 to 20% savings (and more with detailed analysis) without losing a client much in the way of productivity or increasing their delivery risk. This is where their masterful marketing comes in.  They can usually convince some senior executive in the client that there really is little fat or that their premium is justified. Especially, when you watch Tiger Woods' miracle shot at the 16th at the recent Masters - and Accenture glows in its astute sponsorship of Tiger.

You got to admire that chutzpah and their "value selling".  They make negotiations fun!