7seven
small
jewels
Cliff Consulting
CLIFF CONSULTING KNOWS what it is. And Bob Cliff,
founder and CEO, would have it no other way. Unlike the other six
firms on this year’s Small Jewels list, Cliff isn’t a new, niche firm
that’s looking to break out. An IT and operations project strategy
firm focused on financial services and healthcare delivery, it may be
the profession’s prime example of “slow and steady wins the race.”
But don’t let that fool you into thinking there’s nothing flashy about
Cliff. In fact, by today’s consulting standards, nearly everything is
“It’s not all about us. We try to
bring out the best in our clients. We’re
going to work through them, empower
them and motivate them . Robin Nasatir, president and chief operati”ng officer
“Growth is a business choice, not a mandate,” he says. “I call it
‘right-sizing.’ For us, this is the right-size firm. It allows us to preserve a healthy work/life balance that is so important to the success
o f the firm.” That work/life balance includes travel as a choice and
t he ability for consultants to manage their own work schedules.
“ That’s one of the main reasons we have associates who have been
w ith us for more than 25 years,” he says. But with such an experi-e nced staff, the inevitable is finally happening at Cliff. Two senior
p eople are going to semi-retire this year, so Cliff finds itself in the
u nusual position of having to hire new people.
“We’re looking for very seasoned professionals, people with a
m inimum of ten years’ experience in consulting, industry or a comb ination of both,” says Robin Nasatir, who was appointed president
a nd chief operating officer of Cliff last month. Nasatir, who has been
w ith Cliff for 20 years, was previously vice president. In her new
r ole, Nasatir will run the day-to-day operations of the firm. Cliff will
stay on as CEO and will still guide the strategic direction of the firm.
“I think hiring is a little more difficult for us,” Nasatir says. “I
think we have a cultural difference in our approach. We call it the
‘Cliff way.’ Our style is very collaborative with the client; we partner with them on everything we do.” The result, she says, is an approach that’s different from most other consulting firms. “We try to
bring out the best in our clients. We’re going to work through them,
empower them, train them and motivate them,” Nasatir says. “It’s
not all about us. We’re helping the client
grow and develop.”
The approach is something Cliff calls
“egoless consulting.” At Cliff, “we’re not
looking to show off or dominate the conversation,” he says. “At the end of the
day, the finished product is the client’s
product. They very much feel a sense of
equity in the result. That means there’s a
high success rate.”
That type of investment from Cliff leads to those deep relationships with clients, he says. “I absolutely love what I do, and
I think it shows when I’m with a client,” Cliff says. “I almost
hate to say it, but I’ve had a lot of fun working. It’s really too bad
more people don’t.” —Joseph Kornik
B ob Cliff, founder and CEO of Cliff Consulting, with Robin Nasatir, president
and chief operating officer
flashy about the firm. It has no travel budget, it’s employees don’t
have titles, per se, and junior staff is non-existent. Some clients date
back to the Gerald Ford years, and most of its consultants date back
to at least Ronald Reagan. The average Cliff consultant’s level of
experience is 25 years and average tenure
with Cliff is 13 years.
“We’re certainly a different kind of
firm,” says Cliff, who founded the firm in
1972 after stints as an industrial engineer
and a professor at U.C. Berkeley. “Our experience and our tenures are so remarkable, and unprecedented really, in this
industry.” The reason no one leaves, he
says, is because “Cliff offers people the
opportunity to do what a consultant really wants to do—get embedded into an organization and really consult with them without
other distractions.” And that’s the way it’s been at Cliff for the last
36 years. He started the firm with a few associates and grew it to a
dozen billable consultants. It’s pretty much stayed there ever since.
Headquarters: Oakland
Offices: 1
Billable Consultants 2007: 13
Revenue 2006: $2.5 million
Revenue 2007: $3 million
Projected revenue for 2008: $3.7 million
