"Catalyst in the process of self-discovery."

The consulting market is booming: According to estimates by the Federal Association of German Management Consultants (BDU), sales grew by almost eight percent in 2016 to a record value of over 27 billion euros, and a similar development is expected for the current year. One of the main drivers of this development is digitalization: The topic challenges decision-makers in both large and small companies - and often overwhelms them because the associated transformation process affects all areas.

These are good times for consultants who are familiar with complex topics, who are as strong conceptually as they are in the implementation of their ideas, and who are also able to bring their clients' employees along with them in these processes, which are not always easy.

However, it is precisely at this point that it becomes apparent that new and complicated topics also have their pitfalls for the consultants themselves, because the decision-makers in the companies are often hardly able to assess who best meets the diverse requirements: the large, brand-strong universal providers such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting and Bain, or rather the smaller and implementation-strong specialists who are often only really known to insiders.

The right positioning
"For clients, there is a lack of transparency, they need guidance to find the right consultant for them," says Eva Manger-Wiemann, Managing Partner of the Zurich-based meta-consultancy Cardea, "and for consultants, it's about becoming discoverable in this confusing market - so it's about the right positioning." Cardea has specialized in supporting both sides: the consultants in the correct positioning of their offer and the companies in the correct assessment of the quality of the consultants. The linchpin of the Cardea business model is therefore a multi-stage certification process developed by Manger-Wiemann and the second Managing Partner Christoph Treichler and the resulting quality seal CAP, which stands for "Cardea Audited Performance".

Elaborate certification procedure
The certification procedure associated with this consultant TÜV goes much further than other attempts to make the consultant market, which has become increasingly confusing due to new providers, more transparent for clients. The consultant database of the BDU industry association, for example, is little more than an electronic directory; the classification in terms of industry know-how and project experience is based exclusively on self-assessment.

"Our certification process is much more complex, but it also offers a performance guarantee that is unparalleled in the consulting market," says Manger-Wiemann. Our certification process is much more complex, but it also offers a performance guarantee that is unparalleled in the consultancy market," says Manger-Wiemann. The path to the CAP seal extends

"Profile raised"
This not only helps future clients: "For us, CAP certification was like a catalyst in a self-discovery process - we were forced to think very carefully about our positioning, and this helped us to sharpen our profile," recalls Christoph Jäggi, partner at the healthcare consultancy Walkerproject.com in Zurich. Jäggi was one of the first consultants to be certified by Cardea and has held the CAP seal for around five years.

At the heart of CAP certification are several reference projects from the last three years prior to the start of the audit, which confirm the positioning of the consultant. Satisfaction with the project process and its success are reviewed by Treichler and his team in methodologically sound discussions with clients and summarised in a so-called performance summary. This final report is linked to a performance benchmark report, which shows the consultant exactly where he stands with his own performance compared to other competitors. "This review and ranking by an external partner increases our credibility with potential clients," says Markus Webhofer, Managing Partner of the Institute of Brand Logic in Inns-bruck. With his strategy consulting, Webhofer specializes in brand companies and has been a Cardea-certified consultant for six months.

Re-examination every two to three years
What distinguishes the Cardea method, which has been on offer for a good five years now, from other certification procedures commonly used in the industry, such as ISO? "ISO certification focuses on processes and procedures, whereas CAP certification is primarily concerned with performance and results," says consultant Jäggi. For the healthcare expert, this is the main argument why he opted for CAP certification: "It gives us a valuable competitive edge, especially with public-sector clients who have to put their consultancy contracts out to tender." The majority of the 70 or so consultants who have been certified since the start obviously share this view: A large number of them undergo a re-examination every two to three years.

From the client's point of view, a particularly useful additional unique selling point of CAP certification is the depth of information it provides: not only does the seal enable the client to understand the overall quality of the certified consultancy, it also provides a guarantee of quality at the level of the key personnel.