Pricing

It really is a billion dollar question.

Six years ago I visited India for the first time. I will never forget walking out of my hotel on to the streets of New Delhi to be confronted by the almost complete absence of everything I knew and understood. Having worked out the basics - which, for the western tourist, is largely a matter of learning how to manage an overwhelming tidal wave of demand for a share of your wallet - and figured out how to get from A to B, I quickly found myself in the position of trying to buy something . My prospective supplier, seeing me eyeing one of his cashmere sweaters, made his move.

As part of our research on consulting in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, we inevitably asked consulting firms how much they’d seen prices fall during the recession.

Overall, we estimate that fee rates among multinational corporations have dropped by between 10% and 15%, and those among large regional or national companies by as much as 50%. The most precipitous declines have now levelled off and in some highly specialised and sought-after areas there are even indications that prices are edging up.