The client
Apex Strategy Group is a strategy and management consulting firm with more than 10 consultants, providing business strategy, market research and operating model design services.
The firm delivers high-value advisory engagements where every project can involve different methodologies, research requirements, client inputs and deliverables.
As Apex expanded and consultants began managing more engagements simultaneously, maintaining consistent delivery became increasingly difficult. The firm needed greater structure around project execution without restricting the flexibility and professional judgement required for strategic consulting.
Cinqd capabilities implemented:
- CRM and client management
- Task and project management
- Structured workflows
- Task dependencies
- Client collaboration
- Analytics and reporting
The challenge
Apex’s consultants had considerable flexibility in how they managed individual engagements. While this worked with a smaller project portfolio, growth made it increasingly difficult to maintain consistency across the firm.
Tasks, milestones and client inputs often required manual tracking. Different consultants could approach similar stages of an engagement differently, making project progress harder for partners to assess.
Partners frequently needed to request updates from consultants to understand whether projects were progressing as expected or whether particular milestones were at risk.
Client inputs created another challenge. When documents, feedback or approvals were delayed, subsequent work could also be affected.
As project volumes increased, Apex needed a way to introduce greater consistency and visibility without forcing every consulting engagement into exactly the same process.
How Cinqd helped Apex improve project delivery
Standardising core project workflows
Cinqd helped Apex create repeatable workflows around common stages of consulting engagements, including discovery, analysis and recommendations.
Each stage could include clear tasks, responsibilities and deadlines, giving consultants a consistent operational structure while allowing the actual consulting methodology to reflect the needs of each client. This reduced unnecessary variation in how projects were coordinated without limiting professional judgement.
Bringing client information and collaboration together
Client records, documents, communications and approvals were brought into a more connected process. Instead of searching across different systems or email conversations, consultants could access relevant client information alongside ongoing project activity.
This also made it easier to identify when feedback, documents or other client inputs were still outstanding, helping teams follow up earlier and keep engagements moving.
Managing tasks and dependencies more clearly
Many consulting activities depend on earlier work being completed before the next stage can begin. Cinqd allowed Apex to connect dependent tasks so teams could see what needed to happen first and what work was waiting on a prerequisite.
Once required activities were completed, subsequent work could move forward with clearer ownership. This helped reduce missed steps and ensured consultants had the required information or approvals before progressing to the next stage.
Giving partners greater project visibility
Cinqd gave partners a clearer view of project progress, outstanding responsibilities, upcoming milestones and potential delivery risks.
Instead of relying heavily on status meetings and individual updates, partners could see where engagements were progressing as expected and where additional attention might be required. This reduced the amount of senior-level time spent manually tracking day-to-day project activity.
The results
Apex reported improvements in delivery speed, milestone management and project visibility after introducing Cinqd.
36% faster project delivery
More structured workflows, clearer dependencies and improved visibility contributed to 36% faster project delivery.
Fewer missed milestones
Clear ownership, deadlines and task dependencies helped teams stay on top of important stages throughout each engagement.
Less day-to-day partner involvement
Greater project visibility reduced the need for partners to continually request progress updates from individual consultants.
More consistent delivery
Repeatable workflows gave consultants a clearer structure to follow while preserving flexibility around the strategic work itself.
Improved client experience
Better coordination of client inputs, approvals and project stages helped reduce unnecessary delays and gave clients greater confidence in delivery.
Before and after Cinqd
| Before Cinqd | After Cinqd |
| Delivery processes varied between consultants | Repeatable core project workflows |
| Tasks and milestones tracked manually | Structured tasks, owners and deadlines |
| Client inputs scattered across communications | More connected client collaboration |
| Dependencies were harder to coordinate | Linked tasks and clearer prerequisites |
| Partners relied on manual status updates | Greater visibility over project progress |
| Delivery risks could surface late | Potential issues identified earlier |
The overall impact
Cinqd helped Apex Strategy Group introduce greater structure around complex consulting engagements without making project delivery unnecessarily rigid.
By connecting client information, workflows, tasks, dependencies and reporting, consultants gained greater clarity over what needed to happen next while partners gained a clearer view of progress across the project portfolio.
The firm could maintain the flexibility required for high-value strategic work while reducing manual tracking and creating more consistent operational processes. The result was faster project delivery, fewer missed milestones and less partner time spent monitoring everyday project activity.
Could Cinqd help your consulting firm?
Cinqd brings clients, projects, tasks, workflows, collaboration and operational visibility together in one connected business operating system.
Create more consistent project delivery, coordinate dependencies and give partners greater visibility without restricting how your consultants approach complex client engagements.
Book a demo to see how Cinqd can help your consulting firm deliver projects with greater clarity and control.
