Learn how strategy consultants can use BSC Designer to plan and manage client strategies, addressing challenges in teamwork, standardization, and cascading.
Usage Scenarios for Strategy Consultants
The BSC Designer platform is widely used by consultants to support client’s strategy implementation. Specific use cases vary based on the consultant’s approach and the client’s needs:
- Traditional strategy consulting, where the consultant uses the platform to develop and manage client’s strategy.
- In-house consulting roles, such as digital transformation, strategic sales, or evaluations.
- Overseeing strategy in companies where BSC Designer is already used for strategy and performance measurement.
- Repurposing the platform for quality control, regulatory compliance, or other specialized cases.
Let’s discuss the common challenges consultants face in these scenarios and how BSC Designer can help.
Understanding the Platform
Like any other user, a consultant must become proficient with the platform:
- Start with the strategy implementation article to understand our approach.
- If a client requires a specific business framework, check the framework comparison article for relevant use cases.
- Sign up for a free plan. Inside the platform, use the video icons to access training videos.
- Use the AI tab to ask product-related questions.
Strategy Implementation Tools
Key mechanics we recommend for strategy consultants to learn:
- Creating scorecards, defining goals within them, and breaking them down into KPIs and initiatives.
- Setting up KPIs, including target setting and tracking values over time.
- Connecting scorecards through data or contextual relationships.
- Building dashboards and generating reports.
Automation for the Analysis Stage
While the BSC Designer platform is primarily focused on strategy implementation, it also supports the strategy analysis and definition stages by providing various templates for analytical frameworks, such as PESTEL, competitive analysis, growth strategies, and stakeholder analysis.
Beyond a purely descriptive function, the results generated from these templates can be aligned with actual strategy scorecards, providing the strategy team and other stakeholders with greater context for effective strategy execution.
Standards for Strategy Description
Many organizations have unique strategy documentation standards. To implement these standards, explore the customization features of BSC Designer. For example, a common request is to customize the platform’s templates by adjusting the names and number of perspectives.
Another key aspect of standardization is the shared terminology used across the organization. You can refer to the terminology used by BSC Designer in this glossary of strategic planning terms.
Specialist Certification
For a structured learning path with support from the BSC Designer team and formal recognition of your skills, consider the BSC Designer Specialist certification program.
Collaborating on Strategy
Depending on the use case, follow one of these steps to share scorecards:
- Share with your client access to your strategy workspace, or
- Request access to the client’s BSC Designer account.
If you plan to use a scorecard to illustrate your approach to strategic planning and promote your consulting services, you can share it with a public user, making it accessible to anyone on the Internet.
Your Account vs. Client’s Account
When deciding where to create scorecards, consider the following:
- For small projects without cross-linked scorecards, work in your own account. If needed, you can transfer individual scorecards to the client’s account.
- For complex projects with multiple interconnected scorecards and customizations, create a dedicated client account.
Switching from Free to Paid Account
Many strategy implementation prototypes start with a free account. When upgrading to a paid plan, enter the subscription code—your data remains intact within the same account.
Changing Account Ownership
If needed, ownership of an account can be transferred, for example, from a consultant to the client. Contact customer service for assistance.
Presenting Results
The best way to present results is through a strategy presentation, where the client can directly access the scorecard (at least as a view-only user).
Adding Sample Data to Scorecards
Clients may request preloading their real performance data, which can be imported from Excel.
- If real data is unavailable, use the AI assistant to generate plausible sample data.
- For demo scorecards, consider adjusting the data inheritance settings (Tools > Options > Inheritance) to use inherited values for indicators. This ensures that if actual data is unavailable, the platform will display the last available data on dashboards.
Presenting the Platform to Clients
When transitioning from the prototype stage to actual implementation, consultants or internal strategy specialists often need to present the BSC Designer platform to their colleagues.
- On a “testing waters” stage, such a presentation might include a general overview of the platform and its comparison to the existing approach and competitive offers.
- On a scaling stage, this might be a presentation to senior stakeholders to demonstrate the viability of the idea and get budget approval, or a presentation to colleagues to ensure buy-in and active participation during implementation.
You can use one of the official presentations available on our website, adding screenshots that demonstrate actual use cases.
Additional Resources
These articles address typical challenges faced by organizations starting to use strategy automation tools:
- Best Strategic Planning Software Guide – What to Ask for in RFPs
- Switching from Excel to Specialized Strategy Software – Challenges and Results
Use Cases in Strategy Implementation Consulting
Learn how strategy consultants use the BSC Designer platform to implement strategies.
When a Second Opinion is Needed
If you require a second opinion or want to complement your consultancy offering, consider our strategy implementation consulting services.
Alexis is a Senior Strategy Consultant and CEO at BSC Designer, with over 20 years of experience in strategic planning. Alexis developed the “5 Step Strategy Implementation System” that helps companies with the practical implementation of their strategies. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has published over 100 articles on strategy and performance management, including the book “10 Step KPI System”. His work is frequently cited in academic research.