Most of the respondents (42%) indicated that their clients’ budgets remained stable at the beginning of 2013. 21% of agencies saw a marginal decrease in clients’ budgets, and 11% reported a significant decrease. Over a quarter of the surveyed consultancies worldwide reported a marginal or significant budget increase.
Consultancies around the world were far more likely to be more rather than less optimistic about their businesses’ future. 45% of respondents felt more optimistic, compared with 20% who felt less so. For 35%, their optimism levels remained the same.
This optimism might be linked to reported high levels of new business – 65% of consultancies described the level of new business in the first quarter of 2013 as “busy” or “very busy”.
However, consultancies reported that they were working harder than before on client business. 46% reported an increase in over-servicing levels, compared with only 6% of consultancies reporting a fall.