In handicapping Sapient's prospects, the founders are also quick to tout the "C" word. "You can be differentiated based on culture alone," says Moore. "Think about how you pick a lawyer or accountant. It's chemistry. Do you trust them? Do they care about you? Will they put your interests first?"
Every new employee, including those in India, spend their first week at Sapient being indoctrinated with the company's "core values" - which include things like openness, relationships, personal growth and client-focused delivery. The latter is codified in such mantras as "Client, Sapient, Team, Me." (The client is everything, I am nothing.)
The result, Moore claims, is an exceptionally results-oriented workforce: "I just had a client in Toronto say, 'Your team cares more about this than I do!'"
Sapient's emphasis on these values is evident in one of its "war rooms," a space awash in whiteboards where teams powwow with clients in a bonding and project-planning process called "fusion." Team members fine each other for breaking self-imposed ground rules such as: "Don't be late," "Don't say, 'To be honest ...'" and "Leave the dead horse alone." They also give each other awards and rate their personalities on a "communication subtypes" chart, where a person might be classified as, say, a "thinking socializer" or a "relating relator."
While this approach may be a bit touchy-feely for Wall Street, analysts are largely enthusiastic about Sapient's unique pricing model. While most consultants bill based on time and materials, Sapient charges a fixed amount to deliver a project by a fixed deadline. If it takes longer, Sapient eats the additional costs. "Fixed-price, fixed-time shifts the risk away from the client," says Barry Chubrik, an analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston. "It's a major competitive advantage."
Moore says the model has an added benefit. "More than 93 percent of our projects get done on time," he says. "Fixed-price, fixed-time is so important because it forces us to be good at what we do."
The company has one other ace up its sleeve: At the end of the second quarter it had more than $271 million in the bank, enough of a cash cushion to keep it chugging along even if the e-services business doesn't bounce back as predicted next year. "We will survive," says Greenberg. "The question is, are we going to be a leader and set the pace in this market?"
Looking five years into the future, Moore envisions Sapient as a multibillion-dollar company. But more important than mere revenues, in Moore's view, is preserving the idiosyncrasies that distinguish Sapient from its competition. "The idea of being just one of many," he says, "we find appalling."
Then again, being "one of many" is bad only when many are failing - like now.
