Bain & Company Consultant Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Q1. NA
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We are a steel pipe manufacturer, and we are working on a cost transformation program and wish to reduce our cost by Rs. 150 Crores.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: What is the time horizon within which we would like to reduce the cost?

I: 12 months.

C: What is the product that we manufacture and whom do we cater to?

I: Large steel pipe and we cater to B2B and large customers.

C: Do we deal in separate product SKUs?

I: We have different diameters and variants depending on the process. But let us have one SKU for now.

C: What would be the location?

I: Hanjar port. We can import raw material from China and export it to the neighboring countries.

C: Given we are looking at reducing costs, what would our total current cost be?

I: Rs.6000 Cr. What are the various costs that I incur?

C: Raw Material (RM), production, distribution, marketing, and support. And considering the Heavy Goods Industry, most of the cost should come from Raw Material Purchase and Inbound Logistics.

I: Yes, RM is my major cost, and it accounts for 60% of the overall cost.

C: How much of that is Steel Pipes?

I: Steel which we bend and make the rolls for our pipe is 95% of our raw material.

C: Great, we can look at cost for Raw material in terms of the price/tonne*quantity.

I: How would you look at the price?

Opened the Cost Structure and then proceeded with procurement as per discussion

C: I will start looking at the procurement process currently and try to find potential optimization methods.

I: We procure for the entire year in one shipment currently.

C: Do we have possibility to alter this, as we might be saving on inventory costs.

I: Inventory is not a problem. But we can break the total order in multiple orders.

Efficiency and utilization are an issue. But if we have the liberty to order as many times as possible as possible, we like, what should be the number according to you. Like, 1,2,3,4 or maybe even more?

C: I would go with 2 as we can assess efficiency from the first order and order according and saving on transportation.

I: Great. Should I order 80% in the first or 20% in the first?

C: Should be 80% as would have safety margins and reduce stock out costs as it might disrupt the entire process.

I: Sure. Doing this we can reduce the steel cost by 2%. Can you come up the number?

C: Sure. 60% of 6000 would be the cost of raw material, which is 3600 and since we use 95% of RM for steel, the number comes to around 3420. 2% of which is around Rs. 68 Cr.

I: Great, are we able to reach the goal through this?

C: No, we are only able to reach less than 50% of the goal. Should I scope further for other means of optimization.

Q1. Give me a brief introduction about yourself.
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Your client is a maker of nets and ropes that are used across the fishing, agriculture, and construction industries. They have been facing stagnant growth for the past few and we need to help them devise a strategy to achieve full potential.

Let us focus on the fishing segment for this case.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: (Re-iterated the problem statement). What is the current level of growth, and do we have a target in mind?

I: Current growth is in the range of 3-4% but their target is to grow at a rate of 15%.

C: Could you tell me a little more about the firm? Where is it currently based out of and is fishing net sales the only source of revenue?

I: The firm is based out of India and operates in the Indian market only. Yes, net sales are the only revenue source.

C: Understood. What about the product? How many variants do we sell, and do we have a USP?

I: We have multiple ranges and SKUs and are prices at a premium.

C: Could you tell me a little more about the Indian fishing net industry? How many players operate in the segment and what is our market share?

I: There are two sets of players: organized and unorganized. We are a market leader and hold 70% of the share.

C: Okay. In terms of the entire value chain of activities, I understand that we manufacture the nets, but are we also involved in distribution and sales? Who are our end customers?

I: We sell the nets through our network of distributors and dealers to small and large-scale fishermen.

C: I think I have gotten a fair understanding of the market. In order to push revenue, we can either increase our price or increase the sales volume or a mix of both. However, given we are already priced at a premium in a price conscious country like India, we might risk losing market share if we go ahead with that. I’ll focus on avenues through which we can increase the sales volume.

I: Yes, that sounds like a good approach.

C: In order to push sales, we can look at a combination of two factors: our product and the market we operate in. Do you want me to focus on any particular combination?

I: Let’s look at exploring new markets first.

C: Sure. We can explore new markets within the fishing industry such as inland fishing and shrimp farming in India. Further, we can enter new markets of neighboring coastal countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines, etc. through exports or country set-ups.

We can increase volume using our existing product range or come up with newer variants that have higher ductile strength, longevity, longer usability life or are made of cheaper material.

On the contrary, given the rising concerns around sea pollution and damage to sea animals caused by discarded fishing nets we can come up with nets made of biodegradable or natural
material.

I: Those are interesting suggestions. If we were to foray into exports, which country would you pick?

C: I would pick a South Asian neighboring country such as Sri Lanka which has a flourishing fishing industry with dynamics similar to that of India.

I: Why not the U.S.?

C: Multiple reasons such as: high export costs, no competitive advantage and high risk. Additionally, the U.S. fishing industry is organized and at an advanced stage wherein they use automated shipping vessels and higher quality nets.

I: Makes sense. How would you estimate the market size of nets in Sri Lanka? Just give me a broad approach.

C: I would start with the overall population of the country and then identify what percentage of the population resides in the coastal areas (I would use the country map and dimensions to come up with a rough estimate).

Further, I would divide the working population into primary, secondary, and tertiary sector to then find the share of people employed in fishing.

I would then group them to identify the number of boats in play and estimate the use life of the nets to calculate annual demand.

I: That sounds like a fair approach. What about India? How would you push sales using the existing product and market?

C: I would look at lowering the price to push volumes or discriminatory pricing for the unorganized market; further I would strengthen my sales channels by tying up with fishing associations and unions.

I: Do you think the 15% target is achievable if we continue to operate domestically?

C: I think it is an ambitious target to have. Given the fishing industry is also growing at a slow pace and no boom is expected, there are limited avenues through which we can push sales.

However, we can look at the other industries: construction and agriculture as these seem more promising with the high investments in infrastructure and introduction of new farm laws. Further, we can explore new industries where nets and ropes could be used such as sports: cricket nets, football nets etc.

Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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Your client is one of the Top 3 IT services company. It is not growing. Find why?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: I would like to know more about the client. What kind of services is the client providing?

Is it operating on a global level?

How long has it been established for?

Is the company not growing in existing business or new business?

I: The client is well established. It has valuation of $5 Bn. It operates in all the major countries. The client has two major business segments: IT Hardware and App Development. The company is not earning enough revenue in new customer segment.

C: Can I know the revenue breakup from the two segments and are we facing growth decline in any segment?

I: You can assume a 30:70 breakup in IT hardware and app development. We are facing decline in app development segment.

C: Thanks for the information. On what parameter are we comparing the growth of app development segment?

I: The net new revenue acquired this year by competitor is 10%. However, the net new revenue acquired by us is 5%.

C: Thanks, I have fairly understood the business model of the client. Please allow me some time to jot down my thoughts.

In an IT company, the major touch points for providing App development service would be:

1. Company Infrastructure

2. Customer Acquisition

3. Customer Retention

4. Service Delivery

5. Client Success

As you have told me that we are not able to generate net new revenue as per market standards. Shall I go forward with customer acquisition department or focus on any other department as well?

I: Let’s go forward with customer acquisition.

C: Okay, customer acquisition could be impacted due to sales team or product.

I: Let’s focus on sales team.

C: The sales can reduce due to a decline in willingness, ability of the sales team or the number of people in sales team.

I: Let’s go forward with willingness first.

C: The willingness could be monetary or non-monetary. Monetary including salary, commission, or any other monetary benefit and non-monetary such as promotion, appreciation, and other perks.

I: Let’s focus on the monetary aspect. There is a base salary and flat 3% commission for closing a deal.

C: That’s an interesting pay structure of commission. I would further like to bifurcate the new customers acquired into customers approached → customers Converted.

I: There are two parameters basis which we measure the sales team performance.

Win Rate = No. of clients converted/ No. of clients approached

Close Rate: Value they convert / Value they target (Bid for)

There is no issue in Win Rate.

C: Is it fair to infer that the number of clients approached is as per market standards, but they are not targeting the big-ticket client?

I: Yes, this is the issue they are not targeting the big-ticket clients. What could be the reason behind the same?

C: As the commission rate is flat 3%, there might not be any additional incentive to reach out to the big-ticket clients.

I: Yes, that’s right. What would you recommend?

C: Short Term:

• Introduce variable commission for clients, basis value contributed.

• Set Value wise targets instead of number of clients acquired.

• Update the database to include leads of big-ticket clients.

Long Term:

• Training the employees to better persuade clients for better conversion rate.

Q1. Case interview based on work experience. Situation based.
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E-commerce case study for launching new brand online.