FAQs

By using The Consultant Register, we've made finding consultants easy, but how do you decide who to use? Below is some general advice for choosing a consultant to use for your organisation, followed by some common FAQs. Do you have anything to add? Please get in touch.

Top 10 Tips for choosing a Consultant

The nature and scope of the project should be clearly defined to avoid misunderstandings, cost-control issues or failure to get the services and information you need. Clearly set out what you want the outcome of the project to be. Here are some tips to get you started...

1. Does the consultant have relevant qualifications (with proof)?

2. Does the consultant have solid references?

3. Is the consultant a a member of any verifiable professional organisations?

4. Has the consultant had past experience of working with a similar business to yours?

5. Will the consultant be required to do any training, and do they have a training qualification?

6. Does the consultant have the appropriate level of professional indemnity insurance? Ask to see their policy documentation.

7. Does the consultant have enough resources to cope with your demands?

8. What is staff turnover like in the consultant's business (i.e. will you deal with the same person throughout)?

9. How much will the consultant charge and how are fees calculated?

10. Is the consultant stable? You should credit check them, as they may with you.

Q How should I select a consultant?

Decide on the process for selection - you might ask for written proposals, conduct interviews by phone or face to face, take up references or a combination of all of these methods or some. Speak to more than one consultant even if you do not have an open tender - you may pick up useful information too.

Ensure you find out how they see the task and how they would approach it, who would be working on the proposal and what experience and skills they have, the proposed work plan and time scales, the indicative costs (fees, VAT and expenses) and, if required, referees.

Q. Should I use an individual or group of consultants?

Consider whether or not you want to engage an individual or a group. There can be pros and cons with either approach. With an individual you know that you will get the attention of one consultant who you can get to know; with a group you may get a range of different skills.

If you use a firm of consultants make sure you see the main individual(s) who will be working on the project.

Q. How much should I pay a consultant?

The financial side of the project should be clearly set out. The consultant's fees should be discussed and agreed. For example, will they receive a fixed fee or a day rate? Are they prepared to make part of their fee dependent on results and if so, how will these be measured? You should also agree how and when payment will be made.

As with any other service, you should compare costs with other consultants.

Q. How can I save money?

Prepare an induction pack, including contact details for everyone involved in the project.. The more you can help the consultant to use time efficiently, the more value you will get.

Ensure preliminary research is completed beforehand. As an example, for an IT project, save time by giving the consultant details of existing equipment and software, and who uses what.

You might want to divide projects into manageable chunks and set deadlines for the completion of each one. Staging the work this way will make it much easier for you to monitor the project and the consultant's work on a day-to-day basis.

Q. What should I have in a contract with the consultant?

The responsibilities of both parties should be set out in the contract. Both you and the consultant should know exactly who is responsible for which aspect of the project so that neither party is suddenly expected to produce significant extra work.

Include a comprehensive service-level agreement which sets out responsibilities and priorities, defines the service they must provide and the level of service to be delivered.

Clarify how you want the results of the consultant's work to be explained to you. Do you want a final report, weekly briefing sessions, a presentation to management or staff, or all of these options?

Set out how you will resolve disputes. Explain how both parties can get out of the contract, and what will happen if they do.

Q. How should I prepare my staff when dealing with a consultant?

You should communicate fully with your employees, to explain what the consultant's brief is otherwise employees may resent the intrusion and the additional work it causes. By the same token, ask the consultant to provide regular feedback on the project to the rest of your team, as part of the ongoing liaison.

Plan for the impact of the project on existing workloads, be it if the consultant will require assistance or if a successful marketing project will create extra enquiries.

Lastly, consider getting a key employee to 'shadow' the consultant, you could learn more than you would just by reading reports.

Q. What should I expect from a final report?

Your  consultant's final report should provide evidence that all the objectives have been achieved. Make sure you thoroughly review the report and check that there are no outstanding tasks, before signing off the report and the final invoice.

Be sure to publicise the success of the project in-house, as it may impact on people's motivation and work positively.

For more help, the Business Link  website has advice on outsourcing.

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