Hugh:
 
Thanks for your post regarding the so-called "consultants."  
 
As some of you might know, I am an (as Amy Rand says, a 'dirty-rotten') owner of a commercial records center.  I have just experienced having to deal with a "consultant" here in Nashville.  
 
The "consultant" is not from Tennessee.  The "consultant" is not a CRM nor are they even a member of PRISM or ARMA.  The "consultant" contacted a company/organization that I have been dealing with for the past 15 years, one in which I have had a very good relationship.  The reason the "consultant" was able to get in my client's door was because the responsibility for records management was transferred to another department recently, and the organization just brought in/hired someone new to handle this area, someone with no previous records management experience, and someone from outside Nashville.  When she was hired, she probably thought that by hiring this "consultant, " she could make an immediate impact on her job regarding records management.  That's not a bad thing.  The "consultant," from all I can gather, is simply there to help them reduce costs in many areas, to include records management.  The "consultant" advertises that they are paid on a contingency basis only.  (Based on the amount of money they save.)  That (their fee) sounds like a good idea.    
 
The "consultant" let me know very quickly that my rates were "not in line."  When I asked what benchmark they were using, they referred to the "new company" that was in Nashville.  The "new" company they were referring to is one of the national companies and has been in Nashville more than 10 years.  Every time they mentioned the words "process, procedures or price" - they were referring to and benchmarking me with the "new" company in town.     
 
It was made clear that if I did not make changes, (drop my rates), that I would not be considered when the contract renews.  They mentioned that they (plural)  do this "all over the country."  I asked if they had ever moved business from a local records management company (like me) to a national records management company.  They stated, "all the time."  When I asked if they had ever moved business from a national records management company to a local records management company, they froze.  They did not answer the question.  When I challenged them on this, they would give me no answer - and no references.
 
They quickly said that they had complaints (plural) dealing with our service to the client.  I deal with complaints personally and had none logged from this account in several years. When I asked for specifics, they would not give me any, that they "could not breach that confidentiality."  I then told them that it was still my account and that I was simply going to call my account - that my contract had a "cure" procedure and that they could not stop me.  The "consultant" gave in, and then gave me the name of - get this - my former main contact for the account, as the person making the complaint - one complaint (singular, not plural).  The "consultant" told me I was not allowed to call my old contact, that they, (the "consultant")  was now to be the intermediary.  I got off the phone, immediately called our old contact, and she stated that she knew nothing - absolutely nothing as to what the "consultant" was talking about regarding a service failure from our company.  By the way, when I called back to the "consultant"  to let them know what I learned, it was apparent that their office was their home.  Not knocking working out of the home in any way, but they made it sound like "they" were big and had many people working on this project and that there were several people in their company.  
 
The "consultant" might be legitimate in many aspects of business - but I doubt that they are knowledgeable/proficient in the area of records management.   It is my opinion that they will try to move my account to the national company with little regard as to the long-term financial and service consequences of the decision.  And the new person making the decision for my client doesn't know about this yet.  So, I have a job to do with them - quickly.  
 
Now, who all have I offended this time?  
 
Steve Richards
 
R. Stephen Richards 
President and CEO 
Richards & Richards 
Nashville, TN 

615-242-9600    phone 
615-242-2100    fax 

www.RichardsandRichards.com 

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