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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Subject: The Role of Consultant's and are we that dumb? 
Warning: This is not for experienced and seasoned records managers but for newbies who might be tricked by the new trend in the industry. 
While there are many high quality consultants in the field of records management and many projects cannot be accomplished without their help or at the least will take a lot longer without the consultant's help, I want to caution this body against a new trend that has shown up in some markets. 
There are a number of consultants that have sprung up recently that present the case that they will help you re-negotiate your records storage contracts and will guarantee savings on the contract. They tell your existing vendor that unless he agrees to a re-negotiation, then he will not be allowed to even bid on the new contract. That is unethical for both you and the consultant. It is also an easy way for a larger company to eliminate a good vendor from even bidding. 
Some of these consultants even host seminars to speak to their ability to set your records management program right by giving you this great contract for storage. 
So if in the last few months you have been approached by consultants offering to cut your storage bills in half, please evaluate these proposals carefully. Ironically law firms fall for this as they are always too busy to pay attention to the small details so they like consultants. 
To show how easy this is to pull off, I myself will guarantee to take this years storage contract and do the next twelve months for 50% of what you are paying now!! 
But wait until you see the Hostage Fee!! Oh, by the way, I don't know what I will charge you for next year yet, but you will pay it because the Hostage Fee will crush you if you try to leave. 
Come on people, we got caught with the Hostage Fee in the past and many of you to your credit, demanded new contracts on renewals that eliminated them. BRAVO!! 

Here is how to spot, phony consultants......... 

1) Ask to see the proposals they sent out and the bids that came back on previous projects. If no matter what the pricing is, one company always wins the bid...............you should be suspicious. They are not consultants but commission sales people for certain companies.  
 
 2) They fail to eliminate the Hostage Fee from the Contract. It doesn't matter if you get it for half the price if the fees go up three times in the next three years and you can't leave. 
Alert: They use different terms than Permanent Removal Fees. They may call it Account Closing Fees, Administrative Fees for Account Closure, etc. so you have to use your head. 

3) These consultants roll into a market, saturate it with presentations, mailings and sales calls and when they milk that market, they move on. Legitimate consultants don't roam around like Carny people. 

4) Any contract should have simple terms for breach of contract so that if service drops off, errors abound, that you have the right to leave. These consultants do not make an air tight case for you being able to leave if things go bad. 

5) If they host seminars sponsored by potential storage companies, how can they remain independent and dedicated to your interests? Consultants are totally independent and focused on your needs and performance and do not ally themselves with potential bidders for your services. 

6) Fees for storage should be simple and understandable. If you have an invoice that no one can comprehend then you are being hoodwinked. Good and reputable companies price things simply. (Example: 20¢ per box per month, $8.00 for a scheduled delivery, $25.00 for a same day rush delivery) 

If you are seeing things like Dock fee, Wanding Fee, Slotting or Shelving Fee, Administration Fee, Loading Fee, Data Entry Fee, and on and on, then you are paying bogus fees. 

Many of these storage contract consultants have a sponsor who wins all the business and their interests are not your interests. The consultant becomes a commission salesmen for certain companies but in this case you pay the commission. 

ARMA created guidelines for contracts and with these you can sit down and evaluate one vendor and contract from another. But if you do fall under the spell of the consultant who promises to cut your storage costs in half, put in your agreement that the new contract must eliminate all removal fees and have an opt out for poor service for late deliveries, or lost boxes and tapes. Also pay attention to the delivery schedules, your existing contract may state deliveries are to be within 24 hours, the new contract might extend that to 48 hours and a 24 hour delivery is now classified as a rush delivery. The service you expect as standard now will be classified as emergency basis and therefore triple your delivery fees. 

Purchasing agents fall for this new trend so you have to alert them to avoid them walking into this trap, otherwise you may find yourself in a new contract with no outs. 

We can't stop this new breed of scam artists but we can at least stop them from hurting records managers on the listserv. As with any scam, awareness of what people are trying to do to you is the first step. 

Also, ask to see their professional liability insurance to insure against any defect in their contract with the caveat that they be liable for any removal fees that would result due to errors and omissions in their contract. Your ability to move your records is a tremendous guaranty of continued service; but larger companies prey on small storage companies who in an attempt to be a responsive vendor, did not include hostage fees. Therefore the consultants flow to smaller markets where a good quality and high integrity vendors sit vulnerable to the siren song of half price storage, as these vendors never enacted a Hostage Fee and relied on quality service to keep your account. 

The truest thing my Mother ever told me is "Hugh, if it sounds too good to be true! Then it is!" 

We need to spread the word about this before it hurts more people. 




Hugh Smith 
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults 
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(610) 756-4440 Fax (610) 756-4134 
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM 

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