When to Hire or Not Hire a Consultant

Linda M. Orr, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Akron. Her specialties are teaching, research, and consulting in sales sales management. She is the author or co-author of two books: When to Hire--or Not Hire--a Consultant: Getting Your Money's Worth from Consulting Relationships, and Advanced Sales Management Handbook and Cases: Analytical, Applied, and Relevant. She is also co-editor of two other books: Direct Marketing in Action: Cutting Edge Strategies for Finding and Keeping your Best Customers, finalist for the American Marketing Association's Berry Book Prize for the Best Book in Marketing (2009), and Marketing in the 21st Century: Volume 3: Company and Customer Relations. Dr. Orr has also published in several refereed journals. In addition, she served as assistant marketing director for Warner Bros. Records in Nashville, and in a variety of managerial capacities in the restaurant and finance industries. She has served as a consultant in numerous Fortune 500 companies and smaller companies in many industries.

• * Introduction * The Industry * Origins * ROI * Mistakes * Good Decisions * Selection * The Relationship * Options When Consultants Won't Do * Tools * Requests for Proposals * Sample Consulting Contract * Sample Nondisclosure Agreement