The IoPP Packaging Consultants Council offers the following step-by-step procedures to help you find the best consultant for your specific need.

1. Determine the nature and scope of the assignment and what the consultant is expected to achieve.

2. Consult the IoPP Directory of Packaging Consultants to find professional consultants with the specific expertise you need.

3. Review the information in the Directory to conduct a preliminary assessment of the most promising candidates.

4. If you have questions about a candidate's professional background, call and ask questions. Professional packaging consultants are happy and proud to discuss their professional experience, offer references, and supply any information needed to help you make your decision.

5. Contact and interview - by phone or in person - the most promising candidates. If the consultant is a member of the IoPP Packaging Consultants Council, you can be sure that s/he is a professional packaging consultant and has passed a rigorous membership review process. If the candidate is not a member of the Council, verify that s/he has not just packaging experience, but packaging consulting experience as well. Find out if the candidate is an active, professional consultant, or a moonlighter or unemployed packaging professional doing a little consulting between jobs. Make sure that the consultant is, in fact, an objective, independent consultant and not a vendor or manufacturer's representative who calls himself a consultant. Be sure to ask any questions that might have a bearing on the consultant's qualifications for the job. What types of projects has the firm worked on in the past? How long has the firm been in operation? How big is the firm? What size company does the firm most frequently work with? How are fees typically determined? How many of the consultant's accounts are repeat business?

6. Once you've finished the interviewing process, request project proposal(s) from the consultants whom you are seriously considering hiring. Make sure the final proposal(s) contain well-defined "Scope of Work," "Services to be Provided," and "Description of Fees/Fee Schedule" sections. (Note: Resist the temptation to base your decision on price alone rather than value.)

7. After you've fine-tuned details and reached an agreement on the consultant's proposal (particularly the "Scope of Work" section), sign a contract and/or issue an appropriate purchase order.

8. Introduce the consultant to your staff and anyone else who might be involved with or threatened by the consultant's work for your organization. With the consultant by your side, explain in detail why the consultant has been hired, discuss the scope of the project, and give anyone who might become involved an opportunity to ask questions.

9. Provide input and on-going interest to the consultant at the beginning of and throughout the project.

10. Be sure the consultant is working for an executive within your company with sufficient authority to ensure the full cooperation of everyone involved with the project.

Packaging consultant services are often useful under these circumstances...

1. When you need temporary assistance.

2. When you have a short-term business problem that is best solved by someone with specific packaging experience.

3. When you're looking for outside assistance to help identify new markets or strategies.

4. When you need independent advice and opinions.

5. When a short-term problem arises for which there is no "in-house" talent to address.

6. When the press of new business or deadlines creates a heavy, short-term workload for which you require experienced help to supplement the efforts of in-house staff.

7. When you feel the need to reinvigorate your operations with new ideas or new perspectives.

8. When you need to train or educate your staff in a new area of packaging.

9. When you require an expert witness in legal matters.

10. When you're creating a new operation or reorganizing an old one.

11. When you need outside help to resolve internal technical or managerial conflicts.

12. When you're looking for someone to perform a search for cost savings opportunities in operations or materials.

1. When the need are unclear.

2. When the problem can be effectively and efficiently addressed using other methods.

3. When the need is ongoing and long-term. If your project or task that will require a long-term commitment of personnel, find a full-time employee with the appropriate experience and expertise.

4. When the need is not pressing and you have time to train in-house personnel.

5. When the consultant is over-qualified. Just because you had a successful experience with a packaging consultant in the past does not mean that a consultant is appropriate for every subsequent job.

6. When you expect the consultant to come in and salvage a project that is no longer salvageable.

7. When you are not organizationally or financially prepared to implement the consultant's suggestions.

8. When you expect the consultant to serve as a referee or "watchdog." Inappropriate use of a consultant as a hired gun can have devastating effects on morale. Moreover, using consultants in this way will help you avoid or postpone problems, not solve them.