You've decided you want to outsource management of your telecom services to a consultant who can provide guidance as to the appropriate products and services for your unique business needs. 

Let's face it, pretty much anyone who has any knowledge on a given subject can call themselves a 'consultant'. So how do you choose the right consultant? The following are some suggestions:

1. Ensure that you look to a consultant who routinely makes the client's best interests their top priority - that they are independent and objective.

Many consultants actually represent or accept commissions from particular vendors when they send business their way. This means that their recommendations to you, their client, lack objectivity. In this situation, clients can never be sure that they are being shown the most ideal solutions for their needs.

2. Ensure that the consultant isn't just 'moonlighting'.

If consulting is only a part-time gig, the time devoted to you may ebb and flow diametrically against the demands of the consultant's other obligations.

3. Confirm that the consultant speaks your language.

The aspect of your business that you are outsourcing is clearly not your core competency - otherwise why would you outsource? Instead of rattling off industry-related jargon and buzzwords in order to impress upon you the depth the consultant's knowledge, ensure that they relate capabilities, assessments, recommendations, and procedures in a language you can understand. If anything, the consultant should become more knowledgeable about your business, not the other way around.

4. Verify that the consultant is highly recommended.

If the consultant gives you references, check them. If they don't (and even if they do), ask for them, or better yet, search the consulting company's web site for testimonials and/or a list of clients. It's one thing for a consultant to tell you that they have 100% client satisfaction or that they know what they're talking about; it's another to have existing clients confirm that.

5. Ensure that you and the consultant have a mutual understanding of the terms of their work with you.

Discuss and confirm expectations in terms of time lines, access to employees and information, scheduled meetings and/or communications, and other pertinent details. That way, you reduce the risk for unpleasant surprises once the engagement has commenced.