MPC ASSOCIATES
marketing, management and economic consultants

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

Do you still have reservations about using consultants?  

Over the last 37 years we have come across many reasons why companies hesitate to use consultants.  

Here are the main reservations that have been expressed and the ways we have helped our clients in overcoming them: (click on the individual links or scroll down the page to read the queries and MPC's answers in sequence)

Why  do I need marketing and management consultants when I already have competent in-house management?

Bringing in consultants could upset my staff.  

There's an old saying about consultants: "Once you get them in you can never get them out"

We might not like being told what to do

Some consultants have a vested interest in using outside services for their clients 

The problem with consultants is that they are too expensive

MPC's ANSWERS
to managing directors' concerns

Why do I need marketing and management consultants when I already employ competent in-house management?

The problem today is that through increasing workloads companies are getting too close to their products to see the market "for the trees".  One of the main advantages of marketing and management consultants is that they bring a new independent look to a company which can generate new ideas and concepts while at the same time increasing efficiency and reducing wastage.

With tightly controlled budgets do your senior managers and directors have time to step outside the company and give a genuine and unbiased view of your operations?  By working at all levels in your organisation - with directors, sales people, production staff, lorry drivers and your potential customers, we are in a position to listen and learn their views, which would not normally be expressed to you.

Bringing in consultants could upset my staff.  

This is one of the reasons why every project we undertake is led by Peter Wynne-James, Chairman and Managing Director of MPC.  He operates as a hands-on consultant with 14 years' practical marketing experience and 37 years' consultancy experience.  This has allowed him to be sensitive at all levels of a client's organisation, understanding the day-to-day problems of employees - the simple reason is that he has been there before.  It's a question of having the "common touch".

There's an old saying about consultants: "Once you get them in you can never get them out"

To a certain extent this is true within the consultancy sector as a whole. However, at MPC we strictly define our terms of reference in writing, having been briefed by you, the client.  This sets out what we are going to do for our fees and once these have been completed the project comes to a stop.  In some cases you may ask us to implement our proposals as you do not have the marketing structure to develop our recommendations.  This requires hands-on day-to-day administration by MPC but again, clear objectives must be provided by you so that the project stops when the brief has been completed.  

We might not like being told what to do

Some prospective clients say to us: "Do you find that your clients don't like being told what to do?  For instance, there is a saying that in most cases "the fault emanates from the board room".

We are not "Yes men" consultants.  Our role is to give you as our client an objective opinion of what we think is right and wrong within a company - or with its current strategies.  Marketing and management covers such a wide sphere - even the slightest fault within a company can "trip the switch" to success.  We won't alter our approach on this as ultimately we will be wasting the fees our clients are paying us.  If we feel you a making a mistake we will tell you so - but as diplomatically as possible!

Some consultants have a vested interest in using marketing support industries, such as advertising and public relations agencies,  for their clients.

This is not our method of doing business.  We are entirely independent and work on a fee basis only.

The problem with consultants is that they are too expensive.  I have to convince my board members that economically outside consultancy will be an asset to the company.

Firstly it is not our policy to employ university leavers who have just graduated and place them in the field as consultants, charging vast fees.  We use only consultants who have ten years' practical marketing experience and at least five years working as consultants.  For this reason, if a job is to be well done, we expect the right to charge fees which are commensurate with those for lawyers and accountants.  Our offices are outside London so we don't charge the highest fees, on the other hand we don't charge the lowest.  It really boils down to value for money.  Our strategic reports save companies time and money in the long run and the rewards to our clients are considerable.

Or go direct within this section to:
Why unique? - About MPC
Why "marketing, management and economic" consultants?
How do MPC's consultants work within a company?
Why do companies need MPC?
MPC's list of danger signals
What scenarios are best for calling in MPC? 
MPC's specialist markets
MPC's Golden Rules of consultancy
MPC's history
MPC's directors
Chairman's comments
Some of MPC's clients
Contact MPC
FAQ - frequently asked questions

 
Special features:
Wines
FMIG* (Fast-moving industrial goods)
Advertising Wastage

*© MPC Associates 2001

Or explore the ups and downs of business life through our snakes and ladders board.