"In my current position, my engineering department had been continuing to work with a consultant for many years due to familiarity. It was easier to simply continue working with this consultant and renew the retainer contract each year rather than consider other alternatives. While my CEO initially objected, I explained that I was willing to take time to research and evaluate other leaders in the field and present him with alternatives. I was managing the team and our day-to-day projects, and we were not getting the quality of work we needed. We considered a total of five other consultants who were winning awards on projects. In the end, we selected a new consultant who had the skills and experience to help us win new projects and secure new long-term contracts with clients."