The Suit

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Monday, 15 March 2010 22:39

We’ve all faced numerous scenarios, from good to bad, when dealing with vendors. The basic definition of a vendor is a person or agency who sells. We deal with vendors every day of our lives. However, when it comes to vendors selling IT services and products, the decision on which vendor(s) to buy from may have critical impact on a business and/or the careers of those involved with making those decisions.

Today’s economy has put a squeeze on budgets large and small. Nonetheless, vendors must maintain positive sales to keep their businesses running. I’ve found an increase as of late to attention on sales and marketing techniques utilized to maintain existing customers in addition to attracting new customers. IT services and products have grown exponentially in the past 20 years as budgets have recently declined. Many products and services are designed to provide customers with an overall savings when all is said and done. More products and services - less budget = critical decisions.

In an industry where the spotlight continues to be on technological advances and ingenuity, I believe it’s the relationships between vendors and clients as the key to success. Your vendor may provide an account executive to answer your questions, work towards resolutions on problems, and to be the conduit between yourself and any number of vendors who may be involved in the overall solution. Your decisions are critical. Your person(s) of contact with any vendor, whether it be live, on the phone, via email communication, should be an effective representative of the products and solutions involved in your relationship.

Always make a point to know your vendor’s reach. Many of today’s solutions go through two or three levels of representatives before reaching the customer. Will your vendor be ready for resolution if there is a problem? Can they do anything if they are? Customer satisfaction is the key when dealing with critical decisions. Shop around. There are a number of vendors to choose from. Ask yourself if your critical vendors already have that positive relationship at your contact point and if that level of positivity (and results) would remain in the event of a problem.

A vendor is a person or agency who sells. A *good* vendor, in my opinion, is one who stands behind their services and/or products and is able to fulfill the requirements of maintaining a positive relationship.