THE AUGUST 2008 ISSUE OF FORUM HIGHLIGHTED THE
INTRICACIES OF THE BUYER/SELLER RELATIONSHIP AS SEEN
BY ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES. THIS MONTH, WE VIEW THE
RELATIONSHIP FROM THE SUPPLIER PARTNER PERSPECTIVE.
FINDING A VENDOR
Referrals are the most common and
reliable way of finding a service provider.
If a colleague or executive in a similar
line of work has had a good experience
with a vendor, chances are your experience will be similar. As a supplier, knowing an existing client referred your
business adds a level of accountability
and makes most vendors extra careful
to do a good job.
If a referral isn’t available, you’ll need
to identify vendors through advertising,
industry directories or a Web search. Once
you’ve identified a list of candidates, try
to determine which are best suited to your
organization’s culture and needs. Online
research, phone interviews, face-to-face
meetings, reference checks and soliciting
proposals are a few ways to learn more
about potential vendors.
Don’t overlook the informal approach,
especially if you’re unfamiliar with the
product or service involved. A brief conversation with several vendors will reveal
which are accessible and willing to inform
your buying process. You might invite two
or three of them to meet and discuss
your needs and help define your project
(asking each for a proposal to follow up
the discussion). The more insight and
context you provide, the more likely the
seller will propose a solution that meets
your needs.
ALIGNMENT
Cost is a consideration when purchasing
any product or service, but more so when
the purchase is clearly defined or for a
commodity like office supplies, phone
service and other things that can be easily compared. For complicated needs,
you also must consider vendor experience,
quality of work or product, and compatibility with the buying organization’s personality and vision.
With most products or services, the
purchasing association must be willing
to offer some flexibility. For example, in
the business of building Web sites, cost,
scope and timeline are closely intertwined; you might be able to hold one
or two of those factors constant, but at
least one factor has to remain flexible
(i.e. if you reduce budget, it’s going to
either take longer to deliver or the num-
ber or complexity of features must be
reduced).
Possibly the most important consideration when choosing a vendor with whom
you hope to have a lasting and productive
relationship is how complementary are your
ways of approaching the project. When a
buyer and seller have similar visions for
a project, the probability for success is
increased. But this can be difficult, particularly for buyers. They often are cautious
about disclosing budget information and
accepting pre-proposal meetings, and they
can be afraid of being too friendly. A good
seller wants to learn as much as possible
about prospective clients to determine if
the job is a good fit, if the personalities
involved will be reasonable to work with,
and whether attitudes toward the project
will allow for creativity and innovation (as
opposed to a “do as you’re told” dictum).
There are, to be sure, sellers who are
more interested in getting a foot in the
door than truly learning about the project
at hand. If you are only asked what you
want — without being offered guidance
or suggestions — you might want to consider other vendors.
