For reasons I don’t understand, many organizations miss the fact that everything you do exemplifies who and what you are…and what you’ll be like over the long haul. I got thinking about this as I participated in helping a manufacturing client evaluate the prospective vendors for installing a completely new ERP system.
As you might imagine, this is a massive project involving integrating everything from initial sales contact through design and manufacturing into installation and billing and ending with company financials…all while the company keeps on going. My client is going to be living with the chosen vendor not only for the year the installation will take, but also for support and updates long after installation is complete.
As hard as it is for some people to understand, price is not the most important factor in the decision. My client really wants to know and be totally comfortable with the vendor. After all, they’re getting married.
Since this is such a high cost and important decision, each of the seven finalists was asked to give a full presentation of their system and how it would meet the needs of my client. These presentations were about three hours each.
Imagine my surprise when one vendor just sent in a bid and said “we don’t do presentations until the end and anyway, we’re really busy right now so don’t have time.” Then there were the two vendors who didn’t bother to show up but only presented a webinar…one of which was on autopilot. Another vendor knew so little about my client that during the presentation they had to ask basic questions about the company.
What were these vendors thinking? Compare this to the vendors that sent in a team to evaluate my client’s situation…and who talked to everyone, who showed up to do a presentation in person so the client could have a dialogue with them, who could adjust to questions…and watch the client’s reactions, the vendors who asked in advance for enought time to sit down after the presentation and get to know the client even better.
Which story do they tell about you?