Pick and Stick with a Trusted Partner

By Steve Bloom, Owner/CEO, Pragmatek

 

Steve specializes in strategic planning and sales development for growth. To learn more about how he manages change as a business owner, read the follow article – Transforming Your Business Model – from the April 2015 issue of Minnesota Business.

Loyalty: The value of true partnership versus shopping around

I am often amazed as to how clients feel like they continually have to send most every project they embark on out to bid. I hear various reasons for this:

  1. “Procurement is making me do it.”
  2. “My boss wants me to get the best deal” (which means the lowest price).
  3. “It is company policy.”

Among others.

Get your project started sooner

What most companies don't understand, especially in this day and age of endless technology that supplants actual relationships, is that most every vendor would rather establish a true partnership where full disclosure on most any topic is the norm. That’s when working toward a common goal across multiple or related projects – based on trust and teamwork – can lead to more strategic, long-term results.

The truth is that all of us so-called vendors would rather you pick and stick with a trusted partner than putting every single project out for bid. If a consulting firm is doing good work for you, at fair prices, with good results and good people, why shop around? I repeatedly see companies "shop" their implementation or business process projects, even if the current vendor is doing well. Or they send out the RFP to eight companies for a bid.

Here is the scoop: What you are asking the bidders to do, in most cases, is not rocket science. We all can do the work, for about the same price. We would rather you pick one and not waste our time and yours, which will also SAVE YOU MONEY and start your project sooner in lieu of going through an exhaustive process.

Loyalty is rewarded

The following questions to ask yourself are decision criteria to consider before putting out the next project for bid:

  1. Do you trust your current or prospective consulting firm?
  2. Does it provide exceptional service?
  3. Have the consultants done this type of work before? (And oh, by the way, you are not unique. Every company thinks it is, but not so. Whether you manufacture or distribute golf balls or ball bearings, your order to cash process isn't unique).
  4. Is the price fair?
  5. Do you like working with this firm and its consultants, and do they provide great resources?

At the end of the day, all the vendors you are pitting against one another would rather you pick one, or stay with the one you have. You will be surprised as to the loyalty that breeds from your provider. You end up getting the consulting firm’s best people at its lowest prices, which is an equation companies should consider for future projects.