Age-old Vendor Service Paradox…
Any of These Post-Sale Scenarios Sound Familiar?
“Has anyone heard from the Vendor since placing our BIG order?” (Sincerely -You!)
– Your Perspective: Obtaining a new product or service obviously just begins everything when you order it.
– Vendor Perspective: Most of their focus and attention on you is over “before the ink is dry” on your order.
The Hand-Off Technique…
How frustrating is being handed off to Vendor project folks you don’t know – having to re-explain all sorts of info they should know?
– Deep situational details are typically covered by you with the sales team, and they were highly engaged, but now they’re off chasing the next deal.
– Some vendors provide Customer Success Managers, but even they typically get paid commissions when enticing you to purchase upgrades.
– Is their focus really on providing Customer Service? To some degree yes, but they’ll always be Toing the Line of the Vendor’s Goals & Objectives.
Tired of New Year = New Vendor Rep?
To be fair, Vendor Rep’s have a difficult job. It’s a stressful, high-turnover, often toxic cut-throat environment.
– They aren’t treated that well and are essentially controlled by Puppet Masters higher up the food chain.
– VP’s and such who couldn’t care less about You! (You’re no more than a name on a “Deals to Get ASAP” list.)
– This isn’t your problem! But the vendor environment inherently doesn’t lead to great support.
We’ll Be Engaged to Ensure They’re Engaged!
From Order Execution – To Implementation Go-live – To Support Agreements – To Recall Process Assistance.
What’s more frustrating than making a big purchase, only to have a horrible Implementation experience?
Gives you that awful Buyer’s Remorse feeling out of the gates, making you wonder if the wrong vendor was picked.
– That dread is tough to shake no matter how the project ends up going.
Our Project Oversight Steps:
– We’ll help ensure a smooth transition from the Sale, to Project Kick-off, thru Implementation Go-live.
– We will NOT allow them to go weeks – or even months – before engaging with you for the project post-sale.
– We’ll make sure you’re comfortable out of the gates, and that your priorities and concerns are understood.
– We’ll demand they create a Gantt Chart Project Timeline to help drive Project Milestones to stay on track.
– We’ll intervene when you have questions or if things aren’t going well when “Tough Love Chats” are needed.
Support Agreement Assistance
Feel like you need a Law Degree to comprehend them?
The Devil is in the Downtime Details!
Ever had a vendor product down, only for them to claim it wasn’t “hard down”?
– Apparently it’s only unusable if they say so, therefore they didn’t violate their 99% “Uptime Guarantee.”
“How did our Agreement auto-renew for 4 more years?” (Sincerely -You!)
This happens all the time! It’s really challenging to track all end dates across your facility locations.
– Adding to the challenge, your assets typically have different coverage term end dates. (Even if purchased together.)
– The reason is due to the coverage terms beginning when each item was implemented. (Not when it was purchased.)
Guess What? Vendors hope you don’t know all these varied contract term end dates.
Guess Why? Because it’s much easier for you to be locked in with them long-term.
– If all assets had Coterminous Term End Dates, you could go to market much easier to analyze 3rd Party Providers who may save you money.
Are You Maximizing the “Use-or-Lose” Service Entitlements?
Don’t fall for the vendor misnomer “Entitlements are Free” with your contract. (They might be included, but nothing is free!)
Making matters worse, Vendors often don’t remind you of the entitlements – making their deal profit higher if gone unused.
For Example:
– If a week of onsite “Use-or-Lose” Follow-up Training isn’t used, the vendor saves thousands of dollars in wages/travel.
– Imagine your loss (their gain) if a full Computer OS Upgrade isn’t done simply because you didn’t request to initiate it.
This may seem devious because it is! It’s how they operate, so you need to understand the fine print.
Our Agreement Assistance Steps:
We can’t change how vendors protect themselves, but we can demand clarity!
– We’ll be the “squeaky wheel” on your behalf to ensure you fully understand and get the most out of your Support Agreements.
– You likely performed a TCO Analysis prior to purchase, so these Entitlements are important in order to achieve the planned ROI.
– We’ll identify when Warranty Periods end, when the Support Terms begin/end for every Asset, Auto-renewal details, etc.
– We can help identify Product/Service items that make sense to have covered with Coterminous Term End Date agreements.
Product Recall Assistance
How Confusing are Product Recalls? Clear as Mud??
Do you hear of recalls on products used but aren’t sure if you’re impacted?
This is common as the Standard Vendor Practice is sending “Snail Mail” Recall Notices!
– Why in this archaic manner? To protect themselves legally by being able to state, “We sent you a notice.”
Another Standard Vendor Practice is sending Notices ONLY to those impacted by the Recall.
For Example:
– You believe your products are NOT impacted because you didn’t receive a Recall Notice.
– Meanwhile your products actually ARE impacted, but the notices were addressed to someone who hasn’t worked there for 5 years!
– But somehow that still counts as them still telling you!
This happens all the time unfortunately!
Our Recall Assistance Steps:
We can’t change their ridiculous Recall Practices, but we can demand Clarity.
– We’ll be the “squeaky wheel” on your behalf until you fully understand if your products ARE/AREN’T impacted.
– We’ll help determine if your products are SAFE/UNSAFE to continue using, what their Remediation Plan is, etc.
– If the Remediation Process is lengthy or complex, we’ll demand they create a Recall Project Timeline to help understand everything and to drive the steps staying on track.