Outsourcing Leadership Blog
Bad First Impressions & Provider Selection
Posted by Mike Thompson
on Tuesday, 03 November 2009 19:00
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As I’m sure was true for most of you, my parents regularly stressed the importance of making a good “first impression” throughout my grade school, high school and college years. Obviously that was to improve the chances that I would win over my teachers, get that special girl to go out with me on Saturday night and as I approached college graduation, to secure that all important first job! Having won over my fair share of teachers, successfully finding a wife and spending 25 years with my first employer, I’d say I understood and have successfully applied the principles of making a good first impression in the most important areas of my life. So why doesn’t the principle of making good first impressions seem to apply to the process of finding the right sourcing partner? In over 30 years in the IT outsourcing field I have seen too many examples of providers not making a good first impression in approaching potential buyers of their IT services…and similarly a large number of examples of buyers not putting their best foot forward when evaluating alternative suppliers in the provider selection process. Whether it is “heavy-handed” or “empty-suited” selling on the part of providers or buyers making “bet the company decisions” on the merits of a single proposal document, it seems that despite the importance of selecting the right sourcing partner, too little effort is put into the parties getting to know one another prior to completing an outsourcing transaction. That’s why I believe that companies must look beyond the “proposal document” and why both providers and buyers need to engage in a more collaborative process as part of the supplier selection process. Multiple interactions between the parties over the course of a sourcing selection process allows maximum exposure to “the good, the bad and the ugly” for each potential supplier. Given these multiple “first impressions,” several data points converge into a more complete picture of a buyer’s requirements and one or more providers’ ability to meet them. Sustainable sourcing relationships are based on getting the “chemistry” right between people and organizations, not the sophistication of a sales presentation or the quality of a proposal document. That’s why the selection process should provide the opportunity to create multiple impressions on which to make an extremely important and strategic decision. For more information on proven provider selection techniques, register for our eSeminar on the topic scheduled for Nov. 12th.
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Comments
People and process make the difference.
While the sales team can represent the process, I'd rather meet the delivery people myself. Quote
? What is your best take in cost vs performance among those three? I need a good advice please… Thanks in advance! Quote
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