Strategic Vendor Partners

When we were nearing completion of the $32 million facility, we budgeted for network equipment. However, the current line of equipment we budgeted for was about to be superseded with a new, much more capable offering. We wanted to move up to the next generation of equipment to extend the life of this investment by several years. Our network vendor decided to deeply discount the next generation equipment to the amount we had originally budgeted for the current line of equipment so we could take advantage of the technical enhancements for many years to come. The motivation for the strategic vendor was to have our enterprise be a great reference for their new offering, which we were happy to do. Our account representative said, “I want to say thank you for your business and partnership over the years. Our business relationship has really strengthened over time, and the respectful and fair nature you demonstrated toward us was a major part of that.”

Ask your strategic vendor partners to help you solve business and technical problems. Ask them to bring industry knowledge regarding business trends, future technologies, and their competitors. Show them your organization’s strategy and values, and ask them to share information, provide insight into future services, and offer solutions.