How to Date A Vendor Before Saying, “I do”.
Unless you’re a contestant on the TV show “Married at First Sight” (Yes, that is a real show. No, I have not watched it. Where do they find these people?), you will agree that it is smart to get to know someone before you marry them. I have been married for 16 years, and I believe it is less about how long you date and more about finding the crucial information needed to make this life changing decision. The same can be said for an organization looking to partner up with a vendor. Today I share a few tips for quickly learning what you need to know about a technology vendor before tying the knot. As a bonus, you may learn some good dating tips, too.
Are they planning to come home from work, grab a beer, and turn on the TV until they are served dinner?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Everyone has their own idea of what role each spouse will play in day to day life. It is very important to make sure you both have the same ideas of how this is going to go! It really sucks if six months into your marriage you realize your spouse assumed that they would come home from work and immediately turn into Al Bundy while you assumed the two of you would share wine while preparing a meal together and discussing your day.
When evaluating software vendors, it is also important to discuss your roles in day to day life. Specifically, to what degree is their service department going to hand-hold your users versus expecting them to learn on their own. Neither approach by a vendor is wrong, but you must determine what your people will need and if this aligns with the vendor’s philosophy.
For example, some payroll platforms will require the organization to have significant internal resources that will become SMEs of the product, and their help desk is actually how-to videos and community forums where users across the globe help each other. It is wonderful if an organization is large enough to take matters into their own hands and have internal experts to manage and evolve platform adoption. In reality, many of us don’t have the internal resources to support this and need to rely on the vendor to help us along. Some vendors simply won’t be the right fit for you.
Am I dating a psychopath?
I have high standards, ok? I’m worth it! One only has to watch a handful of Lifetime movies to realize that this is actually something that you may want to specifically and thoroughly confirm when dating someone. When I was growing up, the only “dating apps” were personal ads in the newspaper and maybe a “party line” where you call the number to chat with strangers, and both options were exclusively for psychopaths making it easy to avoid them. With the proliferation of online dating used by not only psychopaths but perfectly wonderful human beings, gone are the days of meeting someone through mutual acquaintances, offering some degree of comfort. How can you tell if the image being portrayed on that dating profile (or on your first date) at all resembles the real person? One way is by talking to their friends and family. Pro Tip: If they have neither of these, change your number and your door locks.
Just like with dating app profiles, vendors do a tremendous job of creating the right image to make you feel like they will make all of your dreams come true. Many spend millions of dollars collecting awards and accolades, creating sales presentations, and delivering polished demonstrations of their products. The key to validating their claims is by interviewing some of their customers. Time and again my clients and I uncover critical facts about a vendor through these interviews. We also have a much more realistic vision of what life will be like using their products and services. By the way, those customers can also become a great resource to you as you go to implement, providing tricks and best practices they learned along the way.
Will our families get along?
I don’t have a mother-in-law, I have a mother-in-LOVE. (I love you, Marcia!) I’ll pause for your wave of nausea to pass … … We all agree Romeo and Juliet is one of the most romantic stories of all time, but we want to avoid real life becoming a Shakespearean Tragedy. It’s good to get the families together at some point before you’re walking down the aisle.
When adopting a new technology, it is important the vendor staff and your staff have a great relationship. Change is stressful no matter how smoothly things go. It is up to you, not the vendor, to build a communication and adoption strategy that will smooth the transition from the old way to the new way. Your staff should have already bought into the change before the vendor shows up to train them. This is best accomplished by:
1) Communicating why this change will make the staff person’s life better
2) Educating staff on what features will be adopted and how, then asking for feedback on why this plan may not work in their reality.
3) Providing staff with a way to communicate to leaders about what’s working and what’s not along the way.
4) Sharing with staff how the organization plans to oversee the success and continued progress of the platform after go-live.
By doing this ahead of time, the staff will welcome the vendors with open arms, and the vendor will be free to do their job configuring and training.
Good luck out there! If you need a wingman, we are here for you.
Katie Griffith is Principal at Bright Solutions (brightsolutions.co) empowering senior living communities to make a lasting impact on those they serve. If you made it this far you must enjoy Katie’s dry humor and sarcasm. Let’s connect!