by Jared Goralnick
After getting frustrated by the way we vendors can be treated either at conferences or when in the prospecting stages, I thought I’d throw out a few reasons to be nice to the people who are soliciting your business…
- You’re a vendor, too. Some part of your company is after some sort of sale, and what goes around comes around.
- Price has a lot to do with convenience. If you want to do business with a vendor, you BET the price they calculate will have something to do with the degree to which you’ll be a pain-in-the-***. And this isn’t immoral–time is money and if you make a vendor’s life difficult then they’ll waste time working with you. They deserve to be compensated when you’re wasting their time.
- Even if you don’t need them now and may never be able to pay them in the future, they may very well be able to assist you in some five minute problem down the road that they otherwise wouldn’t give you the time of day for. All because you were nice way back when.
- Vendors are people, too. Yes, really. Even salespeople are people.
- Being a vendor is making a living. You may not sell to people, but vendors aren’t innately evil. There’s a big difference between telemarketers calling during dinner and a vendor soliciting your attention after paying $1500 to attend YOUR conference for a day. By paying your dues they at least deserve a couple minutes of your time.
- Vendors serve a purpose. I know, it’s hard to believe, but every once in a while someone is selling something that WILL make your life easier, your business more productive, and drive your own profits. Low and behold their company is actually in business for a reason! And maybe you’re the perfect fit.
- Small companies and big companies, titles or no titles–we’re all worthy of a few words. You may get excellent service from a large company. A small company may enjoy the rare business of a large company and thus exceed the expectations of the large organization. We get wrapped up too often by titles and organization sizes. So what if you’re a director at Verizon and he’s a salesperson for Mom & Pop LLP…it doesn’t mean that you’re making more money or are any better qualified to perform your job. People deserve respect.
- You didn’t know everyone once. At networking events it’s easy to stick by those you know. Think back to that painful time when you didn’t know anyone. That vendor over there is new to the area, new to the job, etc. When they say hello they may not even want your business–maybe you can be the one who introduces them to a few people…they’d never forget you for that.
- Even the competition is good to know. When you get to know and build relationships with your competitors, more than likely there will be a time when they’ll actually recommend you as a better fit.
- The next time you’re at a networking event, that vendor may be the popular one who gets to introduce you to some people.
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