There’s a hidden opportunity in vendor negotiations you might be missing, making your tech evaluations longer and more costly than they need to be. Below I’ll explore five reasons a vendor might say no to a client, and how both the client and the vendor can turn that to an advantage. The trick is both simple and challenging: make sure you’re speaking the same language.
Businesses need to re-evaluate and update their tech stack regularly to take advantage of new opportunities. Your investigations might be coming to a premature conclusion if you don’t know how to deal with this one thing: What to do when the vendor says “we don’t do that.”
It may be the end of the story, but often it shouldn’t be, and vendors and potential clients who don’t know how to manage this part of the conversion can be missing a golden opportunity.
Here are five ways that barrier can surface, and some thoughts about how to proceed when you encounter it (or how to know when you have!).
1. I didn’t understand what you were asking for.
This happens far too often, and should be your first assumption. Marketing and technology terms can get confusing, and someone might seem to be asking for one thing when they’re really asking for something else. People are using the same words but speaking different languages.
The vendor is steeped in the technology and the jargon — or, more specifically, in his company’s flavor of the jargon. The client may not understand the technology as well, and is very likely to ask the wrong questions.
With this in mind, a no might not be a no. Rather than accepting the no, dig a little bit.
The vendor might not understand the client’s market and may misunderstand the need. For example, “subscriber” or “customer” can mean different things in different industries.
The client might not understand all the nuances of the technology and may be using the wrong terms – e.g., not understanding the difference between 1st and 3rd party cookies.
These kinds of miscommunication are why it’s crucial to avoid jargon and explain things in simple words with real-world examples.
Consider something that sounds simple, like “do you manage paywalls?” A vendor might focus on the “pay” part of that question, realize they don’t provide e-commerce capabilities, and say no, we don’t manage paywalls. But there are other aspects to paywalls, like distinguishing which content is subject to the paywall, counting relevant page views, managing subscriber entitlements, and so on. The client might not need the e-commerce portion, so the vendor might shut the door prematurely.
Before you settle for a no, ask probing questions to make sure you’re speaking the same language.
2. It’s outside our scope.
“Best of breed” technologies try to stick to their knitting and do one essential thing very well. Other services take more of a Swiss army knife approach. No single tool in the Swiss army knife is all that good, considered by itself, but it’s not supposed to be. You’ll always find a better knife and a better can opener, but the “good enough” knife in your pocket is better than the best of breed knife you don’t have.
A technology stack might be a large collection of “best of breed” tools, or it might be a smaller collection of “good enough” tools that do several things. In either case, the technology can do some things and not others, and some tasks or functions will be outside the scope.
Again, it’s very likely that the vendor and the potential client are using the same words but speaking different languages. Buzz words like “marketing automation” are notoriously liable to misunderstanding. It’s crucial that both sides ask lots of questions (and listen actively) to be sure they’re communicating.
If the task is genuinely outside the scope of the vendor’s solution, this is an opportunity for the vendor to win some humanity points. Stop trying to sell and start being a partner. Show some empathy by understanding and appreciating the customer’s need.
The vendor should try to understand the client’s need, and see how he can help – even if it’s not something his solution can provide. The vendor can probably help the client clarify his needs and express them more accurately, which will help the client find a solution that fits. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, it just requires good listening and precise speaking.
This kind of honest and helpful communication will create good will that might turn into business down the road. And it may provide the vendor with opportunities for new integrations or partnerships.
3. We’re working on it.
Once a vendor has heard enough clients express a particular need, the vendor might start building that capability into their solution. This can be a great opportunity for the vendor and the client. It’s a chance for the vendor to understand market needs, and it’s a chance for the client to have a solution tailored more closely to their unique needs. This is a time for precise speaking, carefully crafted requirements documents, and specific (and transparent) timelines.
If a vendor chooses to build a new function to suit the client, the client needs to stay involved every step of the way and ask lots of questions from multiple different points of view – e.g., tech, operations, marketing, sales, etc. It’s a big disappointment when the vendor says, “Hey, we built that thing you’ve been asking for,” and it doesn’t do what the client wanted.
4. We think that’s the wrong approach.
I love Reuben sandwiches, but I prefer mine open-faced. Once I made the mistake of allowing a cook who does Reubens closed face to make me an open-faced sandwich. It was a disaster.
Most of the issues we face in marketing, publishing and related technologies are not matters of right or wrong, but sometimes you have to make a choice. For example, some Customer Data Platforms only do deterministic matching, while some do deterministic and probabilistic matching. Some Email Service Providers allow you to attach PDFs while others do not. There are arguments to be made each way.
This is not an opportunity to start an argument or evangelize for your point of view. If the client’s and the vendor’s approaches are truly incompatible, it’s time to part ways amicably, preferably with some recommendations from the vendor on other services that meet the client’s needs.
5. It’s illegal.
Not everything is a matter of preference. Sometimes the law does have a say, and often that will involve privacy protections.
Sometimes this is a matter of jurisdiction. A European company might require privacy protections based on European law that don’t apply to every U.S. company. Other times, the law isn’t as clear as people might think, and vendor A might think something is illegal while vendor B does not. It’s important to review these things carefully. If you decide to go with the more lax interpretation, check with a lawyer.
If the vendor’s lawyers have decided to take a particular stand on a law, the client isn’t going to talk them out of it, and shouldn’t try. But the vendor with the strict approach should have the courtesy to provide references to other companies who see things the client’s way. It’s not the vendor’s business to enforce the law.
Learn Something
Sometimes a vendor is not a good match for a client’s need, and it’s time to move on. But don’t jump to that conclusion, and don’t leave it there. Use the opportunity to learn something from the encounter. The client might be able to explain his need more precisely, or learn a new spin on an industry term. The vendor might learn that words and concepts mean entirely different things in different businesses. The vendor and the client might also learn that they’re pursuing a wrong-headed strategy.
Whatever the case, don’t be too hasty to accept a yes or a no as a final answer. Keep asking.
If you need help working with technology vendors, give me a call. I’m pretty good at that, and I can help you work through the process and implement an effective solution.
Pick up the phone
I hope you found this perspective helpful, and I hope you see that the idea applies beyond this limited scope. The over-riding problem is miscommunication, and this is only one example.
If you have any needs related to publishing or marketing technology or operations, I can probably help. At the very least I can help you think through the problem. I can also help with documentation and RFPs. I’ve been focusing my attention recently on Customer Data Platforms, and if you’re considering one, or have one and don’t know what to do with it, or even if you don’t know what a CDP is, give me a call. I’m happy to chat. You can reach me at 240-687-1230.
Finally, if you haven’t already, please use the sign-up box at the upper right to get The Krehbiel Report, which is issued about once a month.
