Author: Mark Graham, Community Blood Center
April 2010
Relationships are everything in the vendor/IT world. However, sometimes vendors become too comfortable with a relationship they have developed and start becoming non-competitive with pricing or quality of service. While vendors might get away with this for a little while, it will catch up with them eventually and result in the loss of a good customer. Vendors need to keep their prices as competitive and quality of service as high as if they are trying to land a new customer, rather than become complacent in the belief that their customer will never leave. When vendors lose sight of this, they are at risk of losing their customers.
How can vendors compete with pricing in the internet age? Simple: offer something the internet can’t do. Most companies are willing to pay a few extra dollars to help a local vendor, but only if they bring some value to the table. With that in mind, vendors need to offer subject matter expertise, installation services with a focus on knowledge transfer to the customer, and quick response time on issues. Without these services, what would draw a customer to choose a local vendor over the internet? While the internet can’t provide these kinds of services, it typically provides better pricing with less hassle.
Make the most of the time you have with your customer. If they call and ask about a price range for a certain product or service, give it to them. Frequently, customers are just trying to find out if a product or service is in their price range. If it is in their price range, then a sales pitch may be in order. Meeting with a customer about a solution that is out of their price range is a waste of time – for the customer and vendor. However, if the price is out of range for the customer, then this is an excellent opportunity for the vendor to find or create an alternative solution.