In the book, Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play (Amazon), authors Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig propose a better way.

Salespeople, they argue, perform best when focusing 100 percent on helping clients succeed. When customers are successful, both buyers and sellers win. When they do not succeed, both parties lose. It’s no longer sufficient to merely persuade clients to buy—a salesperson must also help the client reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.

How you feel when going through the discovery phase with a services partner is a very strong indicator of what type of organization and what type of focus the people in that particular service provider has. In the end, is their focus on their own success or on a win/win partnership?

The Top 5 Simple Factors to Consider in a PDM/PLM Services Provider

(1) Experience:

• Have they worked with a company of your size in the past?
• Have they worked with the technology you have in place or are looking to implement in the past?
• How plugged into the technology provider’s support system are they?
• Do they have a competent IT resource in-house?
• Are they willing to do some dirty work- such as data migration- in order to succcessfully move your organization into your new system without leaving your existing data behind?

Many people claim to have ten years or more of experience, while a number of those people really have one year of experience ten or more times! Look for a services provider that promotes continuous improvement, both internally and externally – these are the types get better every day and you will benefit from their real experience!

(2) Questions:

• Do they ask you intelligent questions?
• Do they ask you intelligent follow up questions after you provide answers?
• Do they “ask” more than they “tell”?
• As you go through the discovery phrase, do you feel like they are getting to know your company in depth so you can make intelligent decisions together?
• Do they simply propose options when you ask what you should do?
• Do they provide the best option because they took the time to really get to know your company?

(3) Website/Web 2.0:

• Is their website a place where you are able to gather good information and benefit from their expertise?
• Do they provide fresh content?
• Is it relevant?
• Are they active in the LinkedIn groups relevant to the PDM/PLM industry?
• Do they have recorded demos and presentations that you can review when you have time?

(4) Communication:

• Do you receive regular contact during the discovery phase, when you need it?
• Do they return calls and emails in a timely manner?
• Is the communication clear?
• How do you feel after getting off the phone with them?

(5) Cost:

• Are they reasonable?
• Do they consider your constraints when discussing pricing?
• Are they flexible?
• Do they tie their services and products back to a value proposition?
• Do they use the value proposition as part of their service planning?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

How you feel about the services partner during the discovery phase says a lot about the process you will go through during an implementation engagement. So be sure to listen and get a read on the above items before issuing that purchase order. Is your services partner getting real and focusing on your success? If they are, the benefits of reduced costs, increased revenues, and improved productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction are realized by your company and you can feel like there was a win/win grow/grow relationship.

*One caveat- many buyers of services or technology ONLY want a price-driven vendor relationship. If you are one of those types, just focus on cost and take what you get, and don’t pretend you want a services organization to “play” partner. . . In other words, get “real” with your intentions!