Vendor Selection Field Notes
Build a lasting partnership with technology vendors based on proven fit
From both a personal and professional perspective, it feels like we’re selecting technology vendors all the time right now. Whether it’s experimenting with new AI-centric tools, replacing our core technology solution, or simply finding a new scheduling app, we’re navigating lots of analysis, tradeoffs, and decisions.
Unfortunately, the process of selecting a new technology and/or implementation vendor can be nerve-wracking: what if we miss a major red flag? what if a key use case isn’t addressed well? what if we spend all this time and effort, and the tool never actually gets adopted?
That’s why our Visioning & Strategy Lead, Kim Ehrman, created these Vendor Selection Field Notes. Our aim is to equip you to navigate a vendor selection effort with confidence, whether or not the FlexPoint team is involved.
The FlexPoint Consulting team works hard to help clients envision, plan, and deliver business transformation.
FlexPoint Field Notes provide a practical, candid, and — we hope — immediately actionable frame on a current business transformation topic. They go beyond a “behind-the-scenes” look: they include how our thinking has evolved as we’ve learned over time.
Think of Vendor Selection Field Notes as a field manual for technology vendor consideration efforts.
It includes our best thinking on how to navigate challenges well, and we hope it will spark creative thinking, questions, and things you’d like to experiment with going forward.
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Here are our top ten vendor selection lessons, if you want a sneak peek before digging in!
1. Focus on finding a partner, not just another vendor. Determine the best option according to the combination of requirements fit, approach, and culture. Consider the vast set of data points gathered through this approach – formal RFI responses, small talk in demos, reference checks, and more – as a wealth of information, and make the best choice based on what you’ve learned. In negotiations and contracting, remember that we’re aiming to build a long-term partnership, not just score short-term wins.
Focus on finding a partner, not just another vendor.
Begin each phase curious about what you and the rest of the selection team will learn and decide together. Be open-minded in how you’ll solve business needs going forward – you may find that a product you’ve never heard of is the best fit. You may even approach the solution in a totally different way than you’re currently thinking. Aim to balance risk aversion with the opportunity to find a partner that can truly enable business challenges going forward.
Lead with curiosity.
If you already have a strong front-runner, take a step back and get some perspective. Is it a better use of everyone’s time, effort, and resources to conduct a proof of concept with the top one or two options? Alternately, perhaps you’re laser-focused on the specific technology product, rather than thinking through vetting partners. Focus on answering the right set of questions.
Make sure you actually need a vendor selection.
A vendor selection effort is like a freight train: it’s difficult to stop or turn around. That means we all need to speak up when we have thoughts (particularly thinking that’s counter to the prevailing direction), so we can plot the best possible course together. Approach disagreements like a detective: seek to understand why someone else has a different perspective or conclusion than you do, rather than being quick to defend your position.
Engage with difficult conversations in real time.
Approach every phone call, email, and meeting with a vendor as if it will be read out in a courtroom or presented on a billboard. (Be particularly careful to choose your words when declining vendors. Be respectful and firm, without oversharing.)
Communicate with vendors like your attorney is listening.
Ultimately, this evaluation process ends in a set of binding agreements. Take your magnifying glass and critical eye into negotiations and contract review, making sure to specify all product components you want to use and watching out for renewal terms that leave you open to risk.
Watch the fine print.
The facilitator should be the single point of contact with vendors throughout this effort. If vendors try to use back channels or contact selection team members directly, they must redirect all contact to the facilitator to ensure fairness and to prevent unintentional over-sharing.
Protect the selection team from vendor pressure.
Even hand-picked vendor references reveal information that’s helpful in evaluating the option and in preparing to adopt a new solution, whether with this product or another. (If we can secure informal references through our own network, this unfiltered view will likely be even more valuable!) In due diligence, we’re aiming to look around the corner and anticipate as many potential challenges and risks as we can – then make a good plan to address them.
Reference checks are important — make the most of them.
Particularly as we get closer to a final selection, indecision may be driven by a general fear of messing up, rather than a specific objection. In that case, bring the group back to the rigor of our analysis and due diligence to restore confidence in moving forward.
If progress stalls, look for the reason behind the reason.
This is a group effort to uncover the option that will best serve the organization in the long run. Keep any disagreements within the selection team and be aligned in your recommendation.
Enthusiastically support the final decision, if it wasn’t your pick.
Thoughts? Questions? Other perspectives based on your experience? We’d love to discuss.
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