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Focus Research Insight: What is the #1 piece of advice from past buyers to prospective buyers?
In a recent survey, we asked phone systems buyers who had already purchased what advice they might offer to prospective buyers. The majority advised that buyers should be well aware of their requirements before actually speaking with vendors. When you are researching a major business [technology] purchase, do you establish your requirements internally before reaching out to vendors OR do you rely on vendors to help you identify them? Any advice or suggestions for resources that can help create requirements?
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2 Answers
The internal audit, department by department, of "needs" should be identified first. It is a baseline from which the buyer can work and represents at least a minimal outline for the vendor/s to work with.
If the buyers are familiar with similar companies which have recently gone through a phone system purchase, those companies should be asked about that recent effort, and solicited for any opinions that might aid the new buying effort.
Once that information is at hand, inviting vendors for separate and preliminary visits should occur.
During each visit, the vendors should be permitted to ask questions which might lead to more "needs" being identified and that should be done with the IT/Telecom staff and perhaps the department heads.
The vendors, who generally represent leading-edge technology, might uncover a need or a feature which is beneficial to the buyer, but of which the buyer was not aware.
In one situation where I was representing a very large site, the two vendors that were selected both provided quotes. The quotes were reduced to a "cost per phone," a comparison of features and a service/support component. One vendor was significantly better than the other vendor winning two of the three components and being very close on the third (service/support). That vendor won that business.
I think this information makes a lot of sense but it also seems like there are shades of gray here. First, I would definitely encourage buyers to understand some basics before you engage vendors in detailed conversations
1) What are you trying to solve - a problem statement
2) What will make you successful - your measure of success?
3) What are your constraints - budget/timing
4) What is your organizational approach - who buys? Who owns?
Most vendors I know of would be very appreciative of speaking to prospective buyers after these questions have been answered.
That said, don't be afraid to have an initial conversation with a vendor to learn about more detailed requirements and features. Under certain circumstances - if you're a first-time buyer, if you're buying in a relatively immature market, if you're buying something that will require a significant investment, vendors are a great source of information that can be used during the requirements gathering phase. The trick is to speak with several vendors in a more information gathering mode. The buyer needs to control the conversation. Top questions will include:
- What are the most important features of your product or service?
- How are product/services in the market different from one and another?
Etc.
This will help buyers create a much more detailed and comprehensive list of their own requirements upon which to follow up with and compare all vendors.
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