CWP: Are you seeing more who are willing to share the risk?

Guiab: Yes, what is interesting is even the big vendors are now interested in sharing the risk; before, only the small ones are able to do this because they are more flexible. When I say I look for someone to share the risk I’m not looking for somebody who is going to be cheaper because, at the end of the day, they might even end up more expensive than the others but the reason why they end up more expensive is because I succeeded. So I’m looking for people who share the risk with me. For example, in Netopia, we don’t buy laser printers anymore. I pay them per use and I’m planning to do that for other things I don’t want to buy.

Eslava: On my part, I look for experience in the industry, the payment terms, and the professional skills of their technical staff for after-sales support. One other thing that I believe is important is deeper commitment; because, sometimes, there are suppliers who forget all about you after the sale is closed. So, for me, it is important for a vendor to have follow-ups because that’s how you begin to form a good supplier-user relationship.

CWP: What areas do you think should suppliers improve on?

Eslava: Commitment to provide extra service, especially after sales.

Guiab: Price should be lower.

CWP: Do you think they should have different price listings for local companies? Should the multinational companies provide different pricing schemes for these products say when they offer them to third world countries?

Guiab: I don’t really care about their pricing scheme because, at the end of the day, whatever pricing scheme they have or whether it’s the same as the one in the US or not, for as long as it makes business sense for me, I will buy it. What makes sense is not in comparison to other countries but in comparison to my business needs.

Eslava: Aside from the price, I think the reseller should train their support team; and also make sure that their sales people not only know how to sell but know what they are selling.

Dimalanta: Some suppliers, who have grown significantly in their own areas, tend to weaken in the area of customer service and satisfaction. I have seen and experienced these through the competencies of account executives and customer call centers. They should improve on this very important area so as not to lose their customer.

CWP: What do you think is the foundation of a successful user-vendor relationship?

Guiab: I think this is very different from what it is used to be. In the past, we saw more vendors lie than today and I hate it when vendors lie. I would be happy to accept answers like, “I’m sorry I’m not allowed to tell you that” or “I’m sorry I don’t know the answer” or “I’m sorry we cannot do that, this is what we can do.” But sometimes, because of the pressures of sales quota, they’ll say “I can do that,” even when they cannot. And I do not appreciate that but I see less and less of it nowadays; there are more professional vendors now who understand the value of being honest. If you look at it 10 years ago they will promise you the moon and the stars and they deliver you a light bulb. At the end of the day, the foundation of any good relationship is honesty.

Eslava: For me, open communication is truly one of the best foundations, and by this I mean commitment to continuous communication even when I have no user requirements at the moment.

Dimalanta: I would make an analogy of this relationship to building a house. A vendor or supplier that can produce and deliver the results that the organization expects from him will be the first and foremost building block. Good, constant communication and high-level of customer service surrounding that first block and every block afterwards is the cement. The subsequent blocks are the succeeding engagements with that supplier. These have to be good blocks—symbolizing high-quality products and services. Miss out on the cement and the structure (the house) will fall.

CWP: Over the years, what important lessons have you learned from working with different suppliers?

Dimalanta: One, find the ones who can deliver what you need; two, ask around; there are other people and other organizations who are or who were in the same boat as you. By asking around, you are able to exempt yourself from unnecessary failure. Three, communicate and, four, build a strong relationship with your key vendors, as they are an important component of the solutions that your organization is putting in place.

CWP: Who do you ask for suggestions or advice in this area?

Dimalanta: Different people from different companies. Networking is important, build relationships with a lot of guys from different companies as well and by the time you face something you have a few people who can give you inputs. I make use of that, it works wonders. If you ask around, you get exempted from failures that they have already encountered so you will not have to duplicate their mistakes.

Eslava: Learn how to demand or bargain for lower price. I’ve also learned to be independent. We used to depend on our suppliers on almost everything. But now, there are suppliers that are not so good anymore. They lack the technical background on the products they are selling. So what happens is we have to learn about the technical specifications ourselves. When it comes to hardware, they should be the first to know about the trends or be the ones who have the technical expertise.

Guiab: I have learned to challenge the vendors all the time. You should challenge them to give you a better solution because sometimes you may run into either a lazy sales person or a less-educated person or a person who is swamped with other things to do. Because in the end, you may end up with a solution that is not actually the best solution that they can give you; and when I say solution, I not only talk about the technical aspects but also about the business model. Now about the price, you also have to give your vendors a win—don’t haggle too much or don’t demand for a very low price. That shouldn’t be the atmosphere between the vendors and the suppliers. Maybe I’m bias because I came from a vendor.

Dimalanta: I agree with that even if I’m not a vendor.

Guiab: Thank you. You should give them their wins; if you came from the vendor side—like me—you will know that one of the things that they worked very hard on is giving an IT manager a win. So, we should give them their wins, and once we give them their wins you will have a good relationship, and maybe they will come up with better solutions, not just solutions that are off-the-shelf; solutions that will really fit your needs. Most of them actually can, but it takes more time that’s why they would rather make a sale immediately. They’ll tell you which features are included and not included. There are some features that are just hard to sell or propose so they don’t present that. So I challenge the vendors to come up with better solutions and most of them are willing to. I talked about honesty earlier. Honesty is two sides—the only way that our vendors will be honest if users are honest with them. You shouldn’t tell the vendors that your budget is only P50,000 when, in fact, your budget is P100,000. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a P50,000 solution. So, we should be honest with our suppliers. So I’ve learned to be honest to the suppliers and I’ve learned to challenge them.

Dimalanta: It’s really important to have a good relationship with your vendor. In my case, I have a small IT group so the vendor is basically an extension of my team. So when we give them a win, we expect them to provided extended services.

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