Can’t you see that you and me are invest-ment to be?
The Vendor: a kinda schmoozy, kinda elusive, cool-vibes kind of agency. When you started your RFP process, you didn’t quite know what you were going to get, you just knew it was different than your company or your culture (and not always in a good way). They have job titles like “Ethical Hacker” and “Chief Amazement Officer,” yet you’re not really sure what they will do to get the job done. You just know you need them to get the job done quickly.
The Client: a whiny know-it-all who needs everything yesterday. When you bid on that RFP process, you didn’t quite know what you were getting yourself info, you just knew it was going to be the same as the last client, and the one before that, and the one before that… They have job titles like “Senior Vice President for Information Resources” and “Associate Director for Web and Creative Services,” yet you’re not really sure why they’re on the RFP in the first place. You just know it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get the job done correctly.
[record scratch, freeze frame]
Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. After a few years of doing RFP processes the “traditional” way, and being burdened by the pitfalls that came with them, I asked myself, “Does it really have to be like this?”
Turns out, the answer is “No.” What we often forget is that the client-vendor relationship extends beyond the final deliverable: As developers work with developers, creatives with creatives, and managers with managers, we instill our knowledge in one another. Both the client and the vendor hold extraordinary amounts of expertise in their respective fields, which can be invested to strengthen both parties’ knowledge bases and strategies.
It just can’t be done as a “client” and a “vendor”. By rethinking the client-vendor relationship (and, ultimately, eliminating the words “client” and “vendor” from our respective vocabularies), Trinity University and ImageX Media have come together to form a true partnership. It took a lot of getting to know each other, loads of trust, and a safe place to share our setbacks and our successes. Now, at the end of the day, we can’t wait to cross the country to have beers together.
Through this informal case study, we’d like to share our experience developing this partnership and why we’re better off because of it. We’ve both got some horror stories, and we’ve both had those ‘a-ha!’ moments. We aim to show that an investment in a partnership is an investment in your team, whether you’re on the ‘client’ or the ‘vendor’ side of things. We’ll take about setting mutually beneficial goals, identifying expertise, educating one another, and knowing when to let go of the reins—all essential elements to building trust and increasing your investment.