Byrne Tony Byrne

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When customers are unreasonable

27-May-2009

Tags: , Component Content Management, Digital and Media Asset Management, Document Management (ECM), E-mail Archiving and Management, Enterprise Collaboration & Social Software, Enterprise Search, Evaluating SharePoint, Portals and Content Integration, Web Analytics, Web Content Management, Implementation, Marketplace at Large, Selecting Technology

At CMS Watch, we're advocates only for you, the technology customer. But sometimes the customer is unreasonable. In my experience, "bad" customers most typically cause problems around schedules and scope, more so than cheap-skating the vendor.

Nonetheless, this video nicely captures how customers can go too far demanding more value than what they're willing to pay. It's funny. (Hat-tip to Jennifer Mayne Hoppe and Heidi Strom Moon.)

But let's talk about the world of software and implementation services -- which alas is not like ordering dinner, or buying a DVD, or getting your haircut.

If this clever video was about the real world of software sales, then...

  • There would be no prices on the restaurant menu
  • The DVD cover price would include the box only ("Oh, so you wanted the disk, too?")
  • Highlights could only be acquired as part of a larger "make-over suite" of bundled services

Our research is designed to help you save money, and part of what we explain to you is how to negotiate a better deal. At the end of the day, though, your suppliers are in business too, so the best relationships engender transparency -- but also allow for both parties to profit.

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