In database implementation, as in love, the best relationships often are based on brutal honesty. Marketers evaluating hardware vendors need to ask aseries of probing questions, both of themselves and the database suppliers.
Bernice Grossman, president of the DMRS Group, a New York-based database consulting firm, offered a list of 30 if/then statements about vendor and client relationships focused on managing expectations–before the final contract is signed, Wednesday during a Direct Marketing Club of New York luncheon.
Many of her points focused on the need for marketers to be upfront about their needs when asking for project estimates. “If the truth about budgets is kept from the vendor in the beginning, then you won’t like the ending,” she said. “If internal modification and change issues are not shared with the vendor, then don’t expect them to read your mind.”
Grossman warned not to include all system users in the vendor selection process. “If the total user group constituency is not asked to contribute to the assessment process, then plan on lots of acrimony,” she said. “If vendors are not informed about in-house obstacles, then they are going to find out anyway. Better to hear it from you.”
She also advised marketers to conduct due diligence before engaging a vendor’s services. “If the core competency of the vendor is unclear, then a bad time to find out is after you hire them,” she said. “If relevant evaluation criteria are not used, then be prepared for disaster.”
In her role as a database consultant, Grossman offers cautions to vendors as well as marketers. “As a vendor, when you put your wares out for sale, you have to expect that people will look under the hood,” Grossman said. “There are still vendors that are able to get by because the clients don’t know what to ask for, don’t know what to look for.”
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