With the vast labor shortage in today’s AECO market, it is no surprise that technology must be leveraged to help close the gap. But you quickly will find that it takes more than mere technology to make this magic happen. It takes an aggregate of People, Processes, and Technology, at least, that is being mixed in the water from the prominent brand technology vendors that call you day in and day out, seeking your time and hard-earned cash.
These big brands fail to tell you that budget is also a significant obstacle and ingredient in choosing the right solution for your company. We at AECO Ensights understand the challenges you are facing in managing your budget and technology stack. But many technology vendors will make a painstaking effort to sell you on a value proposition to mask the investment, aka the cost of the solution, to justify the pain of said cost. The vendors will likely sidestep your request regarding cost, technology stickiness, and solution complexity to keep you hooked on the sales process.
So, how do you go about discerning fact from fiction? By understanding the best solution for your organization, we want you to know that the best solution is within your reach. After all, your solution set could differ from client to client, project to project, or industry to industry. At AECO Ensights, we empower you to focus not only on the Budget segment of the 4 Quadrants we teach but also on applying people, processes, and technology.
But before that discussion, let’s chat about the technology segment. Since we have already determined that Technology is necessary for your success, should we only focus on the tech itself? Salespeople often come at you to push products and demos without understanding your business model, goals, and challenges. But is there something else we should be looking at besides the tech?
After working in the big brand technology manufacturing industry for over twenty years, I am here to tell you that technology is not the only thing you should evaluate. The big brands in the industry like to leverage a tool to help them separate you from your money, and you can leverage this exact tool to assess the vendors themselves.
These technology vendors will push canned demos, customer case studies, and fancy events showcasing “others like you” in hopes that you will not adequately complete your homework. That never worked in school and doesn’t work in the real world unless you want to potentially spend tens of thousands on the wrong solution set or pick a troubled vendor likely to cause heartburn. It’s your responsibility to dig deeper and do your due diligence. Remember the old Latin phrase “Caveat emptor” or “Let the buyer beware.”
So, what is this magic bullet I speak of? It all starts with industry-standard surveys that the big brands love to leverage to combat you, the customer. They use these surveys to combat brand awareness, client satisfaction, employee satisfaction, company culture, commercial model challenges, and more. Surveys aren’t secret by any means, as we frequently get requests from companies to gauge our level of satisfaction. But what is never told to the client is that many aggregated results are readily available for you, the consumer, to research, finish your homework, and become an educated buyer before dropping your first dollar. This information is at your fingertips and can make you a more informed and secure buyer.
Enter what is known in the closed circle as NPS or Net Promoter Scores. As stated, these NPS scores and others all start with an innocent-looking survey request. Sometimes, only a few questions are asked; other times, they are more involved and detailed, including the entire gauntlet of tests, like an annual physical examination with your doctor, including a complete blood panel. A vendor will leverage these surveys to evaluate themselves, their perception of the market, and a particular technology brand to gain insights to determine where to focus their efforts for self-improvement. Investors can use these survey scores, financial insights, and other reports to help with their decisions and level of investment for publicly traded companies.
An interesting fact about these surveys is that the previously mentioned vendors determine who they want to send them to and, more importantly, who they want to avoid. The list of potential clients to survey is often scrutinized to ensure the vendor gets the “fairest” shake at an “honest” survey. Have I piqued your interest yet?
NPS scores can measure customer experience and company culture and help predict business growth. This proprietary and trademarked tool, established in 2003, is owned by Bain & Company and has been coined as the industry’s holy grail for predictive analytics. So why not leverage the same tool to help you evaluate your technology investments? After all, you should evaluate more than just a piece of technology since the investment is costly and essential for success.
I enjoy using a website, Comparably, for all my research in this area. Here, you can get customer loyalty, NPS, and eNPS (employee-based) scores by gender and ethnicity and compare them against their respective competition in the marketplace. There are even untainted customer statements that a vendor case study process hasn’t influenced. Actual raw testimonials of likes and dislikes from real-world users of the technology vendor. This is a quick and easy way to get an aggregate of the marketplace and possibly even determine other vendors and products you may want to research for the right business partners to include inside your small circle or trust.
The scores range from -100 to 100, with top-tier companies sometimes scoring in the 80s to high 90s. Take a cruise over to www.comparably.com and search your vendor brands with which you have contracts to determine their current scores. You may be surprised when you dig into the details.
So, in the end, yes, you will still have to talk with a salesperson or account manager, amongst others, inside these companies to find whatever technology solution you are seeking. Still, now you know there is more to it than simply seeing a demo, reading a case study, or trying to pry a cost out of the vendor. You should be able to get real-world testimonials that the vendor hasn’t polished and obtain aggregated scores to determine just how friendly the vendor is. Ultimately, building a small circle of relationships where you can trust your vendors would be best. Unless you have an untainted view, your vendor should always remain outside your circle of trust.
For more AECO Ensights, I encourage you to contact us for a no-cost, no-obligation discussion about your challenges with vendors, technology manufacturers, account managers, and cost. We have decades of experience in the industry and can help you navigate the entire process while streamlining your technology investments. We help you strengthen your small circle of trust.