HOW TO DEAL WITH VENDORS

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HOW TO DEAL WITH VENDORS

• Sam Brooks
• Senior Vice President, Sales Marketing
• EBSCO Information Services
• SLA Workshop  Babson College
• February 2005

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Competitive Evaluations

• You decide when and by how much yourlibrary
  resources will improve, so try to keepan open
  mind about new products
• Encourage vendors to create comparisons for
  you(if they want to earn your business) and
  discard the results if they arent credible
• Quick accuracy checks may be done using data from
  company websites
• If two vendors have conflicting reports, share
  theconflict with each and ask for an explanation
• Vendors that provide inaccurate reports should
  beviewed with skepticism for future comparisons

3
RFPs

• Give vendors enough time to respond to RFPs(30
  days should be allowed for a detailed RFP)
• If you create bid specifications specificallyfor
  one vendor, dont be surprised if othervendors
  respond with a NO BID
• Allow face to face presentations to allow
  vendorsto highlight the most important features
  of their product(s) and to answer any questions
  regarding their bid response

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New Relationshipswith Sales Representatives

• Try to fight the Halo Effect with newsales
  representatives
• Try to be forgiving if a sales rep says,I don't
  know, but I know who doesand I will get back to
  you.
• Create a list of questions beforehand andmake
  sure that they are answered either in the meeting
  or after the presentation via email
• If follow up is poor, let them knowthat you
  arent happy

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Planning SchedulingSales Presentations

• Set Guidelines for the Vendor, e.g.
• You will have 90 minutes, including
  presentation, demonstration, and QA
• If your product is intended to replace any of
  the librarys existing resources, please focus on
  what we would gain and what we would lose (to
  avoid wasting our time)
• Prepare the Library for the presentation
• Alert all of those who may have interest in
  attending
• Confirm the equipment needs with the
  vendorbefore the meeting

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Big Picture Questions to Ask Vendors

• What is your companys DB credit rating?
• In the last 3 years, has your company had
  anymajor layoffs? (e.g. 50 or more employees)
• Who are the top executives of your firm andhow
  long has each been with the company?
• If we purchased your product(s), which of our
  existing products would you suggest we cancelin
  order to afford it?
• What are the unique features of your product?

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What Vendors DontWant You to Know

• Incumbents dont want you to know
  thatcompetition is good for you, e.g.
• You might not buy Elseviers Scopus, but you may
  beable to use it to lower the price of ISIs Web
  of Science
• Products without competition are often allowed to
  degenerate, because the vendor is not concerned
  about quality comparisons when there is NO
  competitor to compare
• So, it is possible that a new product can be
  superiorto an established one
• Lower priced vendors often want the conversation
  to focus on the price instead of quality ask
  them what you will be losing (and also ask the
  incumbent)

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What Vendors DontWant You to Know

• Higher priced vendors may make generalizations
  about their products vs. the competition
  require them to prove their superiority
  withfacts rather than scare tactics
• Profit Marginsif the vendor owns the
  content,they have a higher margin (and greater
  price flexibility) than an intermediary
• Vendors headed in the wrong direction will want
  to avoid discussions about major layoffs,
  management team turmoil, poor credit ratings, etc.

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Library Listservs

• No other industry tool offers buyers so much
  leverage
• Librarians can do real damage to a vendors
  reputation/ sales efforts by writing an email to
  a library listserv
• It is probably wise/fair to first exhaust all
  reasonable options with the vendor before turning
  to a public attack
• Sometimes the threat of a listserv message can
  causean unreasonable vendor to back down
• However, if there are no options left, a public
  complaintvia a library listserv can be a
  powerful tool
• Many vendors have decided to change
  policiesbased on pressure from library listservs

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Vendor Listservs

• Some vendor listservs provide a reasonablenumber
  of valuable, informative messages
• Library customers can affect vendor behaviorby
  threatening to unsubscribe if the messages
  aretoo frequent or too much like SPAM
• Vendors want their customers to receivetheir
  communications
• Subscribe to your vendor listservs you will
  likelyfind that the messages are more useful
  andless frequent than in the past
• Many vendors have learned frompast mistakes in
  this area

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Pricing/Negotiations

• For subscription-based products,ask for
  multi-year pricing (and get it in writing)
• It is reasonable to ask for 3 year pricing for
  many subscription-based products
• If a vendor is unwilling to do this, ask if there
  can be a cap on price increases (e.g. 5) before
  you agree to buy
• Give the incumbent vendor a chance match a lower
  pricefrom a competitor (unless you prefer the
  lower priced product)
• Beware of the Big Deal, because it is very hard
  tolater unbundle that package (if necessary
  due tofinancial limitations)
• However, if you are buying from a number of
  different products from multiple vendors, there
  may be real advantages to consolidating those
  purchases through one vendor

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Service

• What are the vendors hours forCustomer
  Service/Technical Support?
• When you speak on the phone with someonein
  service, ask them where they are located
• What kind of software customization is available?
• Can I tell you what I want changed andhave you
  make the changes for me?
• Downtime
• What measures have been takento ensure full
  redundancy?
• What recourse do we have in the eventthat your
  system goes down?

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Dealing with Vendors at Conferences

• Many vendors have product information breakfasts
  or luncheons
• Inquire beforehand to make sure you receive an
  invitation
• These events require a lot of planning andare
  often by invitation-only
• If you are involved in the evaluation of the
  product,most vendors will be pleased to have you
  attend
• Conferences provide an opportunity to meet with
  various experts within a company
• These experts usually have busy schedules,so be
  sure to reserve time in advance

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Dealing with Vendors at Conferences

• Conferences are an excellent opportunityto see
  the latest and greatest from yourcurrent
  vendor(s) and their competition
• The sales person you encounter in the boothmay
  not be the most informed person to learnfrom, so
  if you are truly interested, schedulean
  appointment beforehand to ensure you receivethe
  best possible information

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If You Dont Buy a Product

• If you decide NOT to buy a product after an
  evaluation, tell the vendor the reason(s) why
• This honesty will be appreciated by most vendors
• This will allow responsive vendors to make
  improvements to their products which will give
  you more options in the future (competition is
  good for you!)
• This puts pressure on the incumbent vendors to
  continue to improve their products even though
  they have won in the short-term
• Encourage the losing vendor(s) to
  keepimproving and try again next year
• Tell the winning vendor what you liked
  betterabout their competition, so they have an
  opportunityto make your product of choice more
  complete

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Advisory Boards

• Many vendors have these, including EBSCO,OCLC,
  Blackwell Publishing, etc.
• Some vendors have multiple boards for example,
  EBSCO has the following advisory boards
• Academic Communication/Communications
• Business School GLBT
• Corporate Library Sociology
• Hospital Library Textiles
• K-12 School Software
• Public Library
• Board members are usually unpaid in order
  toavoid the appearance of conflict of interest
• Board members are usually required to sign
  confidentiality agreements

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Advisory Boards

• Board members generally meet in person onceor
  twice a year, but most communication is donevia
  a confidential listserv
• Some companies also have Email Councils,which
  are a forum for feedback from customerswho
  arent in a position to participate in a formal
  board
• Email councils are less encompassing in terms
  ofthe amount of involvement required and
  membersmay only be asked a few questions each
  year
• Beta testing is generally made available toboard
  members and email council participants,as well
  as to those who request to be involved
• Beta testers should expect to seebugsduring
  the Beta period

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Why Should Librarians Provide Product Enhancement
Ideas to Vendors?
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Providing ProductEnhancement Ideas to Vendors

• Libraries can provide better service to their end
  users if vendors can better equip the libraries
  to do so
• Join the companys listserv and respondto the
  moderator
• He/she will usually forward the feedback to the
  appropriate managers
• Good sales representatives encourage feedback
  from their customers and their voices carry
  weight within companies (because smart companies
  listen carefully to those employees who deal
  directly with the market)
• Feedback can be provided through the customer
  support websites of a number of vendors

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Partnerships with Vendors

• Vendors are sometimes looking for partnerships
  with libraries
• Examples include
• Creation of content
• Thesauri
• Specialized AI
• Etc.
• Borrowing parts of the libraries collection
• PDF backfiles
• AI backfiles
• A vendor will usually make it worthwhilefor the
  library to cooperate

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Miscellaneous Issues

• Dealing with vendors through consortia
• Substantial customizationmay still be available
  ask
• On-site trainingmay still be available ask
• For-profit vs. non-profit
• Public vs. private

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How Do You Find OutMore About Vendors?

• Ask for a tour of their campus (if you are in
  town anyway)
• Learn about their corporate culture
• Meet and speak with staff of various departments
• Read vendor articles and interviews, for example
• An Interview with Sam Brooks. Enyart, Michael G.
  Journal ofBusiness Finance Librarianship,
  2004, Volume 10, Issue 1, p27
• Academic Journal Embargoes and Full-Text
  Databases. Brooks, Sam.The Library Quarterly,
  July 2003, Volume 73, Issue 3, p243
• An Interview with Sam Brooks. McElroy, Emily.
  Serials Review, 2002, Volume 28, Issue 2, p142
• Issues Facing Academic Library Consortia and
  Perceptions of Membersof the Illinois Digital
  Academic Library. Brooks, Sam Dorst, Thomas J.
  portal Libraries the Academy, Jan2002, Volume
  2, Issue 1, p43
• Integration of Information Resources and
  Collection Development Strategy. Brooks, Sam.
  Journal of Academic Librarianship, July
  2001,Volume 27, Issue 4, p316

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Summary of Key Points

• Competition is good for you encourage it
• You can affect vendor behavior you just needto
  use your leverage (and get involved)
• Its in your interest to provide feedbackto
  vendors find those vendors who willactually
  listen and respond