Four Cs of Vendor Selection
Looking through Forbes archives recently, I came across this article: The Four C’s Companies Consider When Choosing A Vendor. I remember reading the article when it first published and, as often as we find ourselves being evaluated, I couldn’t help but to give it another read and found it to be blog worthy.
Cost – Capability – Communication – Character are the four Cs.
Reading the article provoked thought about conversations we have had with new nGenue clients post implementation. We learned these four Cs certainly figured into their evaluation processes and noteworthy to us has been how nGenue customers prioritized them.
Cost is always an evaluation point. Interestingly, it tends to be the one for which the least amount of time is allocated – at most, 5% of total engagement time is spent on Cost; as part the contracting process, after a long period of Capability evaluation. Post implementation, nGenue customers have shared with us Cost considerations were binary – either nGenue fit within their budget or it didn’t.
Proving Capability is always where the greatest amount of time is invested – presentations, demonstrations, written RFI responses, Q&A, and planning sessions all center on vetting capabilities relative to business requirements. And it’s rare if this excludes an exhaustive comparison of nGenue to an existing system that has been failing to meet the needs of the business. When it comes to time spent, Capability investigation without a doubt tops the list.
Covering Capability involves a great deal of verbal and written communications. nGenue customer success personnel seek to understand the needs and priorities of those who engage us and then supply considerable information corresponding to nGenue functionality, use cases and a host of in-service considerations, from implementation to support over the operational life cycle. Communication spans all topics across the entire engagement, making it a critical core competency.
Character is key … Over the course of an engagement, the characters of nGenue and the company evaluating us are exposed. And this, I submit, is where the greatest emphasis is ultimately placed. After a company understands Cost and has evaluated Capability via a multitude of Communications, the question then becomes, “Are we confident in all of the information gathered and is nGenue the right business partner for us?” This question or some variation of it almost always rounds out an evaluation cycle and, in my opinion, its answer is the linchpin to a company’s selection.
With many years in the Energy industry and a network of contacts spanning countless interactions, I am delighted to have my own and nGenue staff characters scrutinized – it’s character that makes the difference when difficult, unexpected situations arise. This said, it’s thorough planning, sound execution, and fail-safe processes that minimize the number and severity of issues; all which figure into nGenue’s Customer Success philosophy and how we deliver to enable Natural Gas Operational Excellence.
How do you “C” it? Let’s get the conversation started!
~Ken
