Top 5 Things I Want from MY Vendor/RESELLER Relationships?
What do you look for in your Vendor and/or Reseller relationships?
Please send me your list of Top 5 things and I will post the results at the end of the Month. Also, everyone who replies will qualify for an additional 10% off of any list purchase made in August or September.
I have been in the Direct Marketing field since 1980. My first job was as the mail-boys' gopher in a leading List Brokerage firm. My grandiose title was "Assistant Printers Apprentice". I collected the mail, ran the A.B. Dick offset printer to produce the management company's promotions, and I assembled the promotions for my boss. A short time later, I was transferred into Sales...where I have been ever since.
Over the decades, I have spent many years as both a provider of mailing lists and email lists services and a recipient of services...and on some occasions, do both in a single client project.
Here is my Top 5 Things I Want from My Vendor/Reseller Relationships.
I must preface my list by mentioning that A) I will have already satisfied myself that the Vendor or Reseller is providing QUALITY goods and/or services. If it isn't high quality, then I can't use it myself or recommend it to my clients and/or associates. B) That the person trying to get my business isn't too aggressive. Nothing turns me off faster than some Huckster that makes me feel like his last gig was cold calling selling stocks and bonds to "suckers" over the phone...
1. Price:
It's still the primary door opener-although today, that only gets you in the door.
2. Service/Knowledge:
It's what keeps clients wanting to work with you.
3. An Interest in My Success:
I don't want to feel like a number. I want to work with someone who goes the extra mile for me...gladly.
4. Follow-Up:
Also along the lines of not being a number. I don't mean follow-up to make sure I bought, but follow-up to make sure everything is as it should be.
5. Response to Problems:
Let's face it, nobody is perfect. I don't want to work with someone who hides behind denial and blaming others. I want a Fixer--someone who can assess the nature of the problem and work with me to remedy the situation expediently.
So tell me what your Top 5 Things are...