I was in a meeting today where a reputable risk control consultant pushed a vendor I despise. What do I despise more than an objectively "trash" vendor? Reputable people who know a vendor is "trash" and push it for the free dollar. If I push a vendor, you better believe it's one you can stand behind. I don't care how much money they offer; I will not support trash vendors. I focus on guiding businesses to a specific place of operational success, mitigated risk, and defensible program Nirvana. If your product does not achieve that objective, I don't push your product or service because my goal is 100% my customer's success, not your sales.
If you can be a little naive or blind and can't sense that greasy, grimy, bad used car salesman feeling when dealing with certain vendors, no worries, I'm here for you and I'll tell you they're "trash."
Businesses spend millions of dollars on brand management and advertising in the hopes of making their products seem especially appealing to consumers. To that end, ads can use puffery, exaggerating claims, and superlative subjective terms such as “AI-detected,” “Collision Detection," or "Forward Crash Detection." (Note: If you feel triggered here, there's probably a reason.)
While consumers generally expect some overhyping of a product or service, some stray too far into the gray, making specific claims that are simply false, which is against the law. To varying degrees of success, several government and private organizations monitor ads in an attempt to save Americans from themselves by buying a product or service under false pretenses.
Vendor integrity and ethical consulting practices are imperative. With many vendors offering comprehensive solutions, companies can struggle to choose the right partners and ensure that these relationships reflect their values and ethical standards.
Vendor Trials
A trial process helps you verify a vendor's capabilities in real-world scenarios. That may mean you need someone outside the executive know-it-all realm who will use the program daily to determine their needs and which vendor best suits those needs. As a team, determine your company needs and discuss and trial. These critical evaluations go beyond the face value "pretty cover" aggressive sales pitches to see how tech and services perform under daily operational stresses and workflows. Extensive trial periods help companies avoid the pitfalls of adopting systems that appear promising on paper but falter under pressure, ensuring that the solutions are tailored to the business's specific needs and operational conditions. A great example is when you buy that fancy AI-enabled dashcam, and it only detects 3 out of every 30 events, and even the three it happened to detect are inaccurate. It matters.
Selecting the right vendor involves more than comparing prices and services. It requires a deep dive into a vendor’s past performance, compliance with industry regulations, commitment to safety, and tech innovation and investment. These criteria help identify vendors who are not only competent but also share a commitment to continuous improvement and customer-centric values.
Broad perspectives, customer reviews, and case studies are invaluable in this process, offering insight into a vendor's reliability and effectiveness. By evaluating these elements, businesses can form partnerships built on mutual success and aligned values, ensuring that their operational needs are met with the highest standards of service and integrity.
Upholding Ethics in Vendor Referrals and Consulting
The role of consultants in this ecosystem is significant. They have to maintain a high standard of integrity, ensuring that every vendor they recommend is chosen based on merit and alignment with the client's operational needs and ethical standards. Transparency about any affiliations or incentives received from vendors is crucial; it fosters trust and maintains professional integrity.
Consultants should prioritize their clients’ success and compliance over potential financial gains from vendor affiliations. This approach preserves the consultant's credibility and supports a healthier industry where long-term relationships are based on trust and mutual success.
The Real Cost of Poor Vendor Selection and Unethical Practices
The consequences of "trash" vendor selection or unethical consultancy practices extend beyond immediate financial loss. They lead to operational disruptions, safety incidents, non-compliance with regs, and damage to reputation. Vendor selection and consultancy recommendations must be carefully and ethically scrutinized.
In other words, choose vendors wisely, not blindly, and consultants. Don't just push a vendor because they're offering you a dollar. Refer vendors and stand behind those with good values and those that are reinvesting in a product or service that will take you and your business to the next level by understanding your needs and objectives and being the catalyst that gets you there by putting your needs before their sales. A sales machine is a sales machine, but without proper trials, perspective, and a solid market knowledge base and what's available, you often don't realize it's just a sales machine until it's too late.
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