Falling Out of Love with Your Pricing and Sales Vendor?
By Mick Naughton
Feb 16, 2021
Table of Contents
As we bask in the afterglow of Valentine'sDay2021,romance is in theair;perhaps new love has blossomed? All those wonderful feelingsofmeeting someone new. The potentialof along-termsuccessfulrelationship...c’estl’amour!However, and at the risk of being pegged acynic,passion fadesand as the statistics certainly support,unfortunately,not allrelationshipswork out...c’estla vie.
Like personal relationships, businessarrangementsare also not always destined to last. What started out as anexciting partnership may have devolved into something akin to an acrimonious marriage.I have spent time on both sides of thisdynamic.Iworkedfor many yearsinB2Bdistributionand have had the experienceofusingtools and technology that no longer seemed to fit our business. NowIwork inthe software industrywhere I often speak with potential clients who are dissatisfied with their current partner andareasking,“Whatelseis outthere?”
I have seen some common themes that usually point to aunionthat is not destined tolast,and they tend tofollowpatternsnotthat dissimilar fromthose that break up personal relationships.Here are a few.
"You don't even know me!"
Staying connected is important.Of course,atechnologyprovider will work hard to earn your business, but are they committed to staying connected with you throughout the duration of the relationship?Zilliant has abest-in-classcustomer success organization, who is involved from the minute a contract is signed andsticks around as yourlong-termpartner. They co-develop success plans and your dedicated Customer Success Managerwillmeetwith you on a weeklybasis as well asdrivemonthly and quarterly business reviews.
If when you call your technology partner, you spend the first 10 minutes on thephoneexplaining who you areand what your company does,maybeit's time to consider a provider that is invested in your success and spends the time getting to know your business as well as you do.
Read More: “Customers awarded Zilliant the maximum possible rating in customer satisfaction and support.”-IDC MarketScape Price Optimization Report
Keeping things fresh
Falling into a rut is easy. Doing the samethings,the same way doesn’t lead topersonal or professional growth.If you are working with a technology provider, particularly in the case of B2Bpricingandsales optimization not only should your partner work to understand yourbusinessbut they should be a thought leader bringing you best practices and ideasto keep things new and exciting!
The Zilliant team is filled withassociatesthat havedeep B2B industryexpertiseand backgrounds inpricing,consulting,technologyanddatascience.We are often called on to speakat conferences, contribute to professional journals and regularly publish new content on a variety of topics.
Arguingovermoney
During theinitial stagesof a relationship when buyingtechnology,maybe theinitialpriceand implementationseems reasonable. But once the ink on the contract is dry you find out that there are lurking extra costs. If you want extra support (it will cost you), if there is a system upgrade (it will cost you), if you need a change (it will cost you).
Zilliant is 100% built onacloud-native platform. You will always be working with the latest version of our software. When we scope out ourimplementations,we go to great pains to ensure we provide detailed project plans that ensure a successful,well supporteddeploymentthat comes in on budget.Additionally, when it’s time to make a change,our platform not only has many opportunities to self-serve, but you will also have yourdedicated Customer Success Manager who is there as part of your subscriptionto help with thateffort.
Read More: “Customersrate Zilliant very highly in value delivered...one large customerusing the product for 11 yearssaid that it had seen 10x ROI for several years.” -IDC MarketScape Price Optimization Report
“I’ve evolved, have you?”
Businesses like people mustchangeover time. Market forcesshiftand new strategic initiatives need to be developed. If a companyisn’t constantly evolving, it’s likely not going to be prepared forwhat is coming over the horizon. Thepriceoptimizationandmanagement space has been around for over 20 years and many of theplayers are wellestablished. But having longevity does not necessarily mean growth.
Not only wasZilliantthe firstB2Bpriceoptimizationvendorto move to move fully to the cloud,ithasalsogrown those capabilities bydeveloping afullsuiteofofferingsthat deliver intelligentactionableselling solutionswhere they are needed.Most recently we added Campaign Manager™to our product line.Campaign Managerallows users to scope, prioritize and refine targeted actions and use closedloop reporting totrack progress.It is a uniqueone-of-a-kindsolution in the B2B marketplaceand just one example of how Zilliant leads the way in innovation.
Read More:Zilliant Launches Campaign Manager
Conclusion
Break ups are hard. You have invested time and energy in your current technology provider.So,you are trying to stick it out, hoping that it will get better and be just like the good old days when you first met.Some relationships are worth saving,butsometimes you needtomake a break.If any of the above scenarios soundfamiliar, perhapsyou owe it to you and your company’s best interest to find a technology relationship thatmeets your needs. You can always tell your current vendor.... it’s not you, it’s me.
In this day and age, online dating is easy.The Zilliant team would love to talk with you about your business, show you some of our products and see if a long-term relationship makessense.
Ifyou’reinterested in how Zilliant can help your company turn insights into action, swipe right and send me an email atmichael.naughton@Zilliant.comorconnect with me on LinkedIn.
