Non-tech-oriented buyers
Hello, It's me again!
So, this time, I want to talk about the problems and pain points that large corporations face before they even approach a service provider. Even some mistakes they usually make.
In a previous article, I mentioned the importance of comprehending unique business needs, ensuring seamless integration, keeping the balance, and securing acceptance and adaptation from the final users. Unfortunately, it is overwhelming and complex as a procedure, and because there are essential steps that a buyer needs to take, the struggle begins, and all the pathologies erupt as allergies at the beginning of the sprint.
What do I want? Who am I? What time is it?
The first step, before anything else, is to identify what the large corporation wants. Observing their organisational chart, it is common to find multiple stakeholders with contradicting needs. Often, they come from different backgrounds, their technology comfort is low, and so is their patience level. Especially when there is no expert consultancy, those people are focusing on irrelevant points, very short-eyed problems, missing the bigger picture, or don't bring to the table what they need exactly, or they define it way later. Then numerous emails come and go, hours of non-conclusion meetings pile up, and the daily schedule pacts with extra meetings and tasks and frustration. A recipe that never brought to the procurement clear and final objectives on time.
Moreover, it is common to leave the actual final users out of the process. Their needs, ways of working, behaviours, knowledge, and expertise are often omitted. So the conflict of interest between the user and the customer is "terrific". Team members are hesitant to adopt a new way of working, from the top down, especially if they are not aware of the change and their input and feedback were never asked. Without proper onboarding and training, the adoption becomes hard with unpredictable consequences, putting the SAAS platform in a position to underdeliver.
We will go on our own.
Collecting individual input is tremendously complicated and needs some planet alignment. However, to be fair, the needs of each department may vary, and one single SAAS solution may not cover the range of the objectives. Also, in large entities, it is usual to find departments on the scale of a small company and act accordingly. Purchasing per silo is not always wrong. Purchasing the same SAAS solutions per department as a different entity is wrong and is where the problem starts. The smaller accounts they purchase, the higher the cost, the duplication, the confusion, and the redundancy become. By bonding all departments under one purchase, the company will be able to negotiate not only the price but also the features, or even the simultaneous scalability and growth, even a partnership. #themoreyouknow
I want it, and I want it now!
When a large corporation understands what it wants, it usually wants it yesterday, incorporated, and up and running. This is a result of low familiarity with how the digital world operates, how to choose responsibly, how to test before buying, and how to be patient if customisations are involved.
Moving fast leaves short bandwidth to investigate the market and the competition, negotiate properly, try different solutions before they commit, and most importantly, ignore the truth on a sales pitch, the additional costs, and even the accuracy of the potential digital product.
Businesses are sometimes tempted to push an early purchase because they can afford the expense, though the vendor is not equally ready or able to run. In a sales course that I recently attended, they said that people buy based on their emotions. From my point of view, companies buy based on the people they know and trust. The concern that occurs here is that businesses are willing to purchase mediocre solutions from someone they know rather a high-end solutions from someone they don't. Yes, and from someone who sells at a low price.
All the lines above boost a wrong decision that makes every employee suffer. For sure, there are more problems and pain points; if you have any in mind, please let me know!
Enjoy
