When Vendors Become Partners

Many directors in small shops find themselves in the same position—filling the need for specialized skills with a bevy of vendors. Managing vendors encompasses everything from negotiating contracts, tracking hours and services, and submitting invoices for processing to providing project and assignment specifications and evaluating work. When you have over 10 vendors that you manage (though not all at once), as I found myself these last two years, it becomes quite a task. But what I've learned in this time has led me to believe that it is possible to turn these necessary business transactions into relationships. As you do this, you forge partnerships for your organization that will result in more than just increased firepower and higher ROI. You gain advocates and evangelists.

I can think of three vendors who have turned out to be incredible partners for me in my role as marketing director for GACS: Dragon Army (formerly Watchword), a purpose-driven, digital engagement agency based in Atlanta, Finalsite, a school website and digital marketing company based in Connecticut, and Gokoro Design, a full-service design firm. The work we've done with these three companies speaks for itself.

Of these three, I am most excited about the work with Gokoro Design. Working with Goodness, I had a chance to watch a rebrand of our magazine come to life and this was incredible. There is nothing like having someone reflect back to you who you really are in a way that enhances your image and message. This was my experience with Goodness at Gokoro. She gave our magazine a polished look with the kind of elevated style you would expect from Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. She is currently working on our second magazine and the level of talent is instantly apparent as it is a new, fresh design while still maintaining the same aesthetic.

With Finalsite, we completed a website redesign of over 120 pages (you can read the case study I wrote on this project). This was a monstrous project considering the detailed enhancements they designed for us (and which we had to populate), and their execution was flawless. We continue to work with them on a regular basis to troubleshoot issues that come up with the site and to make changes beyond the ones we can make ourselves. Their customer service/technical support is equally delightful to work with and we feel very fortunate to have found such a good partner for our web needs.

Agency Dragon Army contributed to the web effort as well. They helped write all the content for our top-level pages and admissions pages. We needed the extra help because we had the other 100 pages to address! Getting this extra writing support helped us complete this seven-month project by the deadline. We also appreciated having them set the tone for the website which was consistent across all pages. We emulated their voice and style for the remaining pages. It was an iterative, collaborative process and one that I think helped us achieve a cohesive experience for our website visitors. The previous year, Dragon Army helped us with a rebrand, developing our core brand messages. This has really helped set us up for success as we are able to build on this message platform daily and maintain a strong, consistent voice.

The fact of the matter though is that you don't own half of the vendor relationship. The other half is up to the vendor. So it is very important to make good choices to begin with. My top recommendations for choosing vendors are the following:

1. Makes sure to check references. And lots of them. This added step is not that hard to do. You can do it via email or a conference call. I prefer the latter but am sometimes pressed for time so I've used the first quite often as well. Ask thoughtful questions to understand how well the vendor met expectations and what it was like working with them.

2. Ask potential vendors lots of questions. There's a lot more to working together than the product you're left with at the end. How about the process of getting there? Things you want to know from them include what their work style is like, whether they believe in a collaborative process, how they communicate best, how they like to get feedback, and what their expectations are.

3. Evaluate their portfolio. This is so critical. But the most important thing when it comes to evaluating past work is to consider, is what they're showing you a match for your own vision? From my vast experience, most people can only produce along the lines of their own style. Only the most versatile vendors can match a client's vision, so it's really important to accept someone for who they show you to be. Don't practice wishful thinking! You will definitely end up disappointed when they come back with work that doesn't reflect the vision you had in your mind.

Armed with these tips, you'll be able to find a vendor you can work with to create great products and experiences. The ultimate measure of the relationship in my book? Developing a mutually-beneficial relationship that helps both parties grow.