Vendors+
November 16th, 2007
I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that, from time to time, we at Brains on Fire need to make stuff. Sometimes it’s lots and lots of stuff. And lately… well… it’s been lots and lots and lots of stuff. And that’s great!
What struck me in particular this morning was when someone - I think is was Eric - came asking for a vendor for a particular item. Several of us quickly chimed in with recommendations. And you know what phrase I heard more than any other? “They’re really nice.”
That just made me happy. Of course everyone wants to work with vendors who do a great job. But the ones who make us stand up and recommend? “They’re really nice.”
It seems this is about to turn into a bit of a ‘toot our own horn’ blog post (give me a break - Spike, Geno and Veedub are out of town!), but I guess the point is that who you surround yourself with ends up saying a lot about you, don’t you think? The fantastic vendors we work with touch our clients in very important ways… and I guess it’s just pretty swell that we have people to work with who we can rely on for utility, and for just being pleasant people to work with.
So hey… tooting our horn AND writing a love letter to our vendors. Quite a full day!
Other posts by Jennifer.
Lewis Green says:
Jennifer,
I’ve met more than a few nice vendors (and other business folks) who were really nice and easy to work with, but their work did not meet our expectations. My clients expect the best we can deliver and don’t really care much whether or not our vendors are nice.
The reason I mention this is that all of us want to work with nice people but when someone says they are nice and “we can rely on [them] for utility,” I don’t hear “quality and excellence in there. And my clients, and yours, are likely looking for a bit more than “utility.” On the other hand, I understand that the act of blogging can sometimes lead to misunderstanding the author’s intent, and perhaps I misunderstood your use of the word “utility.”
November 16th, 2007 at 11:25 amJennifer says:
Lewis -
It’s a fair criticism of my choice of words. What I meant for utility was certainly what our internal definition is. It doesn’t “work” if it’s not the absolute best that we can do. So the vendors who are “utilitarian” for us are the ones who already kick butt at everything they do… and happen to be nice too. Thanks for keeping me from undercutting our friends!
November 16th, 2007 at 11:50 amLewis Green says:
Jennifer,
Ah, in-house jargon. Thanks for the explanation. Have a great weekend. And thanks for expressing kindness to your vendors. I’m sure they appreciate it.
November 16th, 2007 at 1:09 pmHayward says:
My question would be why do you call them vendors? If you have such a good relationship with them why wouldn’t you just call them partners?
Do your clients call BOF a vendor?
November 16th, 2007 at 4:30 pmJennifer says:
Another fair question. You guys are all about syntax, and I like it! We don’t particularly like the word vendor… but for the sake of speaking in terms that made it clear who I was speaking about… that’s the word I chose to use. My intent was to counter our sentiment toward them against the dry, blah, icky term “vendor.” Thanks for the input!
November 19th, 2007 at 2:09 pm