Lately, I have been having some issues with vendors who have become friends, and I thought I would throw a topic out there to see what the PHONE+ world thinks and how they deal with similar situations.
At any Channel Partners Conference & Expo, you always run into all of your vendors and channel managers in one place. For me it is usually in a bar, and that can lead to a little too much truth telling, if you know what I mean.
They all say things like, “Hey who got the deal with so and so?” Or “How come we didn’t get such and such deal?” The answer is always different and I really don’t like to hurt their feelings. That being said, sometimes people’s feelings get hurt when one vendor gets a deal and another does not.
My first thought is always with my customer. I want to get them the best price and the best service. When that situation comes up, it is easy to make the decision. But, what do you do when you have the exact same price from two vendors and you believe that both vendors have equal service? I try to lay out the options for the customer and tell them this and that about each company. Maybe they have a history with one or the other. Maybe they ask me my opinion.
Recently, I ran into this issue and the customer asked me which one they should buy. This is a question I really don’t like to answer. However, I have to give an answer. In this particular situation, I told them to use company A over company B. Do you know why? Company A paid me more money. The residual was about three points higher. Did I do the right thing? I think so, because I believe that both vendors are equal.
However, vendor B has become a friend over the years and became somewhat upset with me when I told him the truth. He did not believe that both were equal (of course), and it caused a strain in our relationship. We have since worked it out, but I am curious: how would some of you other subagents handle a similar situation?