One of the easiest ways to identify high-quality vendors when outsourcing is to evaluate the questions they ask you. Top vendors ask, “What is your chief complaint?”
Why does a great vendor look for your chief complaint? The French have a term, raison d’être, which is “reason for being.” Most vendors know that their reason for being is to solve problems.
If there’s no complaint, there’s no reason to serve you. If you have no problems, then a vendor has no place in your life. You won’t have anything to outsource to them.
Reliable vendors approach the challenges they uncover with what Earl Nightingale called “cheerful expectancy.” These vendors are expecting problems, obstacles and resistance. And they have cheerful expectancy that they’ll get the job done.
In fact, when you’re marketing your business, isn’t that why you exist? Aren’t you trying to have a unique solution to an urgent problem or an urgent predicament or an urgent challenge?
The ability and desire to solve problems is one of the top attributes to look for when hiring vendors. A second important attribute, which goes hand-in-hand with problem solving, is resourcefulness.
Merriam-Webster defines resourceful as “able to deal well with new or difficult situations and to find solutions to problems.” If you want vendors to solve your problems, isn’t resourcefulness a good trait for them to have?
A reliable vendor will “go the extra mile” with project management. This concept of going beyond what’s expected is an age-old principle from Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich, and it distinguishes world-class vendors.
Let’s say other vendors cause problems, which they will. Resourceful vendors will iron out the snags caused by other vendors. They won’t complain, won’t condemn and won’t judge other vendors for the mistakes they made. They’ll simply get the job done and solve your problems.
Resourcefulness is not a word that’s talked about often. But it’s an important attribute to look for – the most important attribute, I think. If you have a vendor who criticizes other vendors, complains about other vendors, condemns other vendors, then what makes you so special that they’re not going to criticize, condemn, and complain about you?
When interviewing vendors to whom you can outsource, ask yourself, “How resourceful is this vendor? Are they willing to go the extra mile?”
When they are being interviewed, are they giving you stories about how they’ve gone the extra mile when serving other clients? Are they talking about how they’ve ironed out the snags caused by other vendors – without complaining or bad-mouthing the competition?
If the answers to these questions are “yes,” you’ve found yourself a world-class vendor. Outsource to them with confidence!
Do you agree that resourceful problem solvers are the best vendors to hire when outsourcing? I’d love to hear your thoughts! –Alex
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