Choosing the right vendor is more than just a few tick marks...

A known of mine started their artificial jewel business in Oct'23 and recently reached out to me to understand the digital marketing landscape and specifically to understand which vendor would suit their needs

Now, before we delve deeper, we need to understand that unlike product, services is a very different ball-game. I always say" A hard-checklist is easy, but a match is very difficult"

I can run a very quick "Yes/No" binary on the needs pyramid of the client across 8-10 areas to tell what it looks prima-facie. Though not so quick, I can run a fuzzy logic as well on these 8-10 areas but still is more grey to tell which vendor is best for you

As we get into interviews with vendors, 2 aspects are critical, first is the surface level needs analysis and the second is the WERIG analysis:-

• On the surface level analysis, it is crucial to know what is most important for you. I can give you couple of examples to explain what I mean by this:-

  
  

  • If you are a very young startup as that of my known, your #1 might be an agency which has an experience in 0-1 scaling for its clients

  • If you are work in a domain where integrated marketing is needed that is you want to cater people across multiple channels (WhatsApp, Insta, FB, LinkedIn....) then your #1 will be someone who provides holistic solution (a bit of everything, you know why, because it will help you in A-B testing)

  • If you have trust issues, yes people new in business have this quite often, and need agency in same state as yours then your #1 will be their operating location and working model

  • If you have been struggling in scaling up your business beyond just digital marketing, you need to understand you need someone who has worked in that industry before. They would bring fresh perspectives and experiences beyond marketing. It might be related to procurement, operations, supply chain management...Then your #1 becomes experience in the same domain

  • If you are looking to expand in a new geography, then go for agencies which explicitly cater brands in that geography even if the domain is different since they know what works in that geography

    
    

• As I had mentioned earlier, while surface level analysis is fine, it is crucial to understand that unlike products business, services business is people centric business. That's why I want you to understand that while you create your #1's and tick marks list, the feel is crucial. Let me ask you couple of questions to build how I define WERIG Analysis

  
  

  • While you narrate your startup journey to the agency, are they keen to Invest in it ? or are they skeptic about your product / strategy ?

  • Do you know scope creep is very common in services business, what does your Gut suggest when you ask them "Can you do this as well?"

  • If you are having trust issues, are they going the Extra mile, is the agency founder himself/herself willing to delve into it ? Mere WhatsApp group never serves the purpose

  • Ask them the challenges they have faced while executing past projects, can you relate with those challenges? Is your mind thinking how would you have Reacted ?

  • And what I say most important, again related to a peculiarity of the services business - are they Willing to work with you, listen you and understand you. If not, then certainly none of their credentials make them worthy!

I continuously interact with numerous market participants across enterprises and vendor agencies. It is interestingly very crucial to focus on WERIG to not just build sustainable relationships but also to build patience needed to scale businesses to new heights. WERIG will build your trust in yourself and also in the agency. Once you have the trust, outcomes will follow if not in 3 months then in 6 months

Many first time entrepreneurs who i call as psuedo entrepreneurs face this challenge of earning quick returns from marketing efforts. The problem is less with quick returns but more with the lack of trust. As this trust will build in, the actions will start turning into results though they might be completely different than what you would have wanted the actions to have led you to!