Let us repeat it one more time before diving into the reasons – no matter how great the relationship a salesperson has with you, he or she is not your friend. Now that we got that out of the way, let us reiterate why it is important that you and your team remember this when you start a new RFP process or when your core technology solution comes up for renewal.

1. Commissions = Biases

Commission structures incentivize a salesperson to provide a deal that makes you want to purchase their product, but it is not structured to meet all your firm’s requirements. Relationship building is the key to any good negotiation and sales process. It may sound counterintuitive, but you can trust the sales representative and still recognize their biases. This is where your interests and the salesperson’s interests collide. While he or she may truly be a great person and eager to help, their primary objective is to gain your business.

2. Product Experts

Most vendors will know their product better than you as a client ever will. At least, that’s what they should do! This is a double-edged sword, however, as you want to have a vendor that completely understands their product offering, but that isn’t always beneficial for the client during the discovery and negotiation phase. Be careful when you hear words like ‘quick workarounds’ and ensure to have your business requirements outlined as clearly as possible.

3. Trained professionals

We constantly remind our clients that core technology providers have trained sales professionals and legal teams that live and breathe their products and contracts. That is why we believe it imperative you have someone on your side that is also an expert in vendor technology and understands the competitive landscape. This will ensure you receive competitive pricing, terms, and service levels for your firm, leaving nothing on the table.