Make Corporate America Work for You
Corporate America wants your business -- badly. But who can you trust? Here's how to find the vendors who truly "get it"
Published July 2003
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COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLEAndy Arons loves his bank.
And who wouldn't? For more than 20 years, even as it underwent several changes in ownership, Arons's bank has stood loyally by the New York City entrepreneur's side. It was there with patient advice in 1981, when Arons was a 22-year-old starting his first company, a gourmet-product importing operation called Flying Foods. It was still there six years later when he sold to Kraft Foods, and five years after that when he launched his next company, Gourmet Garage, which has since grown to 350 employees. Account managers at what's now Chase bank have personally introduced Arons to potential investors, provided key real estate advice -- and even treat him to lunch a couple of times a year. "Chase was really nice when I was less than a million-dollar company," Arons says. "And they've been equally nice now that we're pushing $50 million."
Bob Witeck, by contrast, was on the verge of firing his health-insurance provider. The CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, a 12-person marketing firm in Washington, D.C., Witeck specializes in advising large corporations such as IBM and American Airlines on marketing to gay and lesbian consumers. In the process, he often urges clients to offer their employees domestic-partner benefits. But when Witeck approached his own insurance provider, Care First, about getting the same benefits for his employees, he was told it was not available for companies in the D.C. area with fewer than 50 people. "When you're a small company," Witeck grumbles, "they just don't take you seriously."
Love them or hate them, the fact is you couldn't survive without your big corporate vendors. Whether they're providing financial services, telecommunications, technology, transportation, insurance, or a range of other functions, such outfits supply the very infrastructure on which your company operates. A good vendor can be a true partner and enhance your business tremendously. But as any entrepreneur will tell you, a bad one can cost loads in terms of time, frustration, and money. The challenge is distinguishing between the two.
That job certainly isn't getting any easier. With spending by big business persistently soft, Corporate America is increasingly looking to entrepreneurs to bolster sales. Computer Associates, which has long designed super-sophisticated systems for the world's largest companies, recently launched a new division focused on small and medium-size businesses. Software giant SAP just introduced SAP Business One, its second product targeted specifically at small to midsize companies. And the familiar faces are redoubling their own efforts. Intuit, for example, has quadrupled its product line for small companies. Says Susan Lindner, owner of Lotus Public Relations, a four-employee outfit in New York City: "American Express and Discover card call me literally three times a week; and both Microsoft and Dell direct market me for services on every conceivable product."
It should be a match made in heaven -- they covet your business; you need products and services that work. And yet as often as not, the relationship between small companies and their big vendors is more like a marriage on the rocks, marked by frustrations and unmet expectations. Why the disconnect? "It's a different paradigm," says Edward L. Cain Jr., CEO of MyBenefitsSource Inc., a 150-employee benefits firm in Atlanta that helps broker deals between small companies and large insurers. "People who don't run a small business find it difficult to identify with the entrepreneur."
That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's ever tried to get a phone line installed or been stuck on hold waiting to talk to a customer-service rep. But it's not completely hopeless. A number of big companies truly seem to understand what entrepreneurs need to succeed (see "Five Who Get It" below). While such outfits remain in the minority, the responsibility for creating productive vendor relationships ultimately belongs to you. Take the process seriously, invest the proper amount of time and energy, and with a little luck, you can have Corporate America working for you.
The Importance of Face Time
"Working for you" is the key phrase to keep in mind. Smart entrepreneurs, the ones who get the most out of their vendor relationships, select a new service provider much the way they would hire a new employee: They do research to identify potential candidates, conduct extensive interviews, even check references. After all, you're not just looking for a quick, one-time transaction as much as a partnership, a reliable relationship that can grow along with your company and be there should things go awry.
"Interview the heck out of these guys, even if you're pretty sure about them," says James C. Walker, president and CEO of Octagon Research Solutions, a 60-person software company in King of Prussia, Pa. Depending on what he's purchasing, Walker will meet with potential vendors as many as five times. "It's not an easy thing to do to put aside the time. But for us, it's all about 'the feel' and whether we can have a good relationship with these people." Doubt your instincts at your peril. Several years back, Walker felt uneasy about a recruiting firm he was considering -- but the price was right, and he went with the company anyway. The result: "We were getting gouged on finder's fees, getting low-quality people -- and were still having a hard time with turnover," Walker gripes. "I might as well have burnt all the money I spent."
