IT Vendor Raves

Gartner vs ZL Technologies- Is the Magic Quadrant unfair?

Gartner is under attack.  ZL Technologies has sued Gartner Group claiming that the "Magic Quadrant' is misleading and favors large vendors with large sales and marketing budgets over smaller innovators..." 

Gartner's response (oversimplified) is that they offer opinions that are protected free speech. Some pundits hail ZL as sticking up for the rights of the smaller vendor, while others call ZL's lawsuit sour grapes.

Whether or not ZL has been wronged, the elephant in the room is the godlike power of analysts like Garnter.  Until recently, there have been no independent information resources to counterweight analyst opinions. Prospective customers have learned to distrust vendor supplied information, and advertising-based resources carry the stigma of being influenced by sponsoring vendors.  (Don't get me started about white papers morphing from academic treatments to marketing spin. )

Our solution- IT departments should supplement analyst opinions by using reliable input from "wisdom of crowds" services like VendorRate. After all, who knows better about how a vendor actually performs than the existing customer base? Why trust just a single opinion when you can view the collective opinions of many existing and former customers? 

Most importantly, benchmark scoring creates a level playing field between "best of breed" vendors who often perform at higher levels than a big brand competitor.   The niche vendor will never make the Magic Quadrant, but prospective customers can compare vendor performance scores to see which vendor performs best in the eyes of the existing customers.  

And when compared with the expense of a single analyst opinion, VendorRate’s "voice of customer" services is an affordable, trusted resource to help all organizations select the best vendor for their needs, regardless of size.  As we like to say, "Before you buy,know the score"

You can read ZL's summary of why they are litigating on their website http://www.zlti.com/courtdocs/ZLvGartner.html 

"Gartner... for the average user"

An emal from a experienced technology professional sent to her network of IT colleagues. She asked only that her name not be used due to the governance requirements of her employer. 

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Hey guys (& ladies!),

I had the incredible experience of attending Oracle OpenWorld last week in San Francisco. It is the largest technology conference in our country right now.  I have returned with a zillion new ideas.  But I had a chance meeting with the CEO of a company called VendorRate and I want to pass that info along. Most of you have been part of my personal peer group for years and this is the exact type of information we have asked from one another.

VendorRate.com is “affordable business intelligence” where qualified and verified IT professionals rate the vendors they do business with. Then you can pull a variety of reports to help you with your decision-making. I can see this being useful when researching a new project. I can also see an incredible value when renegotiating support contracts or long-term agreements.

When I looked at the VendorRate.com reports, I thought it was sort of like Gartner products for the average user. I remember our early days with ASCII (the State User Group), and most of our meetings were centered around “Who do you use for ………..” That’s exactly what VendorRate.com is!

Clearly, I’m a fan. I got to see the inside of the product and was shown how they validate an IT Professional and also how they validate a rating. There will never be an instance where a vendor can pad the votes or skew the ratings.

So, VendorRate.com needs a couple of things.  One is simply to use the website.  The other is to rate your Vendors! There are more being added on a daily basis, so the value of the reports is improving every time I check them out. It is a very short, quick rating process.

I wish you could have seen the presentation I did.  I left that chance meeting thinking, why didn’t we think of that?  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

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Come give VendorRate a try at www.vendorrate.com.  And if you are a public sector employee, rate a vendor to receive a free one year subscription tothe On-Demand reporting mentioned above.

Preventing wasteful government IT investments- Free VendorRate subscriptions

VendorRate wants to  do our part to help reduce wasteful government spending by giving free subscriptions to EVERY government and educational technology worker. The 60 day subscription is valued at $24.75 (lower than gifting limits). 

Federal, state, local government and educational workers can view trusted vendor performance scoring that is entered by IT professionals from the public and private sectors.  Peer reviews and vendor scoring helps guide in new vendor selection and can provide inside information to leverage contract negotiations with existing vendors

The free subscription is activated in 3 steps.

1. Go to www.VendorRate.com

2.  Contribute a rating for technology vendor (fully confidential)

3.  Your subscription will be activated within 24 hours.

p.s. Sorry to be away so long; It took 7 months to fully recover from a bicycle accident that broke my pelvis in 4 places among other injuries.  

Getting on the short list- Instant differentiation

One of the challenges facing sales teams at small and emerging companies is how to be included in the short list of vendors. They easily meet all the requirements in a bid or RFP, but the final short list always seems to be comprised of big brand vendors.   Despite their ability to provide better functionality or service, the halo of big brand recognition is often too strong for small companies to overcome.  

How do you demonstrate you are an outstanding vendor, fully capable of performing when big brand competitors are armed with million dollar advertising bugets and $100,000 analyst reports?  How can you quickly prove that your company stands above the competition?  Simply put, how can you demonstrate that your company can and will do an outstanding job for the prospect?

VendorRate allows small companies with great customer satisfaction scores to prove instantly why they are the best of breed, worthy of consideration on any short list of vendors.    Using the VendorRate “Compare Vendors” function (included in VendorRate's $149 annual subscription service), subscribers can create a benchmarked comparison listing for all vendors considered during the initial bid submission.  Then, with a single glance, prospects see top rated vendors regardless of size or brand name.  Vendors on the comparison list can be ranked by overall score, or the information can be instantly sorted to display the top vendors by any of the 10 benchmarks including expertise, integrity, customer service, on time performance, budget, and overall effectiveness.

Additionally, a subscriber can also drill down to view detailed rating information about each vendor including the job title and function of the rater, the size of the company, and scoring from repeat customers.  Subscribers can even see whether or not the rater tends to give high or low evaluation scores (Our internal name for this is the “grouch” factor!)

                                                 
A vendor comparison list or detail report should be included as part of every initial bid.  After all, your customers are your best sales people. Use their collective voice to differentiate your company against all competitors. 

Up Next

How vendors can speed sales cycles by reducing due diligence time

About VendorRate

VendorRate collects confidential customer evaluations about IT and telecom vendors that sell to business, government, and education. Ratings are entered via the web by IT professionals. Rating information is stored in a central database, and vendor scores are available free for public viewing at no cost via the web.  

 Paid subscriptions ($149 annually) give users access to deeper levels of rating information including vendor comparisons, comments, rating details, and vendor drill downs.   B2B technology companies create now create a HUGE bang for small bucks by leveraging the collective voice of their customer base. Visit http://www.VendorRate.com

How a small company can win over a big brand like SAP

There’s an old saying in technology purchasing circles, “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.”   Why?  The IBM brand name is well known to senior executives. If IBM does a bad job, how could we have known?  But take a risk on an unknown company, and you shoulder the blame alone.

How can an emerging company, with better products or services, gain credibility in the marketplace when competing against the major brands? How does the small company effectively answer the first big questions every new prospect asks in their mind, “Who are these guys?”, and “Why we should risk our time and money on an unknown company?”

The answer is always the same. Credibility cannot be bought, it must be earned. It only comes from trusted sources such as industry media or existing customers.   This post turns our attention to how to use the opinions of your customers to generate instant credibility.

Customer satisfaction scores - Your most reliable source of credibility

Using VendorRate, the collective voice of your existing customer base can now speak to future customers. In other words, you will be able prove to new prospects that your current customers are happy they selected you. There are 3 keys to being able to leverage outstanding customer satisfaction score.

1.    Your business customers must really be glad they are doing business with you.  (non negotiable)

2.    Ask your customers to help their IT peers by rating your company at VendorRate.com.  Freed of the fear that their identity will be revealed, customers tell the unvarnished truth. Prospects know that no vendor is perfect.  Marketing spin about perfection creates suspicion in a prospects mind. When a prospect sees the full picture of your customer's opinions, they trust you.  Authenticity wins, prospect win, and good vendors win.

3.    Train your sales team on how best to use your VendorRate score. This means displaying your scores, bragging about the great things your company does, and being honest when you have areas that are in need of improvement.  

We have covered 1 & 2 in prior posts. Let’s move directly to using your VendorRate scores effectively.

Brag about your great results whenever possible

 Step 1 Capture a screenshot of your company’s Vendor scorecard and update your picture monthly. There are hundreds of commercial screen capture programs, or you can simply use the “print screen” function on your computer.

** Now comes the important part.

Step 2 Embed the screen shot at the end of every prospective customer email you send.   Why do this?  “Pictures are worth 1000 words.”   Images transmit your message more powerfully than words.  If you merely type in your score, a prospect can have doubts. If you show it, the point is driven home.

 Additionally, you want your prospect to be able to forward your score to executives up the food chain when the decision making takes place. Busy executives don’t have time to read, but they skim bullet points and glance at pictures.   A screen shot like this overcomes fear, uncertainty, and doubt very quickly. (click to enlarge)

Step 3 –Customized views create an even higher level of credibility

Now it’s time to blow the prospects doors wide open for you. VendorRate’s affordable subscription services ($149 per user annually) let you customize rating information to help prove you are the right fit for the prospect.  Here are a few of the customized cross sections reports that can help tailor your rating information to demonstrate “customers like you love working with our company.”

• Rating scores by size of company. Show how big vs. small companies rate you.
• Ratings from different geographical regions
• Job titles and business roles of people providing ratings
• Product level comments including “what worked”
• How first time vs. repeat customers experience working with you

This screen shot shows how companies with >10,000 employees rate ChemSW (click to enlarge)

 

Or you can also let prospects review the exact comments your customers have entered into our independent rating system. (click to enlarge)

 

 The voice of your customers can be a powerful and trusted voice that speaks to new prospects. Using VendorRate scores creates important first impressionst that neutralize the impact of big brand names for small businesses.

Next up- Beating your competitors using powerful differentiation tools

About VendorRate

VendorRate collects ratings about IT and telecom vendors that sell to business, government, education, and nonprofit organizations. Ratings are entered via the web by IT professionals. Rating information is stored in a central database, and vendor scores are available for anyone to view at no cost via the web.  Vendors in similar industries can be compared and ranked as part of an affordable annual subscription service.   Visit http://www.vendorRate.com

 This shortened link will take you to ChemSW's scorecard on VendorRate. http://adjix.com/4dev    If you are a paid subscriber ($149 annually), you can read the rating comments, view rating details, run a vendor comparison, and see firsthand how a small company can create a HUGE bang in their industry.

Lots of free national PR for tiny ChemSW

Preface and disclaimer

Before we get started with this series, let me make it clear that VendorRate's mission is to help businesses and government organizations reduce risk BEFORE they make IT or telecom purchases. VendorRate highlights vendors with outstanding scores while exposing those vendors with average or poor evaluations.  However, while helping vendors increase sales is not our primary objective, it is a by-product of VendorRate's free public scoring system. If a technology vendor receives strong customer satisfaction scores, they earn powerful bragging rights.  If a vendor receives average or poor scores, they have not earned the right to brag. All we do is keep score and release results.

Does ChemSW get great PR?   Yes!

I just entered "ChemSW customer satisfaction" into Google.  Almost every listing in the first 4 pages of organic search results is a form of media release that includes ChemSW . Online media pick ups include the Wall Street Journal, Money, ZDnet, MarketWatch, chemical industry press, plus numerous additional  media source and blogs. 95% of media mentions occurred in the last 180 days, and were a direct result of being included in VendorRate's Top Rated Vendor reports.

 How did ChemSW get great PR?

First, to make the VendorRate engine work, a B2B IT or telecom company needs "fuel" in the form of ratings. ChemSW proactively reached out to their customer base, asking customers to enter ratings on the VendorRate website. VendorRate is vendor neutral, all ratings are posted confidentially, and good vs. bad rating scores are outside the control the vendor.   ChemSW's executive team exhibited the confidence...and courage...  to have customer satisfaction scores visible for the world to see. 

Second, ChemSW receives stellar ratings from customers of all sizes.  ChemSW's customers think they do a great job. They aren't perfect. Comments input during the rating process point out areas that customers believe need improvement. But overall, their customers appear to think ChemSW is outstanding. 

Finally, ChemSW's high rating score places them among the top rated vendors . ChemSW scores higher than big B2B brand names with good reputations such as Informix, Dell, VMware and Salesforce.com.  VendorRate releases Top Rated Vendors summary reports quarterly and at the end of the year.  Results of these reports are released via press releases over standard newswire servicess. In 2008,  ChemSW' was regularly listed as one of the highest rated vendors, and the names of top rated vendors are included in the headlines and body of our press releases.

ChemSW's free PR comes from a halo effect of being included in new releases that also include big brand names. Their great PR is a result of being a top rated vendor, not from trying to game the system.   Let's be honest. CNN and the Wall Street Journal aren't going to run  "ChemSW " articles, but the Chem SW name gets picked up because global media is interested running news about big name brands. ChemSW being named as a top rated vendor also results in media pick ups by their vertical industry press, and they are mentioned in blogs citing VendorRate reports. 

Next Up- How ChemSW overcomes lack of brand awareness when answering the first big question "Who are you guys?"

About VendorRate

VendorRate collects ratings about IT and telecom vendors that sell to business, government, education, and non profit organizations  Ratings are entered via the web by IT professionals. Rating information is stored in a central database, and vendor scores are available for anyone to to view at no cost via the web.  Vendors in similar industries can be compared and ranked as part of an affordable annual subscription service.   Visit http://www.vendorRate.com

 This shortened link will take you to ChemSW's scorecard on VendorRate. http://adjix.com/4dev    If you are a paid subscriber ($149 annually), you can read the rating comments , view rating details, run a vendor comparison, and see first hand how a small company can create a HUGE bang in their industry.

How tiny ChemSW beats much bigger competitors like SAP- Series intro

ChemSW is a best of breed chemical inventory management software vendor headquartered in Northern California.  My next 5 blogs will detail how ChemSW is leveraging the power of their strong customer satisfaction ratings to quickly grow their business. 

 I'll reveal secrets of how ChemSW uses VendorRate scores to:

1. Receive a big bump in free PR with mentions on big newsites and  trade publications
2. Overcome lack of brand awareness when answering the first big question "Who are you guys?"
3. Gain placement on vendor short lists by quick differentiation against big brand competitors
4. Speed sales cycles by reducing due diligence time
5. Increase profit margins and defends pricing levels

 If your tech company finds itself in David vs Goliath battles over customers, these next few blogs should be required reading. 

   In the mean time, this shortened link will take you to ChemSW's scorecard on VendorRate. http://adjix.com/4dev    If you are a paid subscriber ($149 annually), you can read the rating comments , view rating details, run a vendor comparison, and see first hand how a small company can make a HUGE bang in their industry.

Salesforce.com press release re VendorRate

In late December, we released our Annual top rated vendor report naming Salesforce.com as one of the top 3 vendors for the year.  The top 5 included ChemSW,  Informix, Intel, and IBM (servers)

Salesforce.com has issued a press release referencing the report.

 

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-05-2009/0004966943&EDATE=

 

We want good companies like Salesforce.com to brag when they get good scores on VendorRate. Having happy customers is something worth crowing about!   Of course, we don't expect press releases from low rated companies as we continue our mission of helping business avoid making big mistakes when they purchase IT or telecom products and services.

 

One final thought.  We always knew Salesforce's "no software" concept was a good idea for small companies. We were  surprised when we saw that that they received the highest rating scores from large and enterprise companies.  ( >2500 employees).  It's in the report, too.

 

 

 

 

Productivity using virtual meeting tools- Citrix, Yugma, WebEx

We are a virtual company. Since our workers are spread out across the country, collaboration and culture development present unique challenges.   We use instant message and conference calling tools on an hourly basis. 

Recently (and quite by accident) we discovered some new and powerful uses of virtual meeting tools. There are many of these conferencing tools on the market such as Citrix GoToMeeting, Cisco's WebEx, and Microsoft's Live Meeting .   I'm not going to recommend any single product, but I will mention that Yugma is free!

We keep the meeting software live in the background, and we launch it for many of our 1:1 calls. Rather than trying to explain something, we just fire up an instant  meeting , voila!, we can show it to the other person. It's a huge time saver.   If you've ever found yourself saying over the phone, "in the upper right corner.  Far right"  or "where are you looking on that website?", then this idea is for you.

Our favorite use is firing up an impromptu web meeting as our graphics guru makes real time edits to marketing collateral while the team makes suggestions.  Rather than trading editing emails back and forth, with static pdfs  we can all contribute, play off each other's ideas, and we see immediate impact to our ideas. We complete work faster, with better quality, and we reach consensus much faster since all of us are "owners" .  

Of course, it takes a graphic person who listens, and all of us have to be willing to give in on pet ideas.  But that's not really any  different than collaborating in an office.

Give it a try and share with us other creative ways to make a virtual office more productive.

Revenue on! - A grownup step for a tech startup

We are nervous and excited.

We're only a few hours away from flipping a big switch at VendorRate. We are about to convert the site to our paid subscription model. We knew we needed to keep this site independent from vendor spin. So, from Day 1, we decided never to accept vendor advertising.

However, this means our rating information has to be of sufficient value to make businesses willing to pay for it.   We already have thousands of ratings from IT professionals that provide insight into vendor performance. We've spent thousands of hours in interviews with business professionals at companies of all sizes to be sure we were capturing and displaying important vendor information.    Our price points are affordable for businesses with 10 or 10,000 employees. We have heard thousands of WOW! comments about the ease of use of our On Demand reporting system.   And we're told this fills a huge hole in the marketplace.

Despite all the great feedback,  we really don't know if we are hatching an eagle or a turkey.  

We're holding our breath. Please come watch with us as we take our first flight from the nest.