Do You Want Au’ Jus or Fries With That?
By- Are you paying for prime rib and being served mass produced burgers from a third world country?
- Is the service you are receiving comparable to the price you are paying for it?
- Are you paying a premium for “service” and when calling for help sitting on hold to only find out something you want can’t be done or will incur additional charges?
The real question is are you paying for a maitre d’ and the only time you hear from your provider is when they have a new offering or it is initiated by you for service that has to run through multiple channels?
The difference between a partner and a provider are huge.
- A partner helps you become more successful and their success is dependent upon yours.
- A provider sells you their product for you to leverage and your success is dependent how the product is utilized.
The problem lies in when a provider bills themselves as a partner to justify the cost and then moves you through their process to deliver their cookie cutter solution, mass produced hamburgers, and delivers the bill on a silver platter. We would not tolerate it in a restaurant but every day I see dealers accepting it with various providers.
I was amazed when I contacted a website provider for support for a dealer client to only find out that support would take three days to add a form to a custom page, the dealer spends over $100K per year and is tied to a contract. This was after going to top level contacts inside the company. Another consultant experienced a website provider claiming SEO work as their own. (See my automotive website predictions for 2009 to get the details)
In the coming year we will see some established accepted practices by automotive vendors fade from existence as dealers become more educated and learn to hold automotive vendors accountable by demanding value for their money with service levels commensurate with cost. A partner will over deliver a provider gives you widgets to work with. Quit overpaying for widgets disguised as a partnership and a long term high priced contract should deliver more than excuses with mediocre service and results.
Paul Rushing 
