Relationships - Administrators and Vendors
By Jeannie Cabell
Office Administrator of Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Picture this: Your office, the desk is a work in progress with the usual projects stacks, in and amongst which are your telephone, your cell phone, and blackberry. The inbox is a jumbled assortment of overflowing unopened and half opened mail. And, as Vicky Berry says, this is one of the typical days when you already know it will be 5:30 p.m. before your settle down at your desk for your first cup of coffee.
Picture another scene going on at a Vendor's office across town: Several RFP are due, their getting ready for the monthly rep meeting with their area manager, it's lead-follow-up-call day, and, it's marketing budget deadline day. By the way, their desk is in the same condition as ours.
Although the professional challenges of the positions above differ, the bottom line is our (Office Administrators and Vendors) careers are bound together.
Our Vendors provide us legal support from office supply products to technology systems. Think about it - just stand/sit in you office and look around, pens, post-its, clips, office furnishings, computers, phone, payroll, HR and billing systems, medical and various insurance packages, along with facilities management. No doubt about it, our Vendors provide us with all the essentials and comforts needed to manage our respective law firms.
Taking this a step further, our Vendors support ALA both locally and nationally. Through our Vendors continued support over many years, we as Office Administrators, have reaped educational and networking rewards and benefits due to their sponsoring out national and regional conferences.
The bottom line is there is an invisible connection between Office Administrators and Vendors, and it all comes down to relationships. And let me tell you why.
How many times do we see the following email inquiry coming across our screens: "My firm is in the process of getting bids for...? Or, can anyone recommend a vendor for...?" Within in seconds of receiving these types of email inquiries, recommendation responses are flying back and forward. Am I right? So, how do the relationships happens.
That all boils down to us as Administrators. No, we can't take every Vendor call when it comes in, we can't meet everyday with Vendors, and in some cases, we will not be the final decision maker on a product. What we can do? Try using some of the tips below.
Straightforward and Honest
- Return calls. Carve out time to return calls.
- Provide correct contact information, if not you.
- Provide the preferred way you which to be contacted - phone/email.
- RFPs - Provide your Firm's Process and Procedure.
Just Say No
- Avoid stringing them on. If your Firm has no need for their product/services let them know right away, and when would be the best time they should check back.
- Avoid stringing them on after the RFP process; make contact immediately after the decision has been made as to which Vendor your firm will be using.
- Explain your firm's decision to go with another Vendor.
- Use referrals as a positive way to getting to "No". Let the Vendor know that you will refer them to other ALA members
Education
- Educate and train your managers and staff on dealing with Vendors.
- Implement a Vendor "Gift/Giveaway" Process. Let your staff as well as your Vendors know you have a Gift/Giveaway Process, and how that process works.
While the foregoing is just a few tips to try - again, it all boils down to us and that rare commodity time. Because, as we all know, relationships are built over time. Take the time to reconnect, and cement our Administrator/Vendor Relationships. These relationships are important to all of us.
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Jeannie Cabell is the Office Administrator of Dorsey & Whitney LLP and Past President of OCALA.