When to Recommend New Technology
Posted by Mike Magee on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 @ 01:06 PM
For the last 17 plus years I have been representing technology products for vendors to potential customers. During that time I have learned some valuable lessons. As an account manager I feel a fiduciary responsibility to filter out the products that I represent. The reason for doing that is selfish, I don’t want to stress over preventable situations. How I reconcile that in my own mind is a complicated process but worth a look.
What I do is ask questions, lots of questions. My goal is to make sure there are no hidden catches that will make me or my customer look bad. I ask for references. I call references to see how that user likes the product and in what environment they are using it. Then I think. I do research of other products to see if there are others similar products that may work better. I have found in the past that there are always second and third generations of products that are better than the first. A better mouse trap!
As an account manager you need to know your customer and their tolerance for risk. Similar to investing, the greater the risk the greater the reward. The down side to using that in information technology is that you risk more that just a few dollars, you risk their business and the relationship with the customer. Neither I am willing to do without doing my research and checking with references first. Knowing your customer’s attitude towards leading-edge technology is crucial to determining when to suggest some sort of new technology.
The next time you hear from a sales representative about a new product, think to yourself:
- Have they done their research?
- Have they considered my risk level?
- Are they looking out for my best interest?
If the answer is no to any of those questions, you need to steer clear. You can always ask me to research a product for you. I promise to give you a fair appraisal.
Mike Magee
Senior Account Manager
Unitiv, Inc.