What I've learned deploying my $400,000 annual tech budget.
A quick synopsis.
THINGS THAT HAVE IMPRESSED ME AS A BUYER:
CEOs willing to get their hands dirty on sales and implementation calls
Vendor leadership willing to collaborate and get creative - and never feeling “too important” or “too busy” for you
Fast response times on support tickets
Not trying to use “lock in” leverage to charge too much, but genuinely passing savings back to customers
THINGS THAT HAVE NOT IMPRESSED ME AS A BUYER:
“Forced” price increases with limited explanation and no increased value
Substantially changing pricing models (again, without collaboration)
Pawning these difficult conversations off on junior people (especially bad for larger monthly spend)
Bashing competition instead of complimenting them
Along these lines, I would highly recommend Smartlead, Clay.com, GoDaddy, Apollo.io, and CVM, Inc. as partners that have stood out to us in 2024.
Good content! always good to reflect on what was a good vs bad experience.