RETAIL!!??

I knew I was going to discover this. Digging through the company's old invoices I found that it was paying retail for all its technology purchases. Coupons don't count, that's still retail. I think this behavior is similar in many non-profits. Often e-tailers don't charge tax so non-profits never hammer out their status with them. Also it seems that non-profit buyers don't want to talk to sales people, so they never see how much they can save. This is unfortunate because, as I found out, there is a wealth of discounted technology out there.

I realized at my last job that requesting account managers (sales reps) at vendors and retailers I liked was the best way to guarantee non-profit or discounted pricing. Regularly I would search their site, assemble a shopping cart, then email them to find out if they can do better on the price. I usually received quotes that were much better deals. Creating these relationships was beneficial because when I needed something in a hurry and didn't want to research pricing, I knew that I'd still do better than retail.

The fear of a sales pitch is an unnecessary concern. The sales rep's business is to filter the torrent of new products into those that are relevant to your business. I considered this information educational. At the very least the sales rep was a starting point for my own research into solutions.

A misconception I originally had was that one must be a volume buyer to have an account manager. When setting up the account they certainly questioned my spending potential. Remember, just because you say you are going to buy 5 servers doesn't mean you have to. Furthermore, I learned that the purchases don't have to be huge. All sales were welcomed. I did buy through my sales reps regularly as to maintain the relationship. Even if I saw a bargain basement web deal, I would still call my rep and at least get the same deal through them just so they got the credit and I maintained my contact.

Of course sales reps make their money off the amount of sales they make. That doesn't necessarily mean they are going to swindle you. If you don't like your rep, you can always get another. A good rep knows how to work with you so they can keep working with you. As much as possible I've brought with me the account managers I worked with at my last gig. They're happy I'm giving them more business and this translates into bargains for my new organization. Additionally, when I leave this job the company will continue to benefit from that relationship.

Sales reps are a great resource for any IT decision-maker to keep in their portfolio, especially non-profit IT Managers trying to wean their organizations off retail.