I've had a rough vendor spell lately. I can't say it happens often, but it definitely occurs. One vendor believes it's my responsibility to keep his employees employed, and still another seems to think I should buy something new to get him to fix something we already own.
Yet another vendor told me that the difficult procurement process he wants me to go through exists because his company is publicly held and its share price is contingent on this process. (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.)
It occurred to me, as it has in the past, that vendors aren't the problem here — I am. Vendors, after all, are people and have the same characteristics as anyone else, even if we pay a premium for their services. In my career, I've always struggled with the idea that we pay a premium and then must also provide care and feeding (i.e., vendor management). That's just the way it is and isn't entirely unintuitive, since anyone who works in our environment is part of the same team.
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