Getting the Most from Your Strategic Vendor Relationships

On the surface, it's easy to look at vendor relationships as being simply a cost and as being something you use out of necessity, but when you start working with the right vendor, it's easy to see why that point of view is misguided. 

Exceptional vendors are ones where true strategic partnerships are forged and where your vendor becomes a true business resource for you and your organization. These relationships are win-win propositions where both organizations have tremendous respect for each other and the role they play in each other's business. Cost value is viewed both in terms of dollars and from the loss being handled properly.

As a forensic engineering and fire investigation firm, Donan Engineering has grown substantially over the past several years, and we believe one of the main reasons for that growth is our ability to understand and serve our clients' most important needs and wants. Not everyone has the same expectations, which is why it is so critical to intimately understand what's important to your individual customers. We never assume that just because one customer sees it one way that this means all customers feel the same way. Rather, we see the importance of seeking to understand how we can add value to each customer's business.

With this principle in mind, Donan has recently developed and implemented a fixed-price fire investigation program.  The reason for this decision was simple: our customers were voicing their need for controlled costs for a fire investigation service that provides them the unbiased, thorough answers they require.  We understand that this service is not for everyone, but we believe in giving options so that our clients have choices to make regarding the final product they want. Not every fire or loss situation is the same, so we believe a vendor should have different options that fit these different potential outcomes.

Thorough Investigation

As with any fire investigation we perform, our team never cuts corners in regards to our obligations to perform a thorough investigation, as required by NFPA 921 and 1033. These are non-negotiable, and no program we implement would attempt to alter or shortcut these standards. Our goal is simply to not write a one-size-fits-all report, as we understand that not every assignment requires the same level of documentation from a reporting standpoint. Our reputation is paramount, so we understand the importance of producing unbiased, accurate, and conclusive findings on each investigation we perform, which is another reason we feel so strongly about never cutting corners.

Our new fixed-price fire service is designed to provide customers with two distinct levels dependent on the type, length, and complexity of report that is needed.  Obviously, this cannot always be determined up front prior to the initial site study, so we allow the customer and our investigator to determine what type of report will be generated when they communicate following the first study. This way the investigation is never boxed in and we have the flexibility to produce the proper report that will meet all the needs of the customer. Since we are never skipping steps in our investigations, there is really no advantage in trying to determine the type of report necessary for an individual investigation prior to the site study. Once the investigator has communicated with the customer regarding their findings, it should become very clear whether one of our fixed-price tiers is a possibility for meeting the client's needs.

At the end of the day, I would encourage you to ask yourself if your forensic engineering and fire investigation vendors are providing you the proper solutions to your unique needs and wants. There are many choices in the marketplace, and most of them are very highly qualified to perform fire investigations, but I would challenge you to find a group of vendors who provides you with a true strategic partnership. We recognize that both you and your organization have unique needs and wants, so we encourage you to find forensic engineering and fire investigation vendors who not only understand this, but who embrace this fact and create a partnership with you that prevents you from having to settle for anything less that exactly what you want.