Paradigm Consulting Believes in Results

[ultimate_heading alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”]ROI is a critical reference point. We invite you to visit some of the brief examples of our success on behalf of our clients. Can we do the same for you? We won’t know unless we talk. Specific entity names not available due to non-disclosure agreements currently in place. Concrete ROI Success…

How SMBs Have the Deck Stacked Against Them and What Can be Done to Overcome It

[ultimate_heading alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”]Virtually every SMB (small to medium-sized business) is working against at least one or two significant challenges others in their space are not. Do you know which obstacles you have to hurdle, and which can be overcome with relative ease? In no particular order and not a complete list, here are the…

Data Driven Vendor Analysis for Sales

[ultimate_heading alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”]At the heart of stewardship is doing what’s in your client’s best interest. For this reason, sales provides governance for their clients. Governance can include putting processes and resources in place to ensure mutual success even after the departure of key contacts from either organization. Governance can include ensuring there’s alignment of…

Best of Breed vs. Best Practices

[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Beware: this also applies to vendors, as well as technologies, systems, etc.” alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”]“What do you mean, I don’t want best of breed?”  Isn’t this a totally rational position from the layman’s perspective? We all want the best, assuming the price is not prohibitive, but much of the time, having “the best” is…

Benefits of Reducing Your Vendor Footprint

[ultimate_heading alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”] In 33 years of watching organizations buy technology, it’s been the exception to see them wisely leverage their spend. The exceptions were made by either shrewd small-business owners or very large enterprise organizations with seasoned buyers, either within a technology silo or in a sourcing group. These buyers were doing their…

A 14 Point Vendor Contract Checklist

[ultimate_heading alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”]I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes even with the best intent and the best of stewardship practices, a firm hand is needed to bring a vendor to heel to acceptable behavior.  This applies to risk exposure in contracts, pricing, terms, quality of service delivery and beyond. Let it be known,…

7 Ways to Gauge How Well You’re Managing Your Vendors

[ultimate_heading alignment=”left” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;” margin_design_tab_text=””]Caveat #1: This discussion is not relevant from Paradigm’s standpoint unless approached from a position of stewardship. You must extend as much courtesy and commitment to your vendor as you expect from them. We submit this is a redefinition of the word, “vendor.” Caveat #2: How one gauges successful vendor management often…

Is Your Business Stuck in a Rut? 7 Danger Signs

[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Paradigm Consulting is defining VENDOR STEWARDSHIP in the context of providing concrete, sustainable results:” alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”] Should decision-making criteria be departmentally or individually centered when impactful to an organization at large? I’m among the last that go for a “team kumbaya,” committee-based decision-making process, but too often, too much power is ceded to…

Defining Vendor Stewardship

[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Paradigm Consulting is defining VENDOR STEWARDSHIP in the context of providing concrete, sustainable results:” alignment=”left” margin_design_tab_text=”” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:40px;”]As an act of governance, vendor stewardship directly and positively impacts financial strength and social responsibility. Tactically, vendor stewardship redefines how to position the vendor relationships in a more collaborative fashion, while simultaneously reaching improved levels of service…