In the February 2016 issue, Charlie Hauser, the owner of Shasta Athletic Club, shares the story of his poor experience with a billing and collections vendor that eventually stopped holding up their end of the bargain — meaning, the collections company was no longer returning the club’s past-due membership fees it had collected.
To Hauser, this was maddening. He had put not just his trust, but his business’ money in the vendor’s hands, to less-than-ideal results.
This story showcases the importance of ensuring the partner you choose for any service — whether it’s equipment, insurance, billing or collections — is the right one. Your club’s resources and money are vital, and you don’t want to waste them on a vendor that doesn’t value either.
But, there are literally hundreds of vendors for you to choose from. How do you know which is best? The key is to not just look for the quality of the product or service — you also want to look at the vendor itself, and how it operates. Does the vendor treat your business like a partnership, or just a contract?
Vendors that are true partners will display the following traits:
- They have great listening skills. When meeting with a vendor representative, do they start the conversation by asking what your gym’s needs are, or what you’re hoping to solve? If needs aren’t brought up within the first few minutes (by them, not you), that’s a red flag the vendor doesn’t really care about meeting your needs — they just want to sell you a product or service.
- They ask follow-up questions. Essentially, the vendor should be engaged in a conversation with you. If they initially ask what your needs are, take your answer at face value, and then don’t dig deeper, that’s a sign they don’t truly care. A conversation with a representative should be just that — a conversation, with back-and-forth dialogue, not just a pitch.
- They have systems for support. Say you’re looking at a particular equipment vendor. What type of support systems do they provide? If a piece of equipment breaks, what are their processes for helping you fix the issue? Do they offer educational resources surrounding their product or service? Great vendors want to help and educate their customers.
If a vendor fails in only one of these areas, you could still give them a shot. However, if they fail at all three, I’d suggest you keep looking. The partners you choose in business are vital to your company’s success, so you shouldn’t make decisions lightly.
