I was on a conference call this morning, demoing our Flare(tm) talent management system to a prospect in the Midwest. One of the first questions the prospect asked was about Astron's financial solvency. The prospect wanted to know right up front if we are going to be around for the long haul. Apparently, they had been working with another potential vendor who, thanks to the economy, suddenly went out of business.
This question got me thinking. How does the economy change the landscape of competitive bidding? Is the ability to be in business beyond 2009 now a strong selling point? I suppose I took for granted the fact that they operate a cash flow positive business when working with my vendors. Perhaps now we should all start asking this question of the organizations we buy goods and services from. Not to be nosy, but rather to position ourselves as strongly as possible.
Have any of our readers heard the finance question coming up in discussions with prospects or vendors? I'm curious to know if we're at the start of a new trend in the RFP process.
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