NASIG Newsletter

STRATEGY SESSION

What They Never Told You about Vendors in Library School
Christine Stamison, SWETS; Bob Persing, University of Pennsylvania; Chris Beckett, Atypon
Reported by Christine Freeman

This session was presented by librarian and vendor panelists who offered insights and experience to help insure that librarians get the most value from the librarian/vendor relationship. They also discussed the essential aspects and best practices for working with vendor representatives to reach the same goal.

Christine Stamison began by suggesting attendees investigate the NASIGuide, “A Beginner’s Guide to Working with Vendors”. She then went on to expose the realities of the subscription vendor world. These realities include that the representatives’ main focus is the bottom line. It is harder to make quota in today’s world. She also stated that in the past it was easier to recruit librarians to the vendor field, but that is now getting harder.  Vendors are recruiting sales people from other fields.

Christine also gave pointers on how to recognize a good or bad vendor. Sometimes a new vendor may come across as a bad vendor because they are just not familiar with sales techniques. Good representatives will start to take classes to help them become better sales people. Additionally good representatives will research your institution and come to you having ideas about what your library needs.

She also reminded the audience that it is a partnership between the vendor representative and the librarian. Vendors appreciate honest feedback about products and their job performance. Stamison mentioned that vendors always need beta testers or volunteers for new products and that can be a way to strengthen your vendor relationship. In addition, Christine stated that when you do take the opportunity to ask your vendor representative for any item, make sure you know what it is. You should also know if the product will be useful to you and not just something that is glitzy. The bottom line for having a good relationship with your vendor representative is communication. She reminded the audience that vendor representatives must have access to the people who actually make the decisions for your library. If vendor representatives have to jump through hoops to talk to the right people, it makes it harder for them to provide you with the services and products you need.

Bob Persing, a librarian from the University of Pennsylvania spoke next.  Bob said attendees should “never forget that vendors are people who want something from you.”  He reminded the audience that librarianship is a very collegial profession because there is a shared purpose, and the same can be said for the relationship between librarians and vendor representatives. Persing made a point to supplement what Christine had mentioned earlier that no one really makes a lot of money selling to libraries, so all the major Type A personality sellers are in other markets. It is important to remember that working with vendors is a business deal, and not a shared goal or a friendship. You can be friendly with the representative, but always remember that it is a business relationship.

Some important things to remember when dealing with vendors are to judge them on results not personality, and on what they do, not what they give you, such as gifts or lunch, etc. You need to tell the vendors what you want. Do not be afraid; they are not mind readers.

Bob mentioned that it is important to listen when the vendors talk. They may try to get you with a “teaser rate” on deals. See what ideas they have on trying to lock in a rate for a few years. Vendors have to be able to make a little money on each deal so that they will be able to provide the support you need to maintain your product.  Working with consortia will help you get your voices heard sometimes. Do not try to deal with publishers directly and cut out the subscription agent. Your subscription agency has established a relationship with the publisher which is why your pay them. Persing also mentioned that you should be honest and blunt when dealing or negotiating with vendors. If you get insulted by the vendor representative, you probably do not want to deal with them anyway. Furthermore, there are not too many trade secrets between companies, so feel free to use that as a negotiating point.

The last speaker was Chris Beckett, VP of sales and marketing for Atypon. He added that publishers’ main audiences are authors, because they want to find the best way to help them increase their revenue. This adds a challenge for vendors working with libraries. Chris stressed that you, the librarian, have to let the publishers know what you want, and what they can do to make their products better for you and your users. He mentioned that he feels more publishers should be attending conferences like NASIG and UKSG because they are a great ways for librarians and publishers to get into dialogs.

Overall the librarian and vendor panelists successfully offered insights and experiences, along with discussing the essential aspects and best practices for working with vendor representatives to help insure that librarians get the most value from these relationships.