Ice Cold Beer Here!

When we worked on the Ralston Purina business back in the day, we would go to St. Louis every couple of weeks to meet with our clients. We loved these guys. They were smart, had a great product line and a brand recognized around the world.

But every time we walked in to the building at Checkerboard Square, the security desk would hand us Vendor badges with our names on them. Not guest badges. Not resource partner badges. Vendor badges. They actually said VENDOR in all caps with our names just below.

Please realize this was several years ago. And I'm guessing (hoping?) that Purina has changed its practices regarding their visitor badges. But the term Vendor really rubbed me the wrong way. Ralston was our client. A long-term client, in fact. We had an ongoing relationship. We talked with these guys every day. Yet upon arrival, we were Vendors.

This is a Vendor.

I'm familiar with Vendors of this nature, having witnessed them multiple times at Busch Stadium with the Ralston team, as well as other major stadiums around the country. So I know, with little doubt, that while clients contract our services, I am not a Vendor.

Perhaps I'm just overly sensitive to the term. Maybe I'm just over thinking it. Or maybe not.

Living in Kansas City with a few thousand Sprint, Hallmark, H & R Block, Cerner, American Century and other Fortune 500 Company employees, it's hard to not pick up on some of the corporate vernacular. Sprint, for example, doesn't use the term Vendor any longer. No. Instead, they use the term Resource Partner. Hmmm. That's better.

Resource Partner comes with a little more value-added cache. It implies that the company has earned the title of Resource Partner. It implies the company has something a Vendor doesn't. Trust. If a company is a Resource Partner, then the company purchasing from them must trust them at some level.

You may notice I said "earned the title of Resource Partner." Anyone can be a Vendor, but not everyone can be a Resource Partner. A Resource Partner has been vetted. The team that's going to work with them knows, as best they can, what to expect from the company. They've asked the tough questions, they've agreed on Service Level Agreements, they know how they'll handle conflict — all because it's been discussed up-front.

Vendors sell you a beer and move on.

Again, maybe it's just me. But I truly dislike the term Vendor. And it's probably because I want to believe, as advertising and marketing professionals, we're always adding value and earning our clients' trust. With that perspective, I suppose we are a Vendor until we are vetted and become a Resource Partner. Or, we could be a prospective Resource Partner. I would raise a glass of beer to that idea.