Think of things that you "test-drive." Cars come to mind first, of course. Retail stores accept returns within 45 to 60 days. Even cellular service from some companies can be terminated within 15 days of the signing of the contract without users being responsible for the early termination fee.
[Although, isn't it funny that when I typed in the phrase "return policy" on the Cingular (Google Finance Info) homepage, I kept getting a "page cannot be displayed error" every time? Nothing else would work in the search field either; so much for conspiracy theories.]
How do you "test-drive" a new vendor before you make a commitment, perhaps spending large amounts of money with a new company.
Here are some ideas:
- Get samples of physical products. For services, ask the company to handle your next repair call as a free test or assign them the task in a particular building or floor for services such as maintenance and rubbish removal.
- Host demonstrations for products, whether they are physical products like a floor cleaner or software products. (Here is a great article about software demos.)
- Assign a small portion of the day-to-day business to the new vendor. For example, try ordering all toner products from a new office supply vendor to evaluate their process.
Please add any other ideas you use to test-drive new vendors.
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