Selecting the Right Partners

At Snackbox, we work hard to develop strong relationships with our clients, vendors and employees. Of course, it’s not a difficult task as we only work with people we connect with. It’s all about chemistry for us.

So when we’re interviewing a potential client, what are we looking for?

Chemistry
Is the client easy to interact with and do we share a common bond or interests? Do we have knowledge that translates well into their industry and who will be our day-to-day contact?

Management
Is the company well managed? How about senior staff? Do they understand what it is they’re hiring us to do and is there buy-in from all involved?

Respect
It’s okay to disagree, but does the client respect our opinions? Are we being hired as a partner, not as a vendor?

History
Does the client check out as far as credit history goes? Are there any questionable practices are stories that pop up in Google searches? Do they have solid business references?

References
Are the references telling us that the potential client has some sort of “interesting” character flaw? How are they about paying bills, working with others and responding in a timely manner?

As we are gathering information to pitch our bsuiness to a potential client, we’re simultaneously working to find out more about the person we hope to sign on. While adding more billings is part of our business goals, we keep in mind that our contracts typically run for one year. No one wants to get saddled with a nasty client/vendor/employee for any length of time – life is too short.