Hi,

 

I think it depends on the vendor. For example if you have a long-standing relationship (good, bad or indifferent) with a vendor you’ll want to have a relationship with the reps, especially if they’re not constantly rotating. Even if it’s just mostly email, but it’s better if you can talk to them on the phone and best if you can meet with them in person. Relationships help grease the wheels and make things easier. I make sure the reps know how we feel about products and what they can do to improve the product or process. It seems like most often the reps who come to visit, or at least call frequently, are the ones keeping us happy.

 

I would also say that on the rare occasions when a sales rep (from a vendor we don’t already use) shows up out of the blue, it’s never a good thing. Luckily we’re a small school in a small city and we must be an afterthought for rovers.

 

For vendors listening in on this conversation, I wanted to give a shoutout to companies who aren’t always reorganizing and switching people around. If we have a new rep every year it gets confusing and disorienting. I recognize that sometimes staff gets promoted but it’s nice if I can still initiate requests through that person I’m used to dealing with, and keep them CC’d on emails.

 

As to record keeping: I maintain the ERM module of the Millennium ILS for my library and keep rep info in the contacts record. Newest person gets input at the top and the one they’re replacing has “OLD” by their name. This is in case I get hit by a bus or something and library staff need to quickly contact a rep; they probably wouldn’t have access to my email.

Hope this helps,

 

Diane Westerfield, Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian

Tutt Library, Colorado College

diane.westerfield@coloradocollege.edu

(719) 389-6661

(719) 389-6082 (fax)

 

 

 

 

 

I’m curious if other libraries have developed any policies or guidelines for communication with vendors. Between on-site visit requests, telephone calls received, and emails received from vendors, I find time-management to be challenging around these relationships.

 

To be consistent and clear with vendors, I’d like to develop some policies which might make this communication less time intensive. For example, might we limit vendor visits to a specific month or two of the year or only when we request an on-site visit? And, could we say we prefer email to telephone communication?

 

I realize vendors have their own time challenges and needs to communicate so I want to respect that. How do others manage the communication relationships with vendors?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Doralyn

Doralyn Rossmann
Head of Collection Development

Associate Professor

Montana State University Library

P.O. Box 173320

Bozeman, MT, USA 59717-3320

(406) 994-6549

doralyn@montana.edu

doralyn.org

@doralyn on Twitter

 

 

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