From Vendor to Partner: Finding the Right Help to Reach Success
By Aaron Basko, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services, University of Lynchburg
Have you ever found yourself annoyed by someone who is smart in one area and assumes that makes them equally knowledgeable in all others? Some institutions are like that, too. They are amazing at delivering a strong educational experience to their students, so they assume they don’t need outside expertise to help them in any area.
I think this is shortsighted. No one can be good at everything, and no institution can either. In your office, you know this to be true. College enrollment and marketing have become incredibly complex and specialized fields. How could one person possibly master relationship building, financial aid leveraging, sales leadership, public speaking, copywriting, funnel management, name purchases, and more?
Some of these skills will be your strengths, or within the strengths of your office. Others will be more of a stretch. The temptation is to fake it and try to pretend that your team has equal strengths in all areas. It takes humility to admit that someone else can do it better, but this is the kind of humility needed in leaders who care more about reaching the goal and helping their institutions than about keeping up appearances.
When to Consider Outside Resources
I have worked at colleges that employ more outside resources than they need, so that they can never really manage the relationships or get full use of the data. I have also worked at institutions that outsource too little. They are convinced they can do it better themselves. They look down on vendors and those who use them, and are convinced they are wasting money. It becomes a point of pride to be “homegrown,” but we all know what pride comes before.
So how do you identify when you should outsource a function typically managed by your office? From my experience, here are a few of the best reasons.
When you can identify a responsibility you don’t like, that would take significant time to master.
We all have these items. Personally, I hate doing search-name purchases. They are finicky and time consuming, and a mistake could be costly. I’ve also never learned to do regression analysis for leveraging, and the time it would take me to master this skill would take too much away from leading my teams. These are areas I like to outsource, and I’ve done so successfully.
When something is REALLY broken.
If you have been trying to find a solution for years and just aren’t making progress, or you are new to an office and you find something so messed up you can’t see a clear fix, it is time to call in some reinforcements. Getting help from an outside company can give you a fresh, unbiased view. It can help to cut through the complex attachments and personal dynamics that are likely part of the problem. It can also give you and your team a dose of reality therapy as you hear how others are doing things and you get a look at evolving best practices.
When you are in a hurry.
You can only move so quickly with the resources you have. There are only so many people, so many hours in the day, and so much of you to go around to help your team members deal with challenges. If you have a reasonable time frame of a few cycles to work through this, that is probably okay. But if you are being told that you need results now, it is probably time to call in some extra firepower.
For example, I recently inherited a team that had been severely understaffed for nearly a year and had fallen way behind. Even as I staffed up quickly, I knew the team could not get back on track without a little help I hired two separate consultants to work on specific manageable projects so that I could focus my team on getting organized, trained, and pointed in the right direction.
When you can get expertise cheaper than growing it yourself.
Some institutions talk about growing their own rather than outsourcing, but sometimes this just doesn’t make sense.
I mentioned that I outsource financial aid leveraging. I have an awesome partner that I work with. In this market, I could never hire someone full time with that skill set for the amount I pay them. Even if I could find someone, I would struggle to keep them because someone else would pay them much more. In addition, I’d either have to be constantly investing in training or risk having that person fall behind.
Yes, you need great staff to be the relationship builders and managers, but if you have a technical function that you can easily define, it can often be more cost-effective to pay an expert.
Now What?
Let’s say you find yourself in one of these situations and decide you need to bring in outside help. How do you find the right solution to meet your needs? After all, it is a risk of time and resources, and you want to get it right. These are a few things to consider to make sure you find the right match:
Get Recommendations
It is amazing how seldom we do a thorough screening process of prospective partners. We check recommendations when we hire staff, why not for outside resources? I am guilty of this too, and I’ve paid for it. Perhaps we are jaded by glowing references that we feel are biased. Perhaps we feel like it is a secret because we don’t want anyone else to know who we are working with. But getting references, especially off-list references, could save you from a potentially costly move.
Make it Personal
Last year I contracted with a newer business that was smaller in size, where I had a personal connection. That organization has treated us like gold. They check on us constantly and have shared so many creative ideas. Three months in and we have all felt like friends. Since then, this company has been growing like crazy, and they are no longer a small operation, but they continue to care about our total satisfaction.
The vendor doesn’t have to be small, however. I have also worked with one of the largest vendors out there, I have built relationships with certain people who I trust and respect, and I request them to always work on our projects.
Look for a True Partnership
When you hire an outside company, the ultimate goal is to find organizations who don’t think of themselves as vendors but as partners. You want someone who is just as committed to the results as you are.
The lead for one of our current partner relationships is always telling my team, “Your success is our only goal. If you are not wildly successful, then we are not successful.” This is what you are looking for. I want to leave each check-in call with both sides having homework to do. I want to feel every time we talk that our partner has been thinking about our needs between calls. If I don’t, I request other representatives. If that doesn’t work, I walk away.
Bringing It All Together
Your field is a risky and challenging venture. You need the very best minds on your problems. If you have the resources on your team or at your institution, use them. If you can hire them easily, do so. But if you don’t have real expertise, don’t fake it—seek it out. There are more options out there than ever before. By knowing when you need help and knowing what you are looking for, you can build the portfolio of relationships that will get you across the finish line.
