Ten years ago the doctor penned a post here on SI which noted that one of the regular features here on Sourcing Innovation (and now over on Spend Matters too for those that opt for the full physical) are vendor solution reviews, which occur only after the doctor has seen the product. This vendor coverage provides solution providers with a great opportunity to reach a broad, global, audience and are generally quite well received. But there are still vendors, some who have been around since 2009 or longer, that still don’t get their checkup, even when reminded by the doctor or the administrative team at Spend Matters.

Occasionally the doctor tries to figure out the most likely reasons why, but at the end of the day the five reasons put forth in 2009 still bubble to top:

1. The product doesn’t exist.
2. The product doesn’t work.
3. The product works completely differently than the marketing spin around it.
4. A discussion of the product’s capabilities “gives too much away” to competitors.
5. the doctor is distrusted for some reason.

And the doctor‘s responses are the same as they were a decade ago.

As far as 3,4,5 are concerned, no legitimate vendor in our space is selling snake oil or moonshine. All the products work, and accomplish some significant fraction of their mission. So that can’t be it.

With regard to 2, companies should understand that their competitors know them well, perhaps better than they know themselves. Nothing that the doctor might say is going to give away any secrets.

Finally, with regard to 1, the doctor has never slammed a company with a product that accomplished its designated task reasonably well, especially when the company is open about its strengths and weaknesses. The Sourcing Innovation and Spend Matters Pro vendor post archives prove this, far better than any claim we could make here.

Moreover, if a prospective target can’t find any external reviews on you, how are they going to find you? And even if you find them, why should they trust such a closed, secretive, organization? Think about that.

All the doctor can say is that if there’s nothing [relatively recent – last 2 or 3 years at most] out there about you, then you should reach out and get on a review calendar today (especially since the few senior analysts who are left are now booking months in advance due to increased demand now that our space has produced a few unicorns).