Picture appears courtesy of Duncan Hull. I posted this question recently and got a few responses. I am unable to provide direct quotes, as everyone wanted to remain anonymous. Names have been changed to protect identities. The question was, "What makes a good EDI provider?" The answers were not surprising. Hearing from the horse's mouth what our prospective and current customers want will certainly help us to tailor our services to those wish lists.
With respect to service, "Jennifer" says that an EDI provider "...should meet or exceed the terms of the contract." Sounds easy enough but many companies do not put service first. I am happy to report that mine does! "Sam" says that it would be great to be able to get a person on the phone immediately. He said it's really frustrating to have a big issue and not be able to reach his EDI provider or to spend precious time on hold. "Jennifer" goes on to say "...don't always make everything about money." "Jennifer" also suggested that if something goes wrong, the EDI provider should acknowledge it rather than play dumb.
We also heard from "Lisa" regarding EDI expertise. "Lisa" would like her provider to have a well-rounded staff who can respond to most issues and either solve them or at least know where to go to get them solved. Another issue that came up was from "Diane." "Diane," being new to EDI, would like an EDI consultant that she can trust with her business. She wants to be confident that her provider has her best interests at heart.
There you have it. This is what our customers want: service, honesty, expertise and ethics. As I said, this is not surprising but it's nice to know for sure that the core values we run our business on are ones that still matter. I hope all service providers in all industries ask that question from time to time. It's a nice reminder that you are on the right track.
GraceBlood LLC specializes in EDI implementation and data integration solutions. For more information, please contact Shandra Locken, at slocken@graceblood.com.