I’ve learned over the years that most technology products are not what fail the relationship. Support does.
Too often, the sales process feels like a courtship. Fast replies. Endless meetings. “We’re here for anything you need.”
Then the contract gets signed.
Suddenly the emails slow down. Questions take days. Escalations become tickets. The people who promised partnership disappear until renewal season magically arrives and everyone wants to be your best friend again.
The reality is that most organizations are not high maintenance customers. At least mine isn’t. We are usually trying to solve real operational problems, improve services, and keep moving forward. We do not need daily hand holding. We just need responsive communication, guidance when things get difficult, and a vendor that acts invested after the invoice is paid.
One thing I’ve started valuing heavily during evaluations is white glove onboarding and engineering involvement early in the process. If a sales engineer helps build a proof of concept, I want that work structured so it can transition directly into production instead of forcing us to start over or pay expensive consulting fees just to implement the product we already bought.
What has always puzzled me is how many companies sell a platform, then immediately want a third party to deploy it because they do not want ownership of the outcome. That has never sat right with me. If you believe in your product, you should want to help customers succeed with it.
Honestly, I think many organizations change vendors less because of bad hardware or software and more because they feel abandoned once the deal closes.
A good product with poor communication eventually becomes a bad experience.
Curious how many others have had the same experience. Have you ever left a vendor relationship primarily because support and communication disappeared after the contract was signed?