This week I had a Skype call with a European company I work with. If you look at the duration of the relationship you would probably consider it a good one. They have been my European partner teaching one of my programs now for five years. If you look at the way we communicate you would think just the opposite. We had not spoken in over a year. So whose fault is that anyway?
My European partner was kind enough to claim it was their fault. They have been working with my program with little to no support for some time now. They even recently put on a program to sell the program to other countries and clients. Too bad they didn’t know many of the changes that occurred in the program since the last time we spoke. Yep, I guess it was their fault.
But wait a minute. Shouldn’t some responsibility fall on my shoulders? What kind of businessman partners with a company and then leaves them out on an island to fend for themselves like that? Don’t we both share in the success of this program? What started as a Skype call between us for me to express my disappointment in them, turned into a Skype call between us for me to express my disappointment in both of us.
There’s a nice lesson here. Follow up is not the sole responsibility of the supplier or the vendor. It is the responsibility of both, and the quicker both parties learn that lesson, the better off for all three parties. The supplier, the vendor, and the customer!