They Buy the Package

I was talking to a German friend this weekend and he was telling me how the (German) small to mid companies decide on vendors for IT projects. He said they dont buy the solution or the proposal but rather the 'Whole Package'. I probed him a bit and he said, 'They want to see who is proposing, where he comes from, what he has done before, how he behaves and many other things before the make a decision. That is what I call the Whole Package'.

I was not convinced and asked 'Doesn't every customer decide this way? What is special about these smaller companies?'

He said the difference is in their perception of risk as they consider and understand the Whole Package. The smaller companies cannot afford to take that risk which a big company could take with eyes closed.

Then it entered my slow brain. These small guys look at the Whole Package to gauge their risk. If they see any yellow lights (leave alone red) in the horizon they brake and look elsewhere. The big companies, on the other hand do look at elements of the package but not in the same wholistic sensitive way and certainly not as a precise indicator of risk. They can and do take a risky decision.

I thought about this during my thirty minute train ride back home this saturday. It seemed obvious and not.