The business world has its own set of criteria. When a large company looking for specialized services puts out a request for quote, they often follow with a series of questions for any prospective vendor—questions ranging from staff size to annual revenue.
But not every industry works that way.
When faced with a potentially serious heart condition, you wouldn't expect a family practitioner to fix the problem—you'd go to a heart specialist.
When KTM’s president, Paul Kumler, first experienced tachycardia a few years ago, he was referred to a heart specialist. He recounts that he didn't ask about the number of people in the specialist’s practice, the practice’s average annual revenue, or even the bill rate for services. Instead, Paul wanted to know what the doctor could do to correct the problem and why he was the best. As a patient, he wanted to know that he could trust this medical practitioner to fix the issue.
By contrast, small businesses are often asked a litany of questions about peripheral issues when bidding a contract. Why are the search criteria here so different?
In a recent piece for South Carolina Manufacturing, Paul takes a look at how the specialist approach can change the way businesses interact with each other.