Do you remember your first love? Your first true love? If you met them in high school and are still together, good for you, but that first true love is no more for the rest of us. Hence, it is first and not still.

What was the first meeting like? Seeing them? Catching a glance? Chatting nonchalantly, acting as though you were just chilling when, in fact, you wanted a date? Do you remember where you were that first time? I surmise you do. 

I remember. I had heard about them. Never met. But I was intrigued enough to want to get to know them and everything about them. We caught each other’s eyes, okay, mine more so. We met. It wasn’t love at first sight; it rarely is. After a few times of getting together, I knew this would be a special relationship. We weren’t ready to say ” love, ” but deep down I thought it.

When the time came to move forward, we both took the plunge. The first year was dynamic. The second, even more so. Sure, they changed a bit, but who doesn’t? The third year was not to be; I had moved on. But they understood. I think. Down the road, we would meet again. However, neither of us were the same. 

I still remember my first love’s name. Geo. Geolearning. A multi-level LMS, seven to be exact – with a 3D front-end customized to even the carpet had our name on it. A library. Bookstore. A museum wall, which we used for sponsorships. E-commerce. A classroom for ILT. Chat, discussion boards, and so much more. When GeoLearning changed to Express, I was fortunate to stay with the more advanced one – and still received updates. It was, and still is, my favorite system. No, it wasn’t perfect, nothing is, but what was possible – was doable. Reporting customization (back then, you had to pay for customized reports – including drilling down to the specific chapters of an online course and getting that data back, which is crucial for employees and even customer training). Today, very few vendors offer this depth. And even fewer are willing to extract it for you, even if you offer to pay. There wasn’t a mobile then, but think about this. The system ran on a 56K modem, even 38K, which I often had. And it worked well.

Ditto on the 3rd party content, including one vendor who figured out how to create a video with bookmarks and chapters that streamed without issue on a 56K modem. Sadly, one day I called, they were out of business, sold to the nefarious NetG – who likely placed them in a huge warehouse next to the remains of a famous pharaoh.

The system itself for my audience? Enterprise. 

Enterprise and the Use Case

I always recommend doing a use case and going into as much detail as possible. Dig into the weeds, as I say. Eliminate redundancy and write it as you would if you were providing training to your employees or customers or both. Remember how you would write those materials? Or how you create online courses with the text – LCD – lowest common dominator. No assumptions. Ambiguity will get you a system that doesn’t align with your needs. It just won’t. And that love won’t be around for the length of the multi-year relationship (three years only, and then if you wish to renew..)

Vendors expect use cases. It is just the reality of it all. They seek the use case even if you have purchased a system before and know exactly what you want and why. I never gave them one – after I bought my first system. I knew exactly what I needed and wanted, what I was looking for. But today, when I represent clients (yes, I take clients looking for a learning system), I always tell them to go the route of the use case.

The challenge hits on what the vendor considers Enterprise to mean. I always state this, and I cannot stress it enough: a vendor will often not align with what you think Enterprise means, but it is all over the map. Enterprise could be 1,000 or more learners (which is mid-market). Or it could be a minimum of 5,000 or 10,000, 2,500, or 500. One vendor bases it on total revenue (a horrible idea).

Large Enterprise usually means 25,000 or more, but it is all over the map even then. Let’s say you have 100,000 learners and need 30 integrations and extensive configuration. How many vendors realistically could do that – i.e., the extensive configuration? You might be surprised how many won’t. Or they will do workarounds.

But your use case tells it all. It goes into the weeds; it provides exactly what configuration you need, what each integration must be, and how many active users you have (although the vendor, in this scenario, will bill based on 100,000 – unless you get an invoice monthly, which overwhelmingly does not happen – it is annual upfront).

The vendor says it is not an issue; they can do it. You find out after you sign the contract; months later, they really can’t. You think to yourself, “Didn’t they read my use case? Didn’t they understand everything we needed? Didn’t we sign off on a project plan for them to do everything we needed within a specific timeframe? What is happening here?”

This above scenario happens a lot, not even with the size of learners presented nor the number of integrations. The customization level, again, most vendors won’t do it. 

This begs the question: How much does the use case play into the next steps for a vendor? Does it make a massive difference when you select a vendor? Does it push you to a certain number of vendors versus others, or do you decide, “Well, they can’t do this, but we like them anyway?” Does it tell you that the level of importance isn’t as important because deep down you want X, and you think that they can do some of it because they told you OR come up with a workaround to achieve it? 

The use case is just the first step, but do not be fooled into thinking that a vendor can do everything you ask them to do. Thus, if everything goes well, you wish to move forward with that demo and potential relationship. For the vendor, a use case is just something they ask for, depending on who is reading it, who is responding to it, and so forth. Never assume that they “got it.” Sometimes they do, sometimes not.

This begins with the first challenge of seeking an “Enterprise” system, regardless of size. The general rule in the industry is that the larger the number of learners will be, the more integrations there will be, the longer it will take, and the more customizations they are seeking, thus, a likely implementation of at least a year. However, there are folks at the lower numbers who want that level. And some folks at the higher level are not seeking a year of implementation.

If you say you are Enterprise, and the vendor is pushing enterprise, and let’s say you have 100,000 or more learners, and you want the system live within six months, and the vendor says yes, it can be done without any changes to the project plan (which they should say, about a project plan), then your expectation rightly so, should be. If you change something in the plan, it is realistic that the timeframe will change; thus, arguing about it due to your mind switch won’t fly. 

Enterprise and The RFP

The RFP is the second step. As an enterprise, you may think this means you should put together a massive size document. I say, no, you shouldn’t. Remember you did that use case. Right? That should have contained much of what you needed (if it wasn’t prepared). I see a lot of regurgitation. Mistake.

That RFP should focus on the features you want, that you thought about, that go beyond the use case – which should have noted a percentage upfront – the dealbreakers you want. Suppose it didn’t, be prepared. It won’t be a fun exercise.

How much time do you want to spend on that RFP? Trust me, if you were like me, running a department with lots going on, the last thing you wanted to spend a week on was assembling an RFP. It can be brutal. Especially if you are dealing with a committee of people who all want other things, which I always say, “Thank you,” and then ignore. How do you resolve to do that? Oh, that is on our future roadmap (you don’t say the future is 2075).

If I am a smart vendor, I must recognize what RFPs I will complete and which or how many I will reject. If I am going to complete them all, then I can tell you that you will not win all those deals. You may be lucky to win 10% (depending on other factors).

For an enterprise buyer, beyond the features – add the little things – that can offset the issues you get surprised at later on – “based on everything we provided, what is the estimated timeframe to implement and go live – which means with people in it and working?” – That should be part of your RFP. Ask many support questions – rarely do people – they focus a lot on security – ignoring they should ask upfront, what company does the vendor use for their servers? The majority of vendors in the industry use AWS. Thus, your security folks should go and read everything there because there are vendors who just cut and paste, and then anything beyond that will retort.

If you are going with AI as a feature – the level of questions you need to ask around security is a lot – but the industry is so nascent that even today, people do not know what may show up. The latest is shadow AI. Then there is Nightshade – a bonus for those vendors who selected XTA LLM for multimodal and image capability, or they selected an AI tool that generates images, videos, etc. – and Nightshade – think sleeper agent is already in the LLM (it deals with how the LLM trains itself initially – before you even get it).

Privacy plays a role – but know what questions to ask – every vendor will stay “strong privacy.” They won’t be in business if they say, “Oh, for privacy, or PII, yeah, we are horrible at that. Just last week, a bug got into a system and stole all this data.” In my 23 years in this industry, I only know of two vendors who got hacked. 

That said, you should ask, if the system crashes, you get hacked, or a virus ends up in the platform or a sleeper agent (AI-related), what is your policy, when do you notify us, and so forth? That’s relevant today. Asking what security levels they have, when they are using AWS, and just extracting from there – is key for you, but be aware. If you are asking 500 security questions (and yes, I saw an RFP with that) – be realistic. A lot of vendors will reject it. I would unless the enterprise had a minimum of 200,000 users.  

Pricing should be inquired in that RFP – and ask immediately if the vendor invoices upfront – i.e., you pay annually upfront OR do they invoice per month, or if they do per quarter, does this mean they are just splitting the payments (total annual cost – that you normally would pay upfront)? Ignore that active user shell game – unless the vendor bills monthly – that is a big difference – because then, and only then, are you truly paying for active users. 

Enterprise buyers usually ignore this (many people do, regardless of the number of users). Enterprise folks are focused on, well, all over the map.

If you can’t afford the system, there is no point dancing. Vendors always believe that the more users you have, the higher your budget. And equally, the less number of users you have, the lower your budget. It’s fantasy. I’ve worked with an F250 enterprise client whose budget was low – and I mean low. I worked for a company with less than 2,000 users and a budget of around 800K.

Enterprise clients with higher user bases will negotiate as much as they can, and then procurement gets involved (and thus, all that work you did goes in a flush of the commode). Some vendors increase their price points, negotiate with the idea that procurement will get involved, and thus, the vendor will drop (a horrible idea since you see the pricing, and if you can’t afford it, you are not buying it).

Enterprise and The Demo

Before you do the RFP, you want to see that demo. I have covered this in the past, and still, over and over again, enterprise-seeking clients (and even non-enterprises) ignore it. It’s a nice time waster if you go RFP after the use case. It equally validates that the use case isn’t worth anything because you just went into an RFP without seeing a system. That would be like you want to buy a car, and instead of test driving, first, you go, “Where do I sign?”

Large Enterprises and Vendor Love

I wish I could say this differently, but it is just a fact (vendors will never say this publicly or say everyone is the same – uh, okay). If you have a large number of users in the enterprise that goes above 10,000 vs another who is at 5,000, the love will be nearly the same. A tweak of plus here or there for 10,000, but behind the scenes, the range – price-wise might be within it, so that wouldn’t change that much. However, once you break the threshold of 25,000 plus, chocolates shouldn’t be far behind. 

At 50,000 or 100,000, and as the numbers increase, you will get more love than someone at 1,000. Beyond just a better pricing deal, the wooing is just better – again, at the 1,000, you won’t notice, and you will get plenty of happy joy from the vendor. Yet, once you are in the atmosphere..

The Exception

There is always an exception – and it is all about brand – who you are. Suppose you are enterprise 2,500 but are Big Name Z, yeah, more love. If you are Brand Huge, but the vendor is only going to be in, say, a department – love – because, in each case, you are on the board – you see it when they make their pitch of vendor names – ever notice how they are all well-known brands or at least known to someone? It’s never the Fish Market of San Jose. 

However – Enterprise Twist

You can get that extra love by pushing the narrative that you will get bigger – and your brand is well-known here and here. Or that you are 1,000 users today, but in three years, you project 8,000 or 10,000 (but for safe reasons, let’s go 1,000 in Y1, 1,500 in Y2, 2,000 Y3). You will not hit that 8,000 unless your company is on a hiring blitz. Does the vendor know this? No. And why share?

You have to make your company, org, and entity seen as important. Sure, they want you as an enterprise client, and yes, you or should be wooed (some vendors are horrible at this). But the extra love? You sell the company itself as elite. I worked at companies nobody heard of. By the time I was off the call? They wanted me and were willing to cut deals to get me.

Enterprise Board

When vendors want to show me their system, they always want to show me their pitch deck (you see it too, but they call it something else; it includes case studies, testimonials, number of clients, locations, etc.). The deck always shows the names of some of their clients. If you are really lucky, at the trade show booth, they have that info on their booth itself.

They fail to tell you that they may only be in one department of that large enterprise or well-known brand – enterprise-wise. Vendors say they are transparent – but you have to ask them. 

A smart vendor will identify those clients who are enterprises too (ignoring to tell you how many end users each one has, and the department/division/entire company or, let’s say, in a specific country aspect). I find a lot of vendors do not do this. 

Anyway, there is something about people wanting references, especially enterprise clients. Vendors may hee-haw about it, but many are ready to provide those names to you.

References from the vendor are worthless. They are the licorice candy that people in Denmark love, and boy, they love black licorice. For the rest of us, black licorice is like getting a penny for Halloween – worthless and gross.

Will a vendor give you a reference who will gripe about their system? What about the challenges they faced? Or how much they dislike the vendor? Or the issues with integrations or whatever else. Perhaps the reference is similar to you, with lots of customization, time, and many integrations. Do you think they will give you someone that had any problems?

The answer is a massive no. Yet, enterprise folks ignore that and just think, “Oh, this will be a good reference. I can’t wait to talk to them.” Do not think that way.

Back to the Board

Here is a simple trick or technique you can do. When they are showing off their board, write down the names of those on it. If you can, ask the vendor for a copy of their presentation (most will provide it) – you can say you want to review it or show it to others in the decision-making process. If the vendor recorded the presentation – you want a copy. The goal is to see the board.

Next, you will go to our good friend LinkedIn and look up that company and who is running L&D or HR (if you can’t find L&D) or Training (if you can’t find L&D first). Look for CLO for very large enterprises. If you find out what department/division/group, blah blah, the vendor has with that client – that is your key to finding out who oversees it.

Then, connect with them, and in the note, tell them why you are reaching out – to ask questions about so-so (vendor name) and, if they are not the right person to talk to, who should you talk to? I find less than five percent will ignore you. 

There you go – Connection made. A talk is scheduled. The gloves are off. Bonus – get the references, then remove those folks from your connection approach. In your connection, go five or six deep. Because you are bound to find someone who wasn’t enthralled – and they could be a one-off. People gripe about all types of things, so just assuming because one wasn’t happy, this means the system is awful – is a bad way to go.

Now, if three say, for example, “We had problems with our integrations,” then pay attention to that. Or they say, “It took a long time to do this, or they don’t have that,” – yes, that is relevant.

Always ask about support – you will either get, it’s great – oh, have you had to use it before? (that’s you asking). If they say they had issues – “Well, what kind of issues?” Ask the number of users; in other words, think of this as a blind date. 

Bottom Line

You want to know them and learn as much as you can.

It could be the difference between

True love

Or

Not.

Bonus – My Picks for a Valentine’s Card for Enterprise – Is coming in two weeks – I will post it in my Learning Library and on LinkedIn. Will include two enterprise systems for frontline and blue-collar workers!

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