Albert Einstein said, ““If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will think it’s stupid.” Fish are actually pretty smart in their own environment. The same can be said about technology companies. If you ask one to do something that they weren’t built to do, they will likely fail. If they don’t fail, they likely won’t perform as well as a technology that was built for that specific task. If you want the best answers, ask the right questions to the right companies.
Next month, Cogent will be launching a technology discovery platform specifically built for Marketing and eCommerce tech buyers. Technology is more confusing than ever before. Many companies seem to solve for the same problems, but they can be nuanced. If you aren’t an expert in the technology, how can you determine which is the best for your specific needs? The best you could do, up until now, is search Google, attend conferences, talk to colleagues, and read reviews. These are all great ways to learn but they don’t get you to a decision, for YOU. Every company has their own specific needs and challenges. What is the right fit for one, isn’t the right fit for another. This is true in human relations and in business. The Cogent Evaluation platform will solve for this problem.
These platforms combined are codenamed “Spotlight.” Cogent means, direct and to the point. So we are aiming to put a cogent spotlight on all Marketing and eCommerce tech vendors to help you find the right solutions for your specific needs. Here is how the platforms will work in tandem:
- You’ll go to the homepage and select from a dropdown list of categories. Some categories will be obvious and some will be problem/solution oriented.
- From the vendors on the category page you will filter the results based on your specific tech stack and needs:
- Read a cogent blurb about each vendor
- click on the logos to visit their individual product page
- Vendor Product Pages: Vendors will share who their solution is most ideal for, what problems they are solving for, and what makes them different from the competition. They will also share information about their company and technology, key features, where they live on the web and more.
- Once the buyer determines which vendors they want to compare, they just check a few boxes and each will be placed in the evaluation platform to start the process. The vendors will have already completed the questions but buyers can always invite in more:
- Rank the questions
- Invite in stakeholders to rank the questions
- Score the vendors answers
- Compare solutions
- Pick the top solutions for a deeper assessment
Utilizing this process will shorten the evaluation and selection process by several months for most brands. And as they say, “time is money’ so the quicker you can find the right partners, the quicker you can make more money. If you are a buyer and want to stay up to date regarding our launch, please email or follow us. If you are a tech vendor and want to learn more about how to be included on the platform, you can also email me. We are targeting mid-May for the complete launch.
