Well, we all know it is not that simple!
Corporations, usually do not willy-nilly, hand-out end-of-year (EOY) money to vendors, not even to their favorite ones. There is usually a careful evaluation process, as to where the funds will produce the best returns.
From the vendor perspective – It is all about providing value-based proposal(s) for the use of the leftover money, that will not only immediately benefit the customer but also will provide a path; to better and greater efficiencies, capabilities or enablements. Ideally, the vendor/partner will have multiple, carefully analyzed proposals for each of their most strategic customers. This way if the customers receive one or two or three proposals, they can “move” on one(s) of them that is best fitting the corporation, the available funding, the short and long-term benefits. So, the EOY wheel is about to spin… hopefully, you have carefully crafted good EOY proposals for your customers.
From the customer perspective – The old USE IT or LOSE IT adage, is still valid in most cases. However, corporations are far more serious about EOY money than they ever were. Well your vendor/partners have given you their proposal(s), and the wheel is turning now, you do not know, just yet, exactly how much you will have left over, however, before the wheels stop: you can place your various bets and see where the ball lands. There is not usually multiple spins at the EOY wheel 😉
Proper year-end spending should not be called a rally, a sprint or race, but a partnership opportunity where both parties must come out winning. It should be all about a greater finish, or the head-start on the next year, that would have been otherwise unattainable. End-of-year money is even more of an investment than regular money, as it could easily just go back into the corporation’s coffers.
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