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Do the due diligence! Paraphrasing Mountain Dew's slogan "Do the Dew,'" Kevin Oakes makes his slogan "Do the due"--diligence that is, when it comes to evaluating vendors.

Article Excerpt
The other day I was accidentally copied on an internal email string from a company evaluating our products. It reminded me of a topic that has been around as long as the industry, but one I feel buyers often fail to master: conducting effective due diligence when selecting a vendor.

Before the suppliers reading this roll their eyes, I admit the amount of due diligence done now is far more than in the past. After the bubble burst, buyers have been spending more time evaluating their purchasing, and corporations and government agencies have never been more serious about picking the right partner. But many times, I see buyers too focused on extremely detailed product or design issues, instead of some basic business areas they should focus on.

Which brings me back to the email I wasn't supposed to see. You might think I'm about to pick on some poor unsuspecting soul who simply clicked too quickly (who hasn't?) and unwittingly exposed internal selection faults. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by this email exchange. It showed a business maturity, and that there are buyers who understand how to access various sources for information. The email exchange went something like this (edited...

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