Vendor Management: Insider Tips for LMS Selection Success

Why Vendor Management Matters

I have a confession to make.

Early in my career, I sold learning management systems. And whenever a new sales opportunity came my way, I tried to answer one critical question: Who is driving this bus — the buyer or me?

It wasn’t about features, integrations, content standards, or pricing. It was about control.

I knew when buyers were in charge because they cared about vendor management. Their learning leaders showed up with executive sponsorship, approved budgets, realistic deadlines, and a clear decision process. Those opportunities were straightforward, so I willingly jumped onboard.

But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, sometimes, nobody was driving the bus. A junior team member usually researched and shortlisted vendors, attended preliminary demos, and asked for proposals. But project details were fuzzy.

Often, I tried to fill the gap by stepping into the driver’s seat. I wanted to be helpful, but my goal was to sell a specific LMS. So naturally, my efforts always tilted in that direction.

Top Takeaways

Those sales experiences taught me a valuable lesson: The strongest LMS decisions almost always happen when organizations own the selection process. They don’t outsource strategy to vendors. Instead, they drive the bus. They define success and run the entire project, themselves. That’s where artful vendor management comes in.

Which practices lead to success? And what factors should you consider when structuring an LMS selection project? After more than 25 years on both sides of the table, here’s my best vendor management advice:

1. Recognize the Buyer/Seller Experience Gap
2. Treat LMS Selection as a Project
3. Control Vendor Count and Control Information
4. Never Forget References or the Post-Sale Experience

For details, read on…

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1. Recognize the Buyer/Seller Experience Gap

Vendors come to the table with a tremendous advantage. It’s not about product knowledge — it’s about familiarity with the buying process.

Each year, a typical LMS salesperson may be involved in 30-40 deals. Over a 10-year career, that’s 300-400 buying cycles. They’ve seen LMS selection projects succeed, fail, accelerate, stall, and pivot in every direction. And they’ve been taking notes.

Buyers, on the other hand, have a very different level of experience. Many have participated in only one or two major LMS decisions. Even the most experienced leaders I know have been involved with no more than 10 selection projects.

How can you overcome this kind of imbalance?

Counter vendors’ natural advantage by leveraging their experience as input for your decisions. Embrace vendor management as a strategic capability. A proactive approach avoids letting vendor sales teams determine your outcome.

Vendor Management Tips:

• Document what you need before contacting LMS companies
  Take time upfront to develop a clear business case and document your requirements, as well as a project timeline and success metrics. This framework will help you stay focused throughout your evaluation.
• View interactions as input, not the plan
  Throughout the process, stay open to vendor ideas. Capture and consider their feedback and recommendations, but keep decision-making within your team.

Want a better way to manage the business of learning? Find vendor profiles, reviews, case studies and more in our free Learning Systems Directory →

2. Treat LMS Selection as a Project

This is where many organizations get into trouble. They think LMS selection is a purchasing exercise, when it is actually a project.

The process begins when you define business needs. It doesn’t end until the new solution is live, adopted, and delivering results. And the LMS decision is only one element in this broader scheme.

Successful selection projects also include a timeline, milestones, and accountability. Most importantly, they are run by a manager who ensures that everyone knows what the next step is.

This matters because none of the steps in this process are independent. Your business case becomes requirements. These requirements inform the RFP and use-case demo outlines. Next comes the scope of work, followed by implementation planning. It’s a full-circle loop that deserves proactive guidance.

Vendor Management Tips:

• Assign a project leader
  Authorize that person to orchestrate internal and external communication, enforce milestones, and ensure that evaluation criteria are consistent.
• Start with the end in mind
  Choose your go‑live date. Then work backwards through implementation, contract negotiation, vendor evaluation, shortlisting, and requirements development until you arrive at today. (Note: Don’t be surprised to find you have far less time than you thought.)
• Translate the business case into requirements, an RFP, demo scripts, and a scope of work
  This ensures vendor responses will map directly to your needs and success measures.
• Avoid skipping steps, repeating steps, or letting vendors add their own separate processes
  Otherwise, the whole project becomes less effective, less efficient, more expensive, and harder to manage.

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3. Control Vendor Count and Control Information

A client recently hired me for one reason. They were in active conversations with over 30 vendors. It was chaos. So, they hired me to make it stop.

Most organizations think research means finding more vendors. But building a long list of possibilities isn’t helpful. It’s overwhelming. Your goal is to build a shortlist of the most qualified vendors. It means you’ll want to eliminate the weakest options, so the strongest ones stand out.

More vendors mean more noise that grows exponentially until everything implodes. But that’s no way to reach your goal. For better results, minimize the noise, minimize the complexity, and focus on relevant vendors. Smart guidelines help.

Vendor Management Tips:

• Research broadly, evaluate narrowly
  Prescreen a cross-section of potential vendors. Then choose a handful of qualified solutions and move forward with an in-depth analysis.
• Limit demos to established use‑case scripts
  By defining the context for demos, you’ll level the playing field and evaluate relevant capabilities on an apples-to-apples basis.
• Establish a single communication channel for vendors
  Sales reps are skilled at triangulation. But don’t let their informal relationship-building efforts derail your momentum. Control the flow of information by insisting that all participants rely on a single point of contact throughout the project.
• Enforce the rules of engagement
  If vendors are allowed to run their own mini‑processes inside yours, you’ll spend more time managing salespeople than moving the project forward. Insist that everyone play fair. Set the ground rules early, including consequences for anyone who steps outside the lines.

Find out how real-world companies achieve more with learning systems that create business value. Get inspired by dozens of success stories in our LMS Case Study Directory. CHECK IT OUT →

4. Never Forget References or the Post-Sale Experience

When an LMS selection project starts running late, two things usually get cut: reference calls and a closer look at the post-sale customer experience. Eliminating either is a mistake.

Demos may show a solution’s promise, but they aren’t reality. That’s why customer references are essential.

Don’t think of these calls as a formality at the end of the process. Often, they’re the most important conversations you’ll have during the evaluation process. They are your best chance to see what life with a vendor is actually like after the contract is signed. If you skip them or rush them, you’ll carry real risk into a contract you haven’t tested.

The same logic applies to any vendor’s team. Sales reps always look good. That’s their job. But after the contract is signed, salespeople move on. Soon, your world will shift to project managers, implementation consultants, support teams, and customer success managers.

So, push now to meet the implementation crew. Discuss the support model in detail. Ask how escalations actually work. Talk to customers who’ve gone through these things. The more you learn beforehand about the post-sale experience, the better.

Vendor Management Tips:

• Plan reference calls early
  Decide which customers you want to contact, and include those discovery calls early in the vetting process. This way, they’re less likely to be brushed aside.
• Request references that match your use cases and scale
  Don’t accept generic or hand‑picked examples from a vendor without close scrutiny.
• Insist on meeting implementation and support teams
  Be sure you discuss and understand each company’s escalation paths, SLAs, and customer success models.

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Are You Managing Vendors or Are They Managing You?

For the best LMS decision, take charge of the selection process and make vendor management a priority. Start by asking these questions:

• Who owns this project and why?
• What is the timeline? How realistic is this schedule, based on the go-live date?
• How many vendors should we evaluate? How will we determine these candidates?
• Are we using the same criteria to compare all solutions?
• How will we verify our assumptions about the vendors we prefer?

If the answers aren’t clear, you’re at risk of letting one or more vendors drive the bus. That means you’re likely to invest in the solution they want you to buy. But it may not be the one you need.

Strong vendor management keeps you in the driver’s seat as a buyer. It ensures consistent, meaningful comparisons, and surfaces real post‑sale experience before you sign a contract.

Bottom line: Don’t let vendors determine your choice of LMS. Instead, prepare to take the wheel, drive the selection process, and manage vendors with confidence.

Thanks for reading!

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