Putting a name to a feeling: Meet Vendr's core values
When I started at Vendr in January 2021, we had core values — we just didn’t know them by name yet.
Every company does.
Core values are inherent — ingrained in the fabric that makes up the complex tapestry of your company culture.
Acknowledging they exist is easy. The real challenge is finding the words to describe them.
We surveyed employees, held lengthy conversations, and drafted versions of core values over and over again. We checked ourselves when they felt too aspirational, too vague, too specific to leadership, or just not “us”. It took us over four months to find them — but now that we have them, it feels like we hit the nail on the head.
We’re excited to introduce to the world: the Vendr core values.
1. Kindness-as-a-Service
Talking about SaaS budgets, pricing, and contracts can evoke a lot of emotion. Leading with kindness creates an ideal experience for all parties — buyer and seller alike. We take pride in being kind to each other, to our customers, and to suppliers. We believe that kindness is a competitive advantage.
2. Save your sorrys
Early on, Ryan volunteered with Samaritans’ suicide hotline. Recommended by expert negotiator Chris Voss, Samaritans teaches you to, “Save your sorrys,” because people don’t want to hear apologies — they want to be heard. At Vendr, this mantra represents how we actively listen to one another and take bold risks without apologizing.
3. Make magic
In the new category of SaaS buying, what we deliver to our customers feels like magic. We go beyond expectations. More than saving customers money — we save time, relieve stress, and leave the SaaS purchasing process better than when we found it. We obsess over customers, from increasing capital efficiency to getting deals closed fast.
4. #we-are-awesome
Every day in Slack, the #we-are-awesome channel lights up. A CSM cheers on an Executive Buyer, a Marketer does a round of applause for an Account Executive, our CEO shares positive feedback from LinkedIn. We celebrate each other’s work, empowering everyone to be better and have fun along the way.
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We’re committed to maintaining core values as we grow, which means upholding them as they’re relevant and checking back in as we evolve. While we feel confident we nailed them this time around, companies grow and change and we’re excited for these values to grow and change with us.
