Is Your Software Vendor a Missionary or a Mercenary?
Pay attention, get to know your vendor. Are they a Missionary or a Mercenary?
You’ve probably lived this.
The demo was strong. The answers were confident. The rep told you, “You’re not just another client.”
Emails were returned within minutes. Calls were answered on the first ring.
Then the contract was signed.
Six months later, response times slowed. Feature requests stalled. “It’s on the roadmap” became a permanent answer. The connection you believed you had with the salesperson vanished as soon as the deal was done.
At some point, you realize not all vendors are built the same.
So here is the question worth asking: Is your vendor a missionary or a mercenary?
Understanding the Divide
Missionaries serve the true mission of their industry
A missionary vendor believes deeply in improving the industry they serve. They understand the mission so well that their tools shape careers, influence culture, and strengthen community trust.
They work closely with their customers, listen, and refine their tools based on real-world input because they know long-term trust matters more than quarterly growth.
Mercenaries chase growth at any cost
A mercenary vendor optimizes for revenue and expansion. Their roadmap follows investor expectations rather than the customer's mission.
Flexibility in the sale turns into rigidity after implementation. Relationships become transactional. Feedback gets parked in a queue. The next deal comes first.
How Mercenary Vendors Operate
It rarely shows up in the demo. It shows up in year two.
Features promised in sales conversations quietly stall. Priorities shift after acquisitions or funding rounds. Support moves to generic ticket systems.
As frustration with the vendor grows, everyday friction starts to feel normal. Supervisors turn to workarounds just to keep things moving, Excel spreadsheets quietly reappear, and small but essential adjustments never make it into the system.
The product does not evolve with the agency. The agency just learns to tolerate it.
Ask yourself: Who is the real customer?
When a vendor answers to investors first, roadmaps shift to drive valuation.
New sales get the attention. Existing agencies get maintenance.
When valuation becomes the priority, the customer inevitably pays the price.
This does not make every large company bad.
Leaders should pay attention to what drives a company’s decisions because incentives shape priorities, and priorities determine whether you are a partner or a maintenance account.
How Missionary Vendors Operate
Missionary vendors are not perfect, but the difference is in how they respond.
They do not disappear after implementation. The same people who led the demo stay involved after go-live, checking in regularly and removing roadblocks. When you need help, you are not routed to a generic queue. You get a real conversation.
They continue improving the product long after the contract is signed because they understand demos are theory and the field is reality. If a customer points out that a single step adds five minutes to the process, it gets evaluated and often streamlined. Small delays compound into real productivity loss. Mission-driven vendors measure success by how effectively the work gets done, not by how many contracts they close.
They show up after the sale. Not just for training, but for follow-up.
What is slowing your people down?
What are supervisors working around?
What would make this easier in the field?
They keep improving the product after go-live. They do not overpromise to win business. If something is not ready, they say so. And when issues are found, you do not get a ticket number. You get a call, an explanation, and a fix.
And sometimes they walk away from deals when the fit is wrong. Not because growth does not matter, but because forced partnerships fail.
Because alignment is what creates belief in the system. When people believe in a system, they use it the way it was designed. When they do not, they build workarounds.
And consistent use is what gives leaders clarity instead of noise, and the confidence to make decisions.
That is the difference.
Why It Matters
You are not just selecting software. You are selecting a long-term partner. If the alignment is not there, you will pay for it later in lost time, additional cost, and operational friction.
Ask these questions in your next vendor meeting:
Who controls the roadmap?
How many improvements last year came from customer request or suggestions?
What happens after we sign the contract?
Who answers the phone when we need help?
Can you show us a feature you’ve evolved based on client feedback?
How do we get our data back if we choose to leave?
The answers will tell you everything. Vague responses, “coming soon” promises, and defensiveness when challenged reveal more than any feature list ever will.
The vendors you choose are not line items. They are leadership decisions that shape your agency.
You may not notice it immediately. But over time, the impact of that decision becomes clear in how the partnership works, how the product evolves, and how your agency is supported.
That is when alignment is tested.
So ask yourself a simple question before you sign the next contract.
In critical moments, is your vendor guided by what’s best for public safety or what’s best for them?
Choose the partner who stands with your mission when it is easy and when it is hard.
Because in this profession, integrity is not a feature you add. It is the standard you live by.
Why We Wrote This Article
This perspective comes from the MissionWise team. Our group has spent decades working inside the public safety profession and inside the technology that supports it. We have seen what happens when systems are built around the mission, and what happens when they are not.
MissionWise was founded on a simple belief: the tools that document performance, support development, and identify risk should strengthen people, not just track them. That only happens when the company behind the software is aligned with the industry's mission.
For us, customer success after implementation is not a phase. It is a commitment. For us, growth is not the goal. It is the outcome of serving the mission the right way.
If you are evaluating vendors and want to see what a mission-aligned partnership looks like in practice, we are always willing to have that conversation. Reach out ➡️