Easy Supplier Management Tips

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Almost every small business out there that is growing will have suppliers that they rely on heavily at some point or another, whether or not it’s somebody that’s supplying the products or materials, or it’s a software provider, or it’s a manufacturing supplier, these are the people and businesses that will help you to push your business forward. 

Without suppliers, you can’t find business growth, and without you, those suppliers don’t have a customer base. Maintaining good relationships with your suppliers is important if you want to ensure that your business operates seamlessly. You want to be able to best serve your customers. So here are some of our tips to help you to easily maintain those supplier relationships.

Select Your Supplies

Pick the right suppliers in the first place. Before you engage with any suppliers, you should build a good rapport with them. You can’t have a good relationship with a company that doesn’t treat you well, and vice versa. It’s important to find the right match in the first place, so think about what is most important to your business before you begin that search. Are you prioritizing technical innovation or are you looking at speed of service? Are you looking at price or quality? Keep in mind that the cheapest solution isn’t always going to be the best solution out there, so there is more to it than just budget. 

Work To Build Some Trust

Getting to know the suppliers and their processes after you engage them is really going to help you to build trust that is mutual. Understanding payment terms, documentation and information that should be included on purpose to purchase orders can help to understand requirements and timeframes of you and vice versa. If you’re a model customer for your supplier and you pay on time, then they’re more likely to go the extra mile for you and they’ll recommend you in their circles. Value added support such as training and resources can be on offer with the right suppliers if you are a good customer.

Establish Good Communication

With the right software, you’ll be able to have great communication with your suppliers at all times. You don’t necessarily need to have lengthy meetings on the phone or face to face, but a good easy chat messaging system can help. If you can talk through your business priorities and what’s working well, and have a continuous feedback loop going between both of you, you’ll be able to come to an amazing relationship agreement where things are working and flowing smoothly. If you can learn to understand your suppliers needs and they can understand yours, that creates a relationship that doesn’t quit.

Refer Businesses Where You Can

If you want to show great loyalty to your suppliers, then you need to refer business where you can refer it. Referrals will earn you plenty of brownie points and they may even refer customers to you in return, which we mentioned earlier. Talk about opportunities where you can help each other out because if you’re successful then they will be successful and vice versa.