Relationships With Suppliers

Every business will rely on the service on another for what’s needed within the company. Your relationship with suppliers matters, particularly when you rely on them so much. So here are a few ways to improve relationships with suppliers.

Don’t Expect Freebies From The Get Go

When you find yourself working with new suppliers, it’s important that you’ve established a relationship with them first before demanding anything and everything under the sun. Asking for freebies isn’t going to help strengthen the relationship properly, and then they’ll likely not help you out as much as they could have done if you showed them a little courtesy, to begin with. Make sure you’ve been purchasing things for a while before you go asking for free or discounted products and services like supply chain software. You need to be able to have given or offered them something in return.

Communicate Regularly

Communicating regularly is important, and once you’ve established a special bond between the two of you, that’s something that will end up being very beneficial down the line. Make sure that you have set up a line of communication and that you’ve got someone who is looking after your account. Keep conversations as regularly as you can, especially when it’s with those that are providing a constant stream of supplies that you rely on. The better the communication, the more opportunities you’ll hopefully get in the future. Celebrate their successes when you see them doing well and don’t forget to treat them every now and then through dinner and perhaps special ‘thank you’ hampers over the festive season.

Offer Them The Ability To Make More Money

As a company, you want to give back to your suppliers and to give them the opportunity to make more money. If this is something you want to happen, then it’s definitely recommended that you spread the awareness of the suppliers you use to your other contacts and perhaps feature them in any newsletters that you might have as a business. The more they see of you promoting them, the more that they will be willing to give back to you too. It’s all about the give and takes in a working relationship, so give them the opportunities where you can, and they’ll likely return the favor.

Always Look To Review The Agreements

Even if you’re working with suppliers on a regular basis, you should always be reviewing agreements or deliverables when it comes to what you’ve agreed upon before. Things change both for their company and for yours, so it’s always a good chance to sit down and to review whether any conditions need to be amended in the meantime. It also looks at the other opportunities that may be available and that you don’t know about from your suppliers yet.

The relationship with suppliers is something that is important to many, and so there are some really easy ways to help improve relations and to make these work relationships benefit both you and them as businesses. Don’t expect freebies from the off and always keep up communications.