One thing businesses hate about the pandemic is how many changes they need to adapt to. The crisis made consumers shelter in place. They had to take their brand online to cater to online consumers. This also paved the way to numerous business data attacks, prompting businesses to boost security measures.
Thanks to numerous lockdowns, receiving materials from vendors were delayed. Their choices would be to wait for the materials to arrive or look for another supplier locally. Even the way we work, communicate, and collaborate changed.
This gives us an idea of how much businesses changed in the middle of the crisis. But since entrepreneurs can only move forward to keep the business going, they had to find ways to adapt. One can’t expect business success if they keep old practices and fails to change their strategies.
Challenges Associated with Poor Vendor-partnership Relationship
One way to make sure your business can satisfy your customer’s needs is to deliver their needs on time. This includes providing them with the right solution to their problems promptly. But failure to establish and maintain a good relationship with your partners will make it tricky to create enough products and fulfill your customer’s orders.
Strengthening your relationship with your suppliers is a great way to make sure you have enough materials ready in your workplace. Since no business can manage to do everything on its own, it only makes sense to work with the right supplier. But then, taking vendor-partnership relationships for granted can lead to a series of challenges.
For one, your supplier may no longer prioritize your business. This can lead to delayed shipping, rising inventory prices, and poor delivery times. Even if they can retain the quality of their offers, you might get the long end of the bargain.
You and your supplier can end up having a communication gap. This can lead to misunderstandings, order mix-ups, and delays. Your productivity will suffer and ultimately influence how consumers view your brand.
Leveraging the Pandemic to Improve Vendor-partnership Relationship
The pandemic serves as the perfect time to reevaluate your relationships with your suppliers. Remember that your productivity can also depend on the kind of relationships you have with your vendors. Here are a few strategies that can aid you in your goal.
Prioritize Timely Payments
Most vendors would deliver the materials only for businesses to send payments a month or two after delivery. There is no reason to wait for the deadline before you send your payments.
Investing in a flexible digital payment solution lets your suppliers enjoy a faster and more secure payment experience. You can be sure that your suppliers will receive your payment on the same day, and sometimes, in real life. As you increase your reputation about being a partner that pays their dues on time, you can land better deals in the future.
Set Shipping Expectations
What you may consider on time can be different from your vendor’s perspective. For you, on time could mean receiving the goods on or a few days before the set date. For others, it could mean sending your orders with you receiving these within a week thereof the deadline.
Make sure to talk to your vendors and be clear about your expectations. Be willing to listen to their side and let them know of your points as well. Only when you tell them your expectations can you make arrangements that work for your unique situation.
Create Easy Flow of Communication
Communication is a two-way street, much like a relationship. You should not be the only one who keeps on voicing your concerns. You should also be willing to listen to your vendor’s explanations before you react negatively.
Make sure you know the best ways to contact your suppliers. Let them know about your own contact details. Tell them to never hesitate to contact you in case things don’t go as planned.
Choose to Be Kind
Things won’t always go as planned. They might fail to send your orders on time, causing you to receive the goods late. They may fail to send you the right materials, or the number of goods does not match.
Choosing to be kind goes a long way, even in business. Remember that you can make mistakes. Don’t let minor slip-ups ruin your relationship, especially if they rarely make mistakes.
No business should choose to be an island. You cannot forever operate by simply relying on your own business. There will be times when you will need to outsource tasks and work with another business to obtain the things you need. The more you nurture a healthy relationship with your suppliers, the more success you can experience for your brand.
Meta title: Strengthening Vendor-partner Relationship amid a Crisis
meta desc: Tending to your partner-vendor relationship can create positive outcomes in your organization. But how can you improve your relationship with your vendors?
