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Your Suppliers And Your Business
Every business has some sort of vendor or supplier that they buy from. All businesses either purchase raw materials, finished products or services of some sort. Taking the time to develop a solid relationship with your suppliers can benefit you both. Because the time may come when your company is in need of something and that vendor that you took the time to develop a strong relationship with will come through for you.
Being able to Forge strong relationships with your suppliers can be critical to the success of your company. And like any relationship you need to embrace building and strengthening that relationship. You may only think of yourself as a customer and your supplier as just another vendor but your relationship can be much more than that. You may say that there are other suppliers out there and that may well be true but will having to start all over give you more value or less. And if you do a lot of business with other small companies will a big company appreciate you as much as that fellow small business does. Your relationships are not something that should be overlooked.
Relationship building in business is never ending and it starts in the first day your dream is born. When you take your concept and begin to turn it into reality. And no matter what type of business you are in you will need suppliers of one sort or another. Whether it’s your internet service, hardware store, or landlord. Everyone you purchase something from regardless of whether it’s a product or service is a form of supplier. Now obviously some suppliers will only require limited contact, and going to your local office supply store and buying something won’t provide opportunities to build a meaningful relationship but plenty of opportunities will present themselves.
Many opportunities will come through phone calls with your sales representatives. This can turn into sit down meetings with them. Many times they’ll come to the office for a visit. One of my standard practices has always been to get to know the sales reps that come to visit. And whether or not you actually need something from them you should ask them to drop by. The better they get to know you the more they might appreciate the business you do with them. Especially if they have been working for the same company for many years. I’ve always made it a point to show them around our facility. So that they can get a better feel for what we do and where we are going. I’ve always made sure to tell them how much I appreciate working with them and that I’m glad they’re along for the ride. Using the saying my success is your success may sound kind of cliché but it has always been the point I was trying to make. My suppliers are my partners and with they’re help I can succeed. And my business can thrive.
You do need to remember that you’re still their customer and they will look out for their own best interests first just as you would yours. So when you are on the lookout for new suppliers especially in the first months of your company’s existence you need to be diligent when searching for vendors. Especially if they’re going to be critical to your existence by supplying something you have to have that few companies offer.
So you need to realize that just as your relationship with your customers is important so to is the relationship with your suppliers. Because when you need something in a hurry, or you need to stretch a payment out a little, or you have a large job that won’t pay for awhile and you need special terms they’ll be more willing to listen to you if they know you by more than a customer number. In business every relationship is important.