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10 ways to improve relationships with suppliers

Take a look at our 10 ways that will help you to improve your relationships with your suppliers

10 ways to improve relationships with suppliers

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1. Clear communication

Communication is the key to any healthy relationship, and it’s a good point to keep in mind when dealing with suppliers. Communication will create transparency on both sides and prevent any disputes and mishaps, such as incorrect inventory or missing purchase orders. Communicate your business objectives that have been agreed internally with all third parties and keep suppliers up to date with how they are performing.

3. Respect time constrains

In procurement, you’ll often find that you deal with multiple areas of your organisation every day, so this same mentality should be applied to the supplier relationship. Suppliers aren’t just working with your company, so give them the benefit of the doubt if your needs aren’t always met. Ensure that there is sufficient time to complete the process and be respectful of it. If they can’t meet deadlines, ask why to understand the reasons.

4. Create transparency through technology

Trust is critical for a constructive buyer-supplier relationship. By using a fully integrated procure-to-pay system, you’ll be able to access real-time information. This also saves time, as you won’t have to try to contact a supplier by phone or email. Technology also simplifies basic tasks like ordering more supplies and renewing contracts. Digitising key processes like these eliminates the chance of error and creates a satisfactory transaction system for both parties.

7. Performance management

A vital part of supply management is monitoring performance. An effective way to do this is including KPI’s in your initial agreements. Some common KPI’s can include delivery rates, purchase order accuracy, order fulfilment and lead times. This will help to establish a successful relationship as it provides an objective way to review your relationship. It also helps to reduce the risk of issues or concerns in performance.

8. Get to know your suppliers

If it’s possible, face to face interaction is the best way to get to know suppliers and build up a rapport. If it’s not possible to meet in person, set up a video call. It’s important that you understand their organisational culture, where they see themselves in the future and will also open the opportunity to discuss fresh and innovative ideas.

Managing supplier relationships

Managing suppliers is a key skill of the procurement profession. Without effective supplier management, a trusted relationship cannot be formed. Take a look at why managing suppliers is so fundamental to your procurement function.

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10 ways to improve relationships with suppliers