A B2B company is very lucky to have trustworthy suppliers. Without them the operations of a B2B company won’t run smoothly and won’t be successful. However, most B2B companies don’t treat their suppliers with the same level of respect as they treat other business partners and on the long run that is detrimental for their business. In order to avoid problems, B2Bs should treat their suppliers as they treat their clients and consider them partners not an expense they have to manage to run their business.
When B2B companies try to get cheaper deals from their suppliers and when they want fast delivered products without understanding that quality products require time and money, the results can be terrible. These companies end up losing a lot of money because they don’t have their suppliers’ support in case of a crisis and they can end up losing their clients if they fail to deliver what they promised.
On the other hand, when a B2B has a close relationship with its suppliers, they have numerous benefits including access to new products and innovations. Everything you do impacts your business’ success so make sure your business relationships are strong.
How To Improve Your Relationship With Your Supplier And Why
You don’t have to have a close relationship with all your suppliers but you have to learn to prioritize and asses which of your suppliers are essential for your B2B. A specialized supplier that has only a few competitors on the market is definitely more valuable than a supplier that has numerous competitors. Losing the second type of supplier has a lower risk since you can replace them in no time but losing the specialized supplier that is essential for your business can have terrible effects on your company.
Having a close relationship with your suppliers will allow you to create better services or products since you can benefit from your suppliers’ input and knowledge during the early phases of your new projects.
When you build a strong partnership with your suppliers you will have an advantage that your competitors don’t – in case of a crisis, you can ask for flexible solutions in order to continue your work.
Communication is key for a successful relationship with your suppliers so make sure you do not break your promises, you do not delay your responses and you listen to their feedback and requests. There is a need for increased professionalism in the B2B world so do not be reluctant to change the way you look at things and to improve the way you communicate with your suppliers.
A great relationship needs trust so you have to make sure that all the confidential discussions between you and your suppliers stay confidential. Be honest, open and direct and treat suppliers like you want to be treated by your clients.
Familiarize yourself with your suppliers’ protocols, procedures and policies and avoid asking for promotions, discounts and other benefits. Sometimes you have to pay a higher price for top quality services or products but that’s ok as long as you receive what you want and you can continue to move forward and make your B2B successful.
Suppliers like to be respected, they do not care about your problems or internal policies, they have a business to run like you do so make sure you respect your promises and you do not delay payments or communication because you are experiencing a busy period of time.