Tips to Maintain Strong Vendor Relationships

Vendor relationships are one of those things in a corporation that might be overlooked while other priorities are focused on, but this isn’t necessarily the right course of action. Vendor and supplier relationships are incredibly important, and they should be a place where companies put some effort.

You need to have good supplier and vendor relationships because it ensures that you’re getting reliable delivery, service, and quality. It can be difficult to find good suppliers, and it’s in the best interest of your company’s bottom line to make sure that once you have them, you keep them happy. There is an idea that the customer is always right, but if that’s your sole guiding principle when it comes to working with suppliers, you may find yourself in a tough spot.

The following are some tips to help you maintain excellent relationships with vendors and suppliers.

Stay On Top of Accounts Payable

You should always make sure your accounts payable department is streamlined and efficient. If you want happy vendors first and foremost, you have to make sure they’re paid on time. The best way to work with suppliers efficiently is to have an expense management solution that’s modern, offers visibility and most of all keeps your accounts current. Investing in AP automation is going to make sure your suppliers are incentivized to keep providing you with the best products and services.

A lot of companies without AP automation don’t even realize when they fall behind because things are so inefficient.

Share Your Strategic Goals

A lot of times the relationship a company has with their vendors and suppliers is really straightforward. The business places orders and the suppliers fulfill them. Sometimes it can help to outline your strategic vision with your vendors and highlight your short and long-term goals. This allows them to understand your business more clearly, and become more like a partner as opposed to simply just a supplier.

Your vendors might appreciate gaining insight into what you want to achieve through your relationship with them.

Have a Point Person

The relationship with a vendor or supplier can seem like an impersonal one, at least if that’s how you let it play out.

Within your accounts payable department consider designating a point person to deal with your vendors. Depending on your size and the number of vendors you have, you might have several people doing this.

If you have certain people assigned to certain vendors, it’s much easier to maintain good relationships and make sure communication is always clear and well understood.

As a final note, companies tend to be focused entirely on their own needs and ways of doing things, which is understandable, but if you can learn a bit about how your vendors operate, it can reduce a lot of frustration and allow you to manage expectations. Ask your vendors their typical terms and ways of doing business, and their preferences as well. If you can customize your relationships with them based on how they like to work, things are likely to go much smoother.