How much do to know about your vendors and how they conduct business behind the scenes?
Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President of Operations and CTO at SafeSourcing.
Fortune Magazine just published the top small and medium companies to work for. Some of the highlights included extra money and vacation at long term anniversary, on-site childcare, monthly, company sponsored back massages, free breakfast buffet and game rooms. You may be wondering what this has to do with your company. The answer is everything. When your suppliers are doing things right and creating a great place for their employees to work, it means they can service you better, provide better prices and products and have employees who are happier to work with your company.
In today’s blog we will be looking at a few other areas that suppliers are evaluated against that should be part of how you measure your potential and existing suppliers.
Industry Reviews – There are so many organizations these days whose sole purpose is to research and rank other companies against one set of criteria or another. This BLOG was sparked by one of these surveys performed by a financial periodical, but there are other major companies like Gartner and Hoover who regularly publish the findings of their research for both companies and products. These types of surveys and research results are important because they include the same types of criteria found in an RFI and are performed by independent organizations saving your organization some valuable research time.
Non-Profit Organization Ratings – Along with industry reviews, there are also organizations like the Better Business Bureau who give its ratings to companies based on complaints that have been logged against those companies and any other information available. Others sites like Angie’s List and customer driven feedback sites allow you to see consolidated views of the companies, services and products. These sites go beyond surveys and get right to the customer feedback you are looking for.
Certifications – Almost all organizations have been certified for one reason or another depending on the industry they belong to. Many times their customers have no idea that they carry these certifications. Capturing these during an RFI or RFP process will help you better evaluate the vendors you do business with. Another way of getting this information is to go to the Certifying Organizations websites to find out which companies have been certified by their processes.
Peer Opinion – One of the most valuable questions you can ask a supplier but one that is rarely asked is “Who are your top three competitors?” By asking all of the vendors this question during an RFI or RFP process you will quickly understand the landscape of who the leaders in the field are and how they view each other. This can be valuable information to get from the companies who know their industry the best.
Understanding your potential and existing suppliers and how they compare in areas outside of the normal metrics, can help you develop good partnerships well in advance of any final contract with them. For information on how SafeSourcing can help you gather these types of details, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.
We look forward to your comments.
