Do you agree with critics saying vendor relationship is the opposite of customer relationship? In what ways are these two relationships similar or different?
Customer relationship supplements vendor relationship and reinforces brand loyalty. But before brand loyalty is established, clients need to establish a good relationship with vendors. This happens even before contracts are signed and agreements are implemented.
Unfortunately, so much vendor bashing occurs between Point A and Point B when things do not go according to plan. The lack of enough knowledge about client’s needs and the inability to customize solutions according to their requirements are two of the most common complaints hurled against vendors. In reality, vendors perform a balancing act between pleasing the clients and keeping their internal teams busy. It is crucial for companies to take vendor relationship management seriously, especially since, on many occasions, they are just as good as how they manage their vendors.
Establishing mutually beneficial relationships between vendors and clients is potentially good. Let’s take a look at some of the most common scenarios and take a stab at how to address these problems.
What if clients didn’t know the right solutions for their needs?
More often than not, customers do not realize what they actually need. This happens mostly in tech services where solutions are formulated without defining properly the requirements of customers. It is not new that features and services are added, modified or removed altogether when the project is well advanced into the engagement process.
This is where vendors come into the picture. Vendors are a company’s first line of defense, and a well-managed relationship with them allows for a carefully crafted expectation setting. Vendors are in a unique position to interact with potential clients and identify what the clients need. They can gather additional information about clients’ businesses. If your vendor is unaware of your clients’ needs, then naturally the wrong solutions will be put on the negotiation table. Fortunately, this is not always the case. One of the key roles vendors play is to learn exactly what your clients need, the nature of your clients’ businesses, and to some extent, the business needs of your clients’ clients.
What if customer service failed to provide enough after-sales support?
Support packages come with certain sales packages. It may make good financial sense to limit the amount of support a customer receives from the vendor for the price that the customer paid. However, sticking to black-and-white rules that limit further interaction between a company and customers do not allow for prolonged customer satisfaction and ultimately, loyalty.
Vendor relations should enable resellers to provide customer relationship accordingly. It is old news that vendors compete among themselves not only to guarantee sales, but also to establish good relationship with clients and customers. Vendor relations management should be involved in the process of enabling them to achieve their goals through open communication channels, discussion of customer’s needs and wishes, and knowing the common grounds where vendors can close business deals and implement service-level agreements to the satisfaction of parties.
What if the client was having second thoughts before signing contracts?
Well, what client does not have second thoughts when it comes to signing contracts or parting with their money? Deals are made or unmade at the point of signing. However, a well-informed and well-involved vendor can breeze through the contract signing stage when equipped with the proper information and authority to negotiate terms and conditions. Does your vendor relationship process allow them to negotiate contracts instead of just being there to sell? Do you give enough power to your vendors to have a final say in the outcome of the sales process? If not, then you might be losing a lot of potential business right at the point of signing.
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