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How to improve supplier relationships?

Smart onboarding, transparency into processes, mutually beneficial deals, and timely payments are the key to improving supplier relationships.

Extensive research before supplier onboarding ensures that you find a vendor of good repute and financial health so that you can confidently work on long-term relationships from the beginning. Transparency is enabled through clear and quick communication, and it ensures that both parties understand each other’s expectations clearly, so no conflict arises. Agreeing on mutually beneficial deals rather than cutting off as much of the vendor’s profit as possible is also essential to maintaining goodwill with the vendors. This goodwill can later lead to special offers and discounted deals for the company. Well-drafted contracts and timely renewals and payments aid relationship development as well.

The use of supplier management software is beneficial throughout the process as it facilitates supplier selection, enhances communication, and allows vendors to check the status of payments. This visibility saves time on repeated back and forth communications too.

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