It amazes me to come across so many businesses that don’t mange their relationship with their suppliers. There is endless potential to work with your suppliers to produce agreements on discounts and delivery times. All it takes is a simple phone call and the benefits can mean £/€/$ 1000’s saved in material costs for your business.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate with your supplier over discounts or long term tenders at an agreed price. You are the customer, you have the power over your supplier. Present a case stating the amount of money you can save will provide you with an increase in future sales resulting in an increase in future purchases from your supplier. Reduce stock levels by agreeing delivery contracts enabling you to use a just in time process while retaining your bulk buying economies of scale where you order monthly or weekly levels of stock but get deliveries daily from your supplier.
I urge every business to sit down and evaluate the benefit for itself and its suppliers in employing some of these techniques and more. Your suppliers are vital to the success of your business so bring them closer by developing a close relationship and both you and your suppliers will succeed.
