What to Look for in a Supplier

by Rob J. Quality Links

As a business owner, you rely on your suppliers so your customers can rely on you. Here are some things to prioritize when looking at potential partners.

Customer Service

One very important element you should consider when evaluating potential sourcing suppliers is their customer service. Much like your own enterprise, if you have good products and poor customer service, your business will not do well. The same is true when it comes to the communication and relationship that is being established as you work with a potential product provider. If you can not foster a good and trustworthy working partnership with them, it is best to go elsewhere.

Some questions you can ask yourself as you consider whether or not to work with them are:

Are they available during the business hours when you need them to be?
Can you reach them easily?
Do they answer your questions in a timely manner?
Do they provide problem-solving solutions like free shipping, returns, etc?
Can you reach executive management if you need to?

You may also want to consider those “x-factors” like their corporate culture, commitment to the environment, or an instinctive feeling you get when working with them. If your gut or intuition tells you something doesn’t feel right about working with them, trust it.

Quality

Another important aspect to consider is their product quality. If you rely on them to produce reliable supplies, you will want to ensure that they can deliver them. After all, your customers are counting on you to offer them the best, so you should only accept the best as well.

With this in mind, it helps to investigate what control they have over the products that they source. If they are the originators or creators of the content they will have more input into the product development than those that simply sell them as a third party.

Competency

Finally, you should consider their competency in handling your requests. It could be that they have great products and great customer service, but they simply don’t have the volume, reliability, or prices that you need to function.

A good tip is to look for consistency when evaluating sourcing suppliers. If they are a business that has been around for many years and have a proven track record of partnering with other corporations for many years, chances are they will have the experience and reliability you are looking for.