What are the best practices for giving feedback to vendors?

I would agree comminicating feed back to vendors is important and using data, linked back to agreed upon SLAs is important and is probably the best way to provide feedback based contractual agreements. However, I believe that communicating vendor performance only scratches the surface of feedback. I think communication and feedback enhance your relationship with your vendors. In my line of business (HCM) without vendors providing the talent, I would not have my career. By providing feedback I am building trust and creating life long Partnerships. I also believe feedback is a two way street. Vendors providing feedback on interactions with my team, and my customers allows me to learn how to better meet their needs.

Providing feedback to suppliers in an adequate and timeline manner is indeed an essential part to foster a long-lasting business relationship. My tip to ensure that the feedback is clear and specific, thus useful, is to start by framing the piece of feedback we are about to provide. For example, "in project XYZ we found issues in the order #001. The issues consist of: X items missing and product Z was not the colour we requested. Please refer to our order #1_XYZ submitted on 1/1/23." Simply saying "we are disappointed with your delivery in project XYZ", will likely damage the relationship. The project may contain 50 orders where the supplier delivery was spotless.

One thing I've found helpful is to tie specific feedback to the signed SLA. For example, you can say "the quality of service offered is in variance with the agreed standards in the SLA. We contracted that you will respond to all enquiries with XX timeline and resolve or refer within XX timeline." That way its very objective.

First we have to evaluate the products and vendors. once this is finalized, we take the three - four quotes from different vendor and then start negotiating with them separately. we should negotiate to that level only so that we get good product and services. we can search the genuine price and compare with them Finally we can go with the L1 and place the order.

Regardless of the vendor relationship, whether is transactional or a contracted partnership, feedback should always be quantitative and factual. Be sure it's measurable, has clearly defined actions and/or repercussions, and achieves an outcome that is reasonable for both parties.

Definitely feedback should be both positive and negative and should be timely- immediate or as soon as possible or you run the risk of losing the value of the feedback.

For a contracted partnership, I find the best method is to have formal, structured reviews for consistency, usually monthly, to ensure all aspects of the partnership are addressed in a consistent manner that takes out any surprises. In addition, for some of the high visibility, high-risk contracts, I engage in bi-weekly 1:1s with my service provider counterparts. These reviews should be two-way and not only focused on the vendor performance but also on understanding how we are doing as the client.

In my perspective, regular cadences bi-weekly or monthly , to track alignment to SLAs and metrics is the best possible way, and helps everyone to stay on track . Regular cadences also help in fostering a health relationship with the vendor . Exception could be in case of a business critical impact , which needs to be addressed immediately .

Positive constructive feedback or areas for improvement for vendors improves the vendor-customer connection, allowing both parties to grow their businesses and achieve significant returns on investment. For instance, when it comes to feedbacks, I've learned to be specific, balance my feedbacks with suggestions for improvement, maintain professionalism, and express my expectations for the answers provided. I don't limit myself to feedbacks either since I want to improve. Documentation and responding to feedbacks are some of my hobby. I escalate to my superiors when I see that a vendor is not paying attention to feedbacks so that they can advise me on what to do next. I pay attention to time, know when to give your feedbacks as well.

Setting the expectations on when and what type of feedback our suppliers can expect from us is a good start. If a company works with thousands of suppliers, providing regular personalised feedback (other than automated-generated scores) is unlikely feasible. Instead, it is good to set certain milestones; for example, feedback upon completion of the first 3 orders can help both parties to validate that the onboarding process has been successful. On a project-by-project basis, I strongly advise Operations to raise quality concerns immediately – before the project is over. This leaves the supplier room for rectification before the issue reaches the end customer, avoiding payment deduction conflicts resulting from low quality.

Suppliers happen to be humans, therefore, any business discussions or negotiations carried out with kindness and respect will prolong the relationship and even generate more collaboration opportunities. If you add transparency to the equation, you build trust, which is paramount in any relationship between humans.

The most helpful thing for me to effectively communicate feedback, is treating the vendor teams as your own extended teams . Maintain extreme professionalism , by being respectful and constructive. This helps to convey the message that you want them to succeed , but would maintain a high bar for performance. Conveying the message in the right way , at the right time is the most critical aspect for having successful outcomes.

Focus of the action, not the person. You are giving feedback on a specific action and not on the individual. Regardless of how personal the action is, feedback must be made impersonal.

Feedback for a vendor or anyone should always be respectful and constructive, this allows the parties to gain trust and build stronger relationships. In order to run a successful program with your vendors, they need to be treated as part of your extended team as opposed to being seen as an 'outsiders'.

This is an area where ask instead of tell comes in. Feedback should be framed to elicit its own feedback. Tha way there's a better understanding of the reason behind the action.

This goes hand in hand with being respectful and constructive. If there are opportunities or challenges that need to be addressed, the only way they can be solved is to ensure an open, honest, and factual dialog.

Follow up is key to ensuring sustained performance. Feedback should include a timeline for improvement and review to ensure improved performance.

My approach as mentioned is to have an open, regular dialog so the information is constantly reviewed and action items are monitored and tracked to agreed-upon activities and dates.

In order for any solutions to end with a win for both the vendor and the client, getting to the result should be adapted to the situation and there can be some flexibility in getting there depending on the situation.