You’re evaluating your vendor management performance. What role does feedback play?

As vendors are partners are extensions of your team, the process of selecting vendors is critical to achieving outcomes, risk management, integrity and overall success. Therefore, I consider the selection process to be necessary due diligence before commitment. Through my experience, alongside drill down meetings with the vendor on processes, projects, etc., I have found that customer reference meetings are very valuable. In addition, industry will always have an opinion that is based on collective feedback and should be considered. However, what has been of most benefit to selection is leveraging my network to validate experiences with the vendor.

Without feedback you have no meaningful measurement of performance, no insights to add, and no change or improvement to initiate. If you want your vendor/supplier to be involved and genuinely interested in your business' success, then you need to be genuinely interested in their products/services; something you can do best with quality feedback!

Feedback plays a crucial role during the vendor selection process as it allows organizations to assess the capabilities, reputation, and compatibility of potential vendors with their specific needs and goals. By gathering feedback from various stakeholders, including the owner of the vendor relationship and other business owners/users of the vendor's products and services, organizations can make informed decisions about which vendor to engage with. This feedback helps in evaluating the vendor's performance against key criteria, ensuring that the selected vendor aligns well with the organization's requirements and expectations.

Feedback plays a crucial role in the selection of Supplier by providing valuable information about the supplier performance which eventually helps in identifying any potential risks associated with engaging a particular supplier. One of the most important factors in any business is cost , therefore feedback regarding pricing and billing helps in assessing the cost-effectiveness of the supplier in conjunction with the quality of products and services provided. In essence, feedback ensures the right selection of the vendor where the goals of both the parties are aligned with each other which will eventually result in maintaining a strong and sustainable relationship with the supplier.

Always treat your vendor as a business partner and always give some time and chance for improvement so that they can serve better. Feedback about vendor performance gives me 1) Opportunities for better performance 2) Improvement in next Vendor selection 3) Actual criterias to look in to when selecting new vendors 4) setting up some benchmarks to your new and existing vendors There are more but I mentioned few of them

Vendors are another part of your team and organization , if you want all the process to be in place you need to sit with your vendors frequently and give them feedback on how things are in place or not in interest of both vendor as well as our organization . Positive and negative feedback on the services and other parameters will help the vendor to understand the requirements and make thing more streamlined accordingly ..

Vendors are the actuall colleagues of ours,they provide service we we want and they deliver as per the requirement.we should keep share the feed back with vendors for the scope of improvement and appreciate also.

Analyse the kind of work done prior - try a few samples with a timeline - check the communication frequency - check on decision-making skills - revisit the content created and share insights where needed should there be a scope for improvement. It equally matters how good are we at accepting feedback too in addition to giving feedback. A structured delegation and clarity in communication solves most problems

Implement a structured feedback mechanism, to capture non-compliance, exceptions, assumptions, and dependencies during negotiations. This can help in identifying areas for improvement and ensuring that feedback is actionable

Feedback during execution helps get the job done correctly without too much wastage or spillage. It's a constant closed loop feedback chain where both parties benefit from each other and helps keep the project as per the timeline. Milestone checks are easier and more informal to achieve with a feedback mechanism.

During execution of work we should continue cehxk the performance of vendors through our parameters and share with them.it is important for improvement and our expectations clarity

Hold daily connects, to discuss open items and gather feedback during execution. This can foster collaboration and timely resolution of issues.

When the vendor has completed the service or product, you need to evaluate their performance, outcomes, and satisfaction. Feedback can help you measure the impact, identify the benefits, and acknowledge the challenges. You can also use feedback to solicit the vendor's opinions, suggestions, and feedback on your own performance and relationship. Feedback during evaluation can help you learn from the experience, celebrate the success, and plan for the future.

Never wait for the work to be completed and regret all the time lost. Ensure access to the ongoing projects, quick dip check must should there be a team sharing platform. In my view, we must also be thorough with ID principles in addition to other elements of the output expected

Develop an end-to-end execution cycle framework, which includes leadership stewardship and performance reporting. This can provide a structured approach to execution and feedback.

Consider how vendors can contribute to digital productivity improvements. Vendors that support modernization and digital engagement can be valuable partners.

Feedback always play a very good role while analyzing vendor through their performance, and showing +ve and negative results to improve their performance and helpful in taking decisions.

Feedback is a two-way street. You need to know that you are providing your vendor with what they need to provide the correct response and product. Its vital to build a trusting relationship so that the vendor is comfortable sharing the gaps.

It's like the saying, Hindsight is 20/20. There is always something we can learn after every project. Therefore, feedback to discuss lessons learned is essential to not repeat it and continue to do the things we did great over again. It is a time to thank the team. Appreciate the hard work everyone has done regardless of the outcome.

It is recommended to use one of the many available tools for giving and receiving feedback in a structured manner. A simple and well proven tool is the WWW (What went well?)/ RFI (Room for improvement ?) technique employed for feedback in a team. It is used when a project, a negotiation, a meeting or a task has been completed. Another good example for providing and receiving constructive feedback is the After Action Review (ARR) with its four steps / questions: What has happened? What should have happened? Why the difference? What can we learn? Both tools are simple, easy to employ and provide valuable input for driving the continuous improvement cycle.

There are various vendors in businesses like OEM, O & M, supplier of RM & PM, AMC, ARC, manpower suppliers and other services and materials suppliers. An organization must develop a structured methodology for evaluation, selection and subsequently it's monitoring and feedback. Evaluation and selection of vendors depends on several factors like their capabilities w. r. to finance, delivery & performance of desired task to be engaged. Also track record of various compliance like EHS, Labours and the ability to support the organization in critical situation as & when. Further, it is policy matter of the organization which defines the criteria for vendor evaluation and selection based on business nature and the requirements.

It is also very important to give feedback to unsuccessful vendor during pre-qualification and negotiation; this will help them to work on the area where they were found wanting and improve in the future vendor pre-qualification and negotiation. Also, it shows transparency and fairness, when a vendor is given a feedback on why they were not selected at this point, and mention area they need to work on. Also when a tender or RFP/RFQ is done and closed out with a finalist based on several criterion; like alignment in work scope, deliverables, timeliness, value for money and quality standards; the unsuccessful ones should be informed for them to have closure and feedback on where there is no alignment will help them to do better another time.

Feedback should be a 2 way or even 3 way thing. We need to receive feedback openly, on our own performance and role in delivering the contract. This creates a trusted relationship and also ensures that everyone benefits. Ultimately we need to work in the interest of delivering successful outcomes against the contract for the end user / customer.

I would suggest that Feedback across all the steps from selection to selection to execution and sharing best practices are important to get the best results for the Org and for the vendor management teams to build good partner relationships with vendors. We often call vendors as vendor partners as the intent is to create a Win - Win relationship for both Orgs.

Feedback should be both ways. We aware that all the parties are aware of their obligations as per the contract . But no one can avert uncertainty ( VUCA) & hence need to consider points raised thru feedback mechanisms laid down by the organisation. I as military personnel is of view that negative feedback should be welcome with open heart as it’s give organisation to correct its shortcomings, & weed out bad feelings as then progress will be easier & steep . Even anonymous complaints be studied on the merits as it may have considerable impact.