To establish trust and collaboration with new ERP vendors, start by clearly defining your goals and expectations. Conduct thorough research to choose vendors with a strong track record and transparent communication. Engage in open, two-way dialogue to ensure alignment on project scope, timelines, and deliverables. Building trust also involves assessing the vendor’s flexibility, support structure, and their willingness to understand your business needs. Regular check-ins, performance evaluations, and involving key stakeholders in decision-making further foster collaboration and trust throughout the upgrade process.

When working with new vendors for an ERP upgrade, building trust is crucial. What I usually do is start with open and honest communication, sharing exactly what the business needs and being clear about expectations from the start. This creates transparency and helps avoid misunderstandings. I also take the time to do my homework on the vendor’s background. I look into their previous work, check client references, and see how reliable they’ve been in past projects. Lastly, I make sure we’re both on the same page by setting clear, realistic goals. I involve the vendor in discussions about how we can achieve these goals together. By taking these steps, I’ve found it easier to build trust and create a collaborative working relationship.

Clear Communication: Begin by defining your business needs and expectations in detail. Transparent communication ensures both parties understand project goals, timelines, and challenges. Vendor Research: Investigate potential vendors thoroughly by checking their industry reputation, customer reviews, and past performance. Seek references from other businesses they've worked with. Shared Goals: Align on mutual goals, highlighting how both your company and the vendor can benefit from a successful partnership. This helps build a foundation of shared interest. Contractual Clarity: Establish clear, fair contracts that outline roles, responsibilities, deliverables, and service-level agreements (SLAs) to avoid misunderstandings.

Start by setting clear expectations and openly communicating goals, timelines, and requirements. Involve key stakeholders from both sides to ensure a mutual understanding of needs and deliverables. Prioritize transparency and consistency in all interactions, addressing concerns promptly and showing a commitment to long-term partnership. Engage vendors in collaborative problem-solving, seeking their expertise to optimize the upgrade process. Regular progress check-ins, performance reviews, and fostering a culture of mutual respect will help build a strong, trusting relationship.

The request for proposal needs to include mandatory and nice-to-have ERP requirements, well defined business scenarios to be demonstrated and financial, administrative, client reference, product roadmap and other information required. The ability of the ERP vendor to perform the scenarios as expected by the ERP client is an important element of trust.