Empowering Excellence: How Managing Your Vendors Leads to Mutual Success

In today's fast-paced and ever changing business world, the relationship between clients and partners & vendors is more critical than ever. In many cases it is a symbiotic partnership where success hinges on mutual understanding, respect, and, most importantly, effective management. Over the past few months, I embarked on a journey to redefine this dynamic through an annual Vendor Scorecard Survey with our key partners, and key to this exercise was our partners also scoring our performance. With more than 20 years of experience in service delivery with many fortune 100 and multi-nationals, I know the importance of managing your vendors proactively and how transparency, openness, and responsibility can shape a path towards shared excellence.

?

The Two-Way Street of Vendor Management:

Managing vendors is often perceived as a one-way process focused on evaluating their performance and punishing poor delivery. However, the true essence lies in understanding it as a two-way street. By initiating a Vendor Scorecard Survey, we not only assessed our vendors but also invited them to evaluate us. This approach fosters a culture of mutual growth and continuous improvement, ensuring that both parties are aligned in their goals and expectations and creates a sense of camaraderie.

?

Transparency and Openness: Lessons from Dutch and German Providers:

Engaging with Dutch and German providers was enlightening due to their frank and straightforward no nonsense feedback, something lacking in many parts of the world today. Such clarity is invaluable, as it precisely pinpoints areas needing improvement. This transparency and openness are crucial in vendor management. By knowing exactly where you stand, both as a client and a vendor, you can collaboratively work towards enhancing the partnership.

?

Shared Responsibility and Empowerment:

The feedback we received was eye-opening. Most vendors engaged had never been asked to score a client before and were pleased with this novel approach. It's a testament to the power of shared responsibility. Both the client and vendor have pivotal roles in enabling and empowering each other. This shared responsibility is not just about identifying shortcomings but also about working together to devise and implement service improvement plans, but most important, to celebrate successes.

?

Building a Framework for Excellence begins with feedback:

The journey does not end with receiving feedback; it's where it begins. The development of a service improvement plan, split between vendor and client, is a strategic move towards excellence. It's a commitment to not just fix issues but to innovate and elevate the quality of service and products. This collaborative effort leads to a more robust, efficient, and productive relationship, benefiting both parties in the long term.

?

Conclusion:

Vendor management is not just about overseeing external teams; it's about building and nurturing a partnership that thrives on mutual respect, transparency, and shared goals. My recent experience with the Vendor Scorecard Survey has been a transformative journey. It highlights the importance of not just managing your vendors but engaging with them in a manner that promotes open communication, collaborative problem-solving, and a shared vision of success. When you manage your vendors effectively, you're not just ensuring they deliver excellence; you're actively participating in a process that elevates both your operations and theirs to new heights of achievement.