Good Communication Doesn’t Begin and End with Sales How Procurement Fits into the Partnership Picture

By: Paul E. Roberts, Principal – Roberts Statistical & Consulting Services, Los Angeles

Communication in today’s business world must be looked at as a holistic part of what your organization does. Internal stakeholders who are empowered to work well with other individuals and departments in your company with clearly delineated policies and procedures will bring clarity to important business decisions and will work to minimize risk.

In the same way, communication with external stakeholders needs to be transparent and clear. Both customers and vendors must know that your organization has their backs. For successful business relationships that turn into partnerships, you must think more than just about the transaction. Everyone needs to be on the same page, chapter, and book.

Communication through non-customer facing departments can enhance and even solidify excellent partnerships with your customers. Procurement especially can be a department that provides you with the dual opportunity to deepen partnerships with both customers and vendors alike.

Procurement is More than Just Having Products & Services Available for the Customer:

In general, when we think about purchasing, we think inventory, cost, and vendor relationships. Why do we bring in a specific product or provide a specific service? Because our customer base and territory are looking for it. Our business is filling a need and a niche in the markets we serve.

Ever been told by a vendor to bring in a new product for use/sale in your company? It happens all the time. For many consumer goods, manufacturers make changes in products, put ups, extensions of brand use purposes, and even fragrances occur all the time. In most of these cases, there is ample research and documentation available at the retail level to pull sales through a territory by just having that specific product or service available to the customer.

Now, have you ever gotten the bug to bring in a product or service into your business just because it looks like a good idea? I’ve done it many times. Sometimes I looked like a genius. Other times (pre-portioned chemicals, truckloads of hand sanitizer that missed the pandemic buy time, and the equipment buy that was rescinded a month later), I was on the wrong end of the transaction.

With each experience, I learned the importance of doing my homework, research, and especially getting a better understanding of my vendor and customer base to make better product and service decisions for those I served in the market. Just because I carried something does not mean that my customer base is either looking for it or is interested in it.

Successfully expanding your company’s economic reach in your territory with additional products and services takes the right mix of offerings and knowledge. The more you immerse your organization locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, the better those decisions will be.

Customers Look to Your Company for the Items They Need:

With your good vendor partnership in place, your business can maintain the inventory necessary to satisfy your customer demand. The closer your partnership is, the more opportunity to get additional product when supply chains tighten (like they are now!).

With today’s economic situations, knowing that your partner is mutually interested in your continued success will mean both getting and giving access to alternatives when product availability is squeezed, ensuring that your customers and vendors continue working with you and don’t feel the need to find alternative sources in your competitors.

Procurement can also maintain excellent customer partnerships and relationships by allowing access to similar products and services when certain branded items are on lead times or on allocation. You will be providing your client with what they need in the timely manner they are accustomed to. Of course, when product access tightens, it is always important to communicate to your customer what the procurement issues are so that there are no surprises when a product or a put-up changes as the result of these supply chain challenges.

Vendors are a Great Avenue to New Sales:

Good communication with your customers is vital. Better and closer communication with vendors can lead to more as well!

As your business becomes that valuable link in your vendor’s sales chain, you will find your way to new prospects that will deepen those relationships even further. The more your company is looked at as an ally in the market, a valuable resource in your industry and territory, the better chance you get to take part in promotions, special buy-ins, and exclusive products and services in your territory.

Vendors are also an excellent source of customer leads! By working closely with the suppliers that you deal with on a day in and day out basis, you and your company will have access to information gathered by their own customer service portals.

When someone interested in a product you carry calls the manufacturer, they are often referred to loyal partners in that market to provide the sales, support, and follow up necessary to ensure the interested party gets the product and services they need. Your organization provides an important cog in the supply chain of that item.

More Communication Makes More Lifelong Customers:

When you get right down to it, when your customers know what is going on in your territory, the more they will be willing to work with you when “stuff happens”, be it an international supply crunch, or just a one-time glitch in the matrix. This is especially true when the information comes from you and your organization.

When you’re communicating with your customers about and through procurement, your company is creating more opportunities for growth and profitability, leading to continued sustainability no matter what else is going on in the world.

Does your company need operational and/or marketing help? Is your existing business plan due for a refresh? Has your company lost focus and you are looking to re-energize it? RobertsSCS is here to work with you to bring your business processes into focus. Call us today at (310) 972-8243 or reach out to us at [email protected]

About RobertsSCS:

Roberts Statistical & Consulting Services ─ RobertsSCS ─ offers results-oriented strategies, mentoring, and insights to optimize operations for legacy companies looking for 21st Century upgrades to improve profitability, increase sales growth, and future-proof systems for sustainability.

Using 30-plus years of operating and management experience, RobertsSCS works with businesses with $1-30 million in revenue to create better efficiency, synergy, and outreach.?We provide developmental, strategic, and executable plans of action at multiple levels: wholesale, retail, B2B, and B2C for organizations desiring to maximize industry market share.

Knowing the market environment and the status of each business we work with allows us to provide customized insights on growth and profit opportunities at the local, regional, and/or national market level.