6 Warning Signs That You Need To Find a New Business Supplier
You rely on your suppliers to keep your business going. Your primary motives should be revenue and profit, but your business does serve other needs. The products you sell have value to your customers, and your establishment provides employees with jobs and income. That’s why you need suppliers who are looking out for you, but that might not always happen. Even great suppliers can hit rough patches or take a turn for the worse. When do you know your supplier isn’t working for your business anymore? There are six warning signs to be vigilant about.
1. Employee Complaints
Relationships between suppliers and partners might be created and negotiated between business leaders, but frontline personnel and rank-and-file employees might wind up being the ones dealing with each other regularly. If your employees are complaining frequently about your supplier, you need to pay attention. Keep a list of common concerns to raise later.
2. Bad Communication
The longer you work with a supplier, the more you trust them. It can be hard to notice warning signs that things are changing, such as poor communication leading to breakdowns in relationships. You should have multiple ways to contact your supplier, and they should respond promptly when you contact them. It’s not good when you need to raise concerns with a supplier, but it’s even worse when you can’t talk to them at all.
3. Paperwork Issues
You rely on your supplier for steady goods and materials, but you also expect proper invoicing and billing. If the information you get isn’t right, it might indicate a supplier is short on internal organization. That lack of efficiency winds up impacting your own operations. Incorrect billing and invoicing waste your valuable time to fix and leave you less time to run your own operations.
4. Suddenly Rising Prices
Prices go up over time, especially when inflation is rampant. However, suppliers should communicate these rises in advance instead of suddenly springing them on you without explanation. If their answers are vague or unsatisfying, they could stem from internal mismanagement or sheer greed rather than falling victim to economic circumstances.
5. Delivery Issues
Shipping things to you too late can make it hard to fulfill customer demand, but shipping things too quickly can give you warehouse complications. Goods and materials shipped to you also need to be of sufficient quality. Listen to your customers on this one.
6. Market Changes
You have to keep up with changes in consumer demands for your business, and your supplier should also know when their own buyer expectations are shifting. A supplier stuck in the past won’t be your reliable partner in the future.
Think Things Through
Your instincts might tell the back of your mind that something is wrong long before you can actually identify the specific issue or problem with your supplier. If you can check off any item on this list, then it might be time to start a conversation with your supplier. Can you see multiple warning signs at once? In that case, you definitely need to highlight your concerns. If you have a relationship going back many years, it might be worth trying to salvage before moving on. Great suppliers might be receptive to any concerns you raise and demonstrate an ability to get things back on track. Should that fail, it’s time to find someone else.
