Show Your Value to Your Suppliers

There are times you'll be asking your suppliers for extra help, whether it be adjustments in payment terms, expedited replenishment of items, customized training of your staff, or something else altogether. Your suppliers may be hungry for your business and therefore anxious to please you. But even then, you're more likely to get the long-term cooperation you want if you clearly demonstrate to your suppliers the value you bring them.

      Here are six approaches to showing your value to your suppliers:

      Reciprocity. Give so that you shall receive. Ask your suppliers how you can help them reach their objectives, and then implement those tactics which will be profitable for both of you.

      Scarcity. What do you offer your supplier that other customers do not? If you are a multi-store retailer, what you have is the ability to place especially large orders. If you're an independent one-store business, you can offer a distinctive flexibility in choosing to showcase items the supplier wants to try out at retail.      Authority. You're closer to the customer than is the supplier. What valuable advice can you provide about product complaints and market trends?

     Consistency. If you've been a reliable account, placing orders predictably and paying on schedule, be sure your supplier recognizes this. If you've agreed to use point-of-purchase displays, use them as intended and report the results.

      Liking. We like people who are interested in us. You put that truth into action in cultivating the good will of your shoppers. Keep that same truth in mind as the motivation to share mutual interests with your supplier.

      Consensus. Team up with others in your business and with other retailers. Whatever you're doing with and for your supplier, your influence multiplies when others join in.