{"id":32252,"date":"2019-08-02T10:43:39","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T14:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?p=32252"},"modified":"2021-02-17T14:02:32","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T19:02:32","slug":"how-to-strengthen-vendor-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/how-to-strengthen-vendor-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Strengthen Vendor Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><img class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-32254\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ARF-Vendor-Blog-08022019-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"How to Strengthen Vendor Relationships\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ARF-Vendor-Blog-08022019-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ARF-Vendor-Blog-08022019-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ARF-Vendor-Blog-08022019-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ARF-Vendor-Blog-08022019.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><strong>How to Strengthen Vendor Relationships<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One of the key components behind any successful retail establishment is having a great relationship with your vendors. Whether you own a restaurant or small boutique, the people selling you your merchandise and products have somewhat of a hold on your profit margin. That\u2019s why having a great relationship with your vendors means they\u2019re likely to hunt out the best deals, give you the best offers, and keep you top-of-mind when they hear about new trends. Today, we\u2019ll discuss several ways to maintain and how to strengthen vendor relationships.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Think of Them like a Business Partner <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Treating your vendors like a business partner works in both parties\u2019 favor. Remember the saying \u201cyou scratch my back, I\u2019ll scratch yours\u201d? It applies perfectly to the vendor\/client relationship. Be explicit with your business goals so your vendors can clearly understand where you\u2019re coming from and where you\u2019re aiming to go. That way, they can work to provide you with quality items that help to reach your goals. When they do a phenomenal job, you\u2019re more likely to give them more business: hence the two-way street of vendor\/client relationships.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Have a Vendor Manager<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>You\u2019ve heard of account managers before. They are the people in charge of maintaining client relationships and ensuring the product or service they are providing is up to the client\u2019s standards\u2014essentially, they\u2019re the spokesperson for your company. Why not approach your vendors with the same care and consideration? By assigning a dedicated \u201cvendor manager\u201d to each of your vendors, you can be certain you\u2019ll get the feedback you need to keep your relationship strong. These managers will ideally check in with phone calls and in-person visits frequently, which all but guarantees your business will be top-of-mind when new products come out or a fantastic opportunity arises.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Always Be Prepared <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Things are going to go wrong. Shipments will arrive late, merchandise will be broken, you\u2019ll be billed incorrectly. Be proactive by setting expectations with your vendors for when these situations inevitably arise. When you have an action plan in place, emotions are less likely to run high, panic is less likely to take over, and anger is less likely to surface. A simple list of \u201cIf X happens, we do Y to solve it\u201d scenarios that you both agree to is all it takes to ensure bad vibes are kept to a minimum.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Let Vendors Educate You<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Your partnership with a vendor should not just be give-and-take. Ideally, your supplier is an expert in their product, which means it makes smart business sense for them to help you strategize around its use. Make sure they are present for key meetings involving their product. With their help and knowledge, you can gain an edge on the competition.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to engage with your vendors, treating them more like a business partner than just that person you get your bestselling products from. By creating and maintaining a solid relationship with each one, you\u2019ll know they have your best interests in mind with every transaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to Strengthen Vendor Relationships One of the key components&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,698],"tags":[224,222,226,307,412,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-32252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-day-to-day-business-operations","8":"category-small-business-financing","9":"tag-small-business-financing","10":"tag-small-business-funding","11":"tag-small-business-loans","12":"tag-small-business-operations","13":"tag-strong-vendor-relationships","14":"tag-vendor-relationships"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Strengthen Vendor Relationships - ARF Financial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to Strengthen Vendor 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