Teaming up with a reliable supplier means receiving quality, timeliness, competitiveness and innovation, which are all qualities we hope to find and receive continuously throughout the supply chain relationship.
But it can be difficult to determine which supplier is more reliable over another, or who actually does what they say they do. So, what can you do to help identify a reliable supplier?
Customer Service: Do you need a supplier to be on call day or night if a problem arises? What is their track record with handling customers as well as customer satisfaction? Ask around, and ask if you can speak to their current and past customers to better understand how they interact with their customers.
Lead Time and Delivery Statistics: Ask for their lead time projections and their on-time delivery rates. Being able to provide statistics like this shows not only that they are being tracked and are on top of them, but hopefully, they are also good.
Certifications: Many buyers have government or industry-standard certifications they need to work to, and the supplier needs to be in-line with these certifications. Ensure that they comply with these. You can also note how easy it is to find out whether they have these certificates, as suppliers may not make this easy.
Flexibility: Is the supplier flexible to potential changes you may come up against in the future of your facilities maintenance? For example, would they be happy to either scale up or scale down their service to suit your needs?
Product Information: The supplier may be able to give detailed product descriptions to help find the right products for your application. Product specifications, charts, CAD Drawings and any other helpful product information shows their willingness to help you and to win and maintain your business.
Building a Relationship: Building a relationship with your supplier is just as important as building a relationship with you’re own customers. Reliable suppliers are essential to your companies/organisations growth and good health and can be depended upon to keep your facility running in good shape and up to the government and industry standards, leaving you with complete peace of mind that you’re being looked after.
Have a listen to our CEO, Gary Clatworthy talking about the importance of reliability, what this means for our customers and what they expect from us.
Want to talk to one of our team about the maintenance of your building?
