Partner Article

Introducing the supply chain solution

The Preferred Supplier is a new business support initiative brought to you exclusively on Bdaily by Malcolm Gallagher of BizVision and his expert partners. Over the coming months you’ll gain from a growing collection of incisive articles here on Bdaily and other support activity to help you become and stay The Preferred Supplier.

Introducing how to be a preferred supplier

Being your customer’s Preferred Supplier means that your organisation is perceived to be the provider of higher value services than your competitors and that you are easy to do business with!

You should see the preferred supplier status as one of your best strategies for forging a long-term relationship with your key customers.

But to achieve and keep this status, and keep competitors at bay, is much more than having a good product or service and a sharp price. Your journey to success will involve not just the set of activities that comprise doing business with you (e.g. delivery, order management, invoicing etc.) - these are what may be called the “whats”. It is the “hows” that come strongly into play with preferred supplier status. The “hows” involve issues such as how you measure performance, how you learn about your customer, how you innovate, how your customer shapes his or her perception of your performance.

Over the coming months this, The Preferred Supplier initiative and programme, aims to help you manage the “hows” and give you the ways to deliver the right positive perception of the value you add to your customer’s business.

The benefit of preferred supplier status goes beyond the obvious of winning more business to becoming a better business, increasing the value of your business, attracting and developing the best talent, delivering innovative and wanted products and services and much more. You are also less susceptible to falling in and out of favour with your key customers. These benefits are why every CEO or business owner needs to be involved!

Features of preferred suppliers

The key characteristic of a preferred supplier someone who is easy to do business with. That doesn’t mean you are a walk-over! But rather you are easy to do business with when:

• You do a good job supplying (you sell, they buy then you supply!)
• You keep to a minimum the work and cost of supplying
• You operate as a partner in the total supply chain, collaborating and being innovative
• You communicate clearly to ensure sound understanding and accurate information

As a starter on our journey together have a think about the above. The tricky part lies in knowing when you are better and communicating that to the customer and , of course, when you are not and why and being prepared to fix it.

Journey with The Preferred Supplier

I trust I have wet your appetite to journey with us at The Preferred Supplier. It has taken 3 years and substantial investment to bring to you. Over the coming months the articles, videos, the interviews with experts, live events and other resources and activities will combine to bring you unique and exclusive support. Bookmark Bdaily “The Preferred Supplier” as your starter action today!

Coming next issue - what buyers really care and don’t care about.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Preferred Supplier .