Running a successful business these days requires a tremendous effort in manpower and organization. It also demands that you forge strong relationships with outside partners to execute various tasks to keep the business running. These partners are not limited to, but include your merchandise distributors, the manufacturers of the products you sell, your marketing resources (graphic artists, printers), and your landlord (if you rent). Having a strong and steady relationship with these individuals is paramount to keeping your business alive and in a growth mode.
Selecting the Right Vendor
Coming from an advertising and marketing background, I understand the importance of building a relationship with clients. I also understand the importance of building a strong relationship with the vendors I use to execute marketing and advertising strategies for those clients. When selecting a particular vendor (I like to call them partner), I look for several different attributes:
1. Chemistry
This to me is the most important factor in selecting a vendor partner. If you don’t feel comfortable with the person who is going to be handling your business, then don’t. You are going to be spending your hard-earned money with this person and you have to feel totally comfortable that he or she will get the job done for you. You have to have confidence and trust in this person or team of people.
2. Reputation
This is an important criteria. When interviewing a particular vendor/partner, ask for references. Contact the various businesses that the company services and ask them about their responsiveness, customer service, etc. This is also a good opportunity to dig in and find out about their financial situation. Making sure that the vendor is financially sound is extremely important. Past experience has demonstrated that vendors who live month to month are always late on deliveries, cannot supply you with the merchandise and service you require—it’s just a mess.
3. Scope of Services
I am a big believer that you cannot be all things to all people. What that means is that you do one thing and you do it well. As a tobacco outlet operator, you are in the primary business of selling tobacco and tobacco-related merchandise. When you stray from that core position, you no longer become a perceived expert in the minds of your consumers, but a store that does a little bit of everything, but nothing well.
When looking at potential vendor/ partners, they same philosophy should be implemented. A general merchandise jobber may have some tobacco products and accessories, but not as much breadth and depth as a tobacco/candy wholesaler. Also, the people who specialize have a greater understanding the core business and can provide you with accurate and expert advise instead of general opinions.
One of the major advantages of building a strong vendor/partner relationship is what I call a “Second Set of Eyes.” Once you have a trusted relationship, you can rely on this individual and company to perform tasks that normally you would be required to complete on a weekly or monthly basis.
For example, you may have employee problems and need some extra help each week to stay on top of the business and organized. By having a strong relationship with a vendor, you can ask for their help and be confident in their ability to assist you. If you have a good relationship with manufacturer partners, you can call them to assist you in new product roll-outs, immediate out of stocks, or customized signage.
Remember, a strong relationship is never one-sided. There may be times when you need to help a good vendor/partner by loading up on a specific piece of merchandise, being flexible with delivery schedules, and perhaps changing the payment schedule for special circumstances. Quid pro quo, as they say. •