Try this great approach to supplier negotiations

Small business owners have so many potential problems to avoid that running your own company can sometimes seem like trying to cross a minefield. In the middle of the night. While wearing a blindfold.

Yet, there are a few simple tips that can make even the most arduous tasks seem a lot easier.
If we focus on the area of supplier negotiations, we can see that this doesn’t need to be something that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
The following are a few of the best approaches to this subject that could bring you excellent results and could even make dealing with suppliers more of a pleasure than a chore.

Start with Good Communication

The starting point for any sort of business relationship has to be with good communication. If you are easy to get hold of and easy to understand then you are going to be a business that suppliers enjoy working with.

Find out how the suppliers you want to deal with prefer to communicate and try to fit in with that way of working if you can. Then, you will want to be clear and concise with the details of what you want and when you want it.

Understand the Market

There is a good chance that you go into this aspect of the business with little understanding of how it works. After all, you can’t be expected to know everything about all of the areas you touch.

However, it makes a lot of sense to do a bit of research into the market before you get going. Is it a highly competitive market with small margins or are you likely to be choosing between just two or three suppliers who make big profits?

Make Yourself an Attractive Client

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if your suppliers looked at you and thought, “Hey, this is the kind of client I love”? Well, why not do everything that you can to achieve this?

Stick to deadlines, be friendly, and generally be the sort of business that it is a pleasure to speak to. This doesn’t mean that you need to be a pushover in negotiations, but it does mean speaking with a smile and understanding that you are dealing with other human beings.

Get Various Quotes

As in any other area of business, there is no harm in getting a number of quotes in order to work out your best options. This will help you to see your options and work out how to proceed.

Even if there is one supplier that you really want to work with, you shouldn’t close your mind to other ones. If you can get a better quote from elsewhere then this will let you go back to them with a bit of extra leverage.

Be Flexible and Easy to Deal With

Finally, let’s not forget that you are dealing with another business with real people who have pretty much the same goals and problems as you. They want to sell you supplies but they also want an easy life with clients who don’t ruin their day in 100 different ways before 9 o’clock.

Therefore, why not make an extra effort to be flexible and easy to deal with? Just ask them if there is a way you can save some money while making life easier for them. You might be surprised at the answer.

By trying out these simple tips you could turn negotiating with suppliers into an easier and far less daunting task than it has been up to now. Why not give them a try today and see how well they work out for you?