Suppliers are essential to almost every business, no matter you are a manufacturer , wholesaler or retailer. Without raw materials to make what you sell or manufacturers to provide what you resell, you will have a tough time growing.
The right supplier for your business is the one who is able to deliver your products and services on time, at the right price, and in compliance with your quality standards.
So the moment you are in demand of certain products, the first question came to your mind will be : how to find them?
Finding suppliers
Trade shows, advertisements, online B2B marketplaces, search engines, there are so many ways available for us to explore the sea of suppliers right now. Whenever you type the product name in the search engine, there are thousands of suppliers came up for your choice. Then you might wonder, how can I know which one of them is the right one for my company?
Choosing the right supplier
This is a hard one, sometimes even when you found the one you think is good for you, and you sent the inquiries to them with all the excitement, while received no response after all. Here is how to get their attention and prompt response?
- 1. To send an inquiry. Use your work email instead of a personal email, this will make your inquiry professional, and catch the suppliers’attention immediately.
- 2. Specific Inquiry. The supplier will pay more attention to the inquiries with their company name or model number in them. Send the inquiries to one client at a time. You might as well send your inquiry to your targeted suppliers one by one instead of sending the inquiry to all and letting them know that they are just one of a thousand suppliers in your plate. A targeted inquiry will be the supplier's priority.
- 3. Give a brief introduction of your company. You must have got the information about the supplier wherever you found them, it’s now their time to get to know you. Briefly talking about the history and scope of your product line allows the suppliers to get to know you and thus provide a better service.
- 4. Detailed requirements. List your requirements about the product as well as your criteria which the supplier has to fulfill. Such as product specifications, the quantity you demand, branding on the product or packaging(if there is any), if you need the products urgently, better put down a deadline. Most suppliers would prefer 100% T/T in advance , so if your company could not accept such way of payment, leave your designated way of payment will help to avoid many unnecessary efforts. Mentioning your annual quantity in the first place will help the supplier to evaluate if their production capacity can meet your requirements.
Take the switches and sockets for example, some customers will send us the type of switches or sockets they demand, and let us know quantity for each of them, then it will be much easier for us to quote the best prices for them at the soonest manner.
- 5. Immediate contact. Grab your phone and make a call if you don’t receive any response from your preferred supplier, then you may find out what the reason is that they are not replying. Maybe it is the payment terms, maybe it’s the delivery time, then you both can find a way to make the deal.
- 6. Price is not everything. A lot of companies focus on one trait of their suppliers: price. And price certainly is important when you are selecting suppliers to accompany you as you grow your business. But when you receive a price much lower than that offered by the majority of the suppliers, don’t be thrilled and place a purchase order with them immediately, you get what you pay, sometimes you will get nothing at all after payment, it’s a scram. There are honest suppliers, and there are cheaters, that’s how the market works, doesn’t it? It’s often the case that people choose the supplier who offered incredibly low price turned out to receive rubbishes in the end. Don’t complain if you are trapped in this situation, there are plenty of reliable suppliers out there, you just didn’t care to get to know them better.
Remember, too, that suppliers are in business to make money. If you go to the mat with them on every bill, ask them to shave prices on everything they sell to you, or always fail to pay your bills promptly, don't be surprised if they stop responding.
A great partner will help your business grow, they would try to help in every way they can, they will negotiate with other customers and manage to schedule your order first when you need your products urgently, they will push the factory work extra hours or hire more hands for a prompt delivery, they will take the responsibility when problem occurs and come up with solutions right away to save you troubles and time.
The right supplier will be one of the most valuable assets to your company. We wish everyone of you find such a good supplier and help your business take off.
