Four questions to find the right long-term suppliers for your business
It’s a tale as old as time – a supplier promises you the world in the sales process, only to disappear when they have your signature and your money. Unfortunately, we’ve all experienced this in business. Not only does it leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, but in many cases, holding a multi-year contract with a supplier you no longer trust.
Whether it’s for your hardware, software, office equipment or a professional service, the right partner is one that will support your business from beginning to end. They’ll champion your business growth and ensure you have the tools you need to succeed. So, how do you find these partners? It can be like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. However, in my opinion, there are a few questions you can ask to cut through the sales speak.
#1 How do they ensure they deliver on their promises?
It’s easy for a salesperson to tell you everything you want to hear before you’ve signed, so being direct can be the best way to get a clear answer. It shouldn’t be a difficult question for a business with a track record of delivering – they’ve done it before, so they should be able to articulate how.
If your contact can’t answer or there is a lot of umming and ahhing, it can be a good indicator that they haven’t thought about how they will deliver and don’t have a structure for it, meaning their promises may be just that.
As an example, at Inland Digital, we pride ourselves on the quality of our technical service and our ability to fix issues for a client on the first visit. So what do we do to ensure this happens? We measure, remunerate and incentivise our technicians on this goal. In other words, we align staff KPIs with our customer value proposition to ensure we deliver.
#2 How do they evaluate and improve their products and services?
No system, product or service offering is perfect, and the pace of change today means that a focus on continuous improvement is a must. Ask a potential supplier how they benchmark and improve their offerings because this will give you insight into whether your service and support will evolve, or be set and forgotten.
Each month, the Inland Digital team participates in an external benchmarking survey that measures our performance against our competitors worldwide. It allows us to see how we are performing against industry averages, highlighting where we are outperforming and where we can improve. This continuous improvement focus enables us to stay ahead of the curve and even look at what’s happening overseas in real-time to see how it may impact the local market.
#3 Is their track record proven?
Another way to determine whether the supplier delivers is to ask directly for customer references to support their claims. Ask these references what the service has been like at different stages – 1,2 or even 5 years into the contract. It’s also critical to understand how the supplier has supported their client’s goals and evolved to meet their needs in an ever-changing world.
At Inland Digital, we have many real client stories on our website, and we are always happy to connect prospects with our customers to get any answers they need to make the right decision for their business.
If a partner is evasive about providing references, it’s usually for one of two reasons. Firstly, it may be because they don’t have the clients yet. It’s perfectly fine to give a new business a shot – we were all there ourselves once – as long as they are upfront about what’s on offer and their business credentials.
Secondly, and far more concerningly, it’s because they aren’t sure their clients will back up their claims. This is a big, bold red flag. If they don’t have faith in their own product or service, then neither should you.
#4 How do they stay ahead of changing needs?
To truly add value to your business, your suppliers should develop a deep understanding of your current needs and use live data to anticipate your future ones.
It’s something that sets us apart at Inland Digital. We have all the live information at our fingertips and pay close attention to the data to adjust and take action for our clients. This proactive approach enables us to resource up or down at speed and ensure continuity of service.
So at the end of the day, a long-term supplier should deliver a high level of service at every stage of the contract, not just at the beginning and the end, when revenue targets come into play. Hopefully, these four questions will give you some clarity before you sign.
If you are looking for a new partner for your print, workflow or collaboration needs, drop us a line. We’d love to show you how Inland Digital can deliver for you today and into the future.