Be kind to your vendors
(I’ve been meaning to blog some business stuff. Garrick poked me (and a bunch of people) so whether he likes it or not, I’m going to post it here!)
A major mistake that some companies make is they assume an adversarial relationship with their vendors. I’ve always operated with the opposite agenda — be allies with your vendors. This means, for example, don’t try to get the rock-bottom price. Some people pride themselves on being able to negotiate and get great deals. If you are a small business (or perhaps any size business) this just doesn’t pay. I want my vendors to like me and this means leaving a little on the table for them.
The reason I want them to like me is because it helps me grow my business, in at least a couple of ways. First of all, they know me as not being a cheapskate. I do not want them to categorize me in their minds as cheap. If an opportunity for a referral comes up, I want my vendor to think of me as someone focused on the big picture and not nickel and diming. I also may need some extra effort from my vendors at some point. For example, recently a credit card was maxed and I wanted them to process my order prior to me paying. They did it because I had never given them any reason to suspect I was a nickel and dimer. In fact the opposite was true — I have made sure they know that I’d rather get a fair deal than a great deal.
The other obvious reason to be kind to your vendors is so they’ll be a healthy company and be there for you in the future. Some people are so focused on getting a great price that they need to constantly re-create relationships as vendors leave them for greener pastures. We had a client recently that was nickel and dime oriented and we ended up firing them as a client because they were not worth screwing with. Sometimes you have to fire the 20% that takes 80% of your time (but that’s a whole ‘nother post).
Most of us end up being in both the client chair and the vendor chair, sometimes within the same day. Use what you learn in one chair to help you create healthy relationships when you are in the other.