Vendor Management: Building Trust

Close your eyes and imagine for a moment that many of the business challenges that keep you awake at night are now secondary concerns. You suddenly have the right production capacity throughout changing markets and business conditions. You have the proper blend of talent and expertise when and where you need it. Capital outlay for innovation or growth is greatly reduced. Operating expenses take on a decidedly more variable bias. Personalities and politics are negligible.

A Utopian dream? Hardly. An exaggeration of the value generated through strategic partnering? Perhaps just a little, however evidence continues to prove that outsourcing certain functions truly enables business transformation and positive results that support both top-line growth and bottom-line savings.

The Value of Partnerships

Real value in business relationships is driven by how you work together. Sourcing the right vendors and negotiating favorable terms are a great start, but partnerships will most certainly under perform without a framework in place to help the parties work together.

A strong vendor management program paired with sensible technology provides informed selection, drives performance, facilitates collaboration (rather than compromise), manages risk and is the single most effective element in building trust. Take the next step and open your eyes to the opportunities that exist. After all, a relationship without trust is no relationship at all.