Selecting a right sourcing partner can help business owners to propel success for their company. Cost-saving is perhaps the motive behind sourcing endeavors, but you cannot undermine the potential benefit of time saving. Hence it is very important to choose a reliable supplier who can meet your expectation both in terms of time and cost.
Identifying suppliers for your custom sourcing needs can be a strategically challenging task. It is easy to come up with a long list of prospective suppliers, but narrowing down your search to the best is difficult. While price is a prime criteria, there are other factors that should be considered while selecting your sourcing partner. Following are some tips that will help you to prospect reliable suppliers for your business
Step 1
Online business market place: Instead of making a vain attempts to contact suppliers through repeated phone calls, it is good option to find suppliers online. Float your business requirements, and get response from multiple suppliers who are interested in your business.
Step 2
Contact prospective suppliers to determine their capabilities: Question suppliers about their infrastructure and technology. Technology is mainstay of any business - this will help you to determine the capabilities of the supplier to meet your requirements. Moreover, question them about their communication methods during emergencies. What are the strategic advantages they can offer, which other suppliers or competitors cannot?
Step 3
No nonsense approach: Timeliness is another major consideration top on list of business priorities. As a business owner, you should focus on your core product launch activities. If someone takes a week to respond to your call, or requires follow up after each order, that is not a good sign. Decide is it worth to put extra effort to maintain the relationship.
Ask for supplier for example order - monitor the process, if everything is seamless as expected, you are on the right track.
Step 4
Quality assurance: Sometimes transportation mishaps can leave you with damaged products. Place a sample order to determine suppliers commitment to product quality on final delivery. If the products reach to your destination on time and undamaged, you have all the evidence you need. It is good idea to opt for third party inspection to ensure quality, and suppliers ability to offer custom design products as per your specifications.
Before furnishing your final product requirement to the suppliers, get it in tune with latest market trends and technologies. You can browse through online sourcing guide to know more about the products, and send online inquiries to pre-verified suppliers.
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