How to Build and Develop Strong Relationships with your Chinese Suppliers
Building a strong relationship with your suppliers will not only help you negotiate better, but it also improves the entire supply chain process. Suppliers play a very important role in the supply chain/importation process. Therefore, leveraging on the importance of a healthy and strong relationship is benefial to the importer and the business at large. First, we have to explain why developing and building a strong relationship with your Chinese suppliers is necessary.
Benefits of building developing and a strong relationship with your Chinese Suppliers
- It makes negotiation easier
- It makes sourcing cost-efficient
- It improves overall performance
- It makes the supply chain process efficient
- It makes communication effective
How to build and develop strong relationships with your Chinese Suppliers
Below are actionable tips to help you develop and build a strong relationship with your Chinese suppliers.
1. Discuss your expectations face-to-face
Building a strong relationship starts with discussing each party’s expectations and this can be more effective face-to-face. You don’t have to travel all the way to China to make this happen. If you can, that’s a plus. If you cannot, then making use of the services of a reliable supply chain management company may be your best bet.
However, in the absence of physical meetups, you can have virtual meetings with your suppliers and discuss the expectations you have and let them do same. This way, you know the performance to expect and draw out a performance metrics easily.
2. Give constructive feedback about their performance and products
To build a healthy relationship with your suppliers, you must engage them in regular feedbacks and let them know about the performance of their products. This makes them appreciate you more for looking out for them and also take your opinions about their products seriously.
3. Pay your suppliers on time
In order to develop and build a strong relationship with your Chinese suppliers, you need to not be a debtor. When your supplier knows that you pay on time, they take you more seriously and try to build a healthy relationship with you because they won’t want to lose you as their customer. Hence, whatever feedback or opinion you have about their product is taken seriously and they try to make you happy. Paying on time, also helps your supply chain process too. You can negotiate great deals and get better discounts and low interest charges.
4. Communicate effectively with your suppliers
A strong relationship is built through effective communication. If you learn how to communicate effectively with your Chinese supplier, you are one step ahead in developing healthy relationship with your suppliers. Write legibly. Speak clearly and where there is any ambiguity, ask questions for more clarity.
5. Be clear about deadlines
When you are clear about deadlines, it helps your suppliers know when to deliver as any mistake on their part will affect your business.
6. Sign a contract agreement
A contract agreement comes in handy when there is dispute or disagreement between you and your suppliers. The contract protects both parties and outlines the roles of each party clearly. Without a contract, you might find yourself going with the flow which may be detrimental to your business. Consider using legal advice when drafting a contract.
7. Introduce them to other customers too
Even though this might be tricky but sooner or later, you will get competitors. If you introduce other customers to your suppliers, they will perceive you to be a good person and would do anything to make your business better including offering you discounts regularly, showing you a new product samples first, etc.
8. Settle disputes amicably
Disputes happen even in business relationships. This is why it is important to have a signed contract and agreement with your supplier because a contract explains how disputes are resolved between parties. Dispute resolution is one way to build and develop a strong relationship with your suppliers. Even when you resolve to end the relationship, both parties need to agree to do that on good terms.
9. Collaborate with your suppliers on product quality and performance
Another healthy way to build and develop a strong relationship with your Chinese suppliers is to collaborate with them on product quality and performance. Share ideas on how their products can be improved. Ask your own customers for feedbacks and share those feedbacks with your suppliers. This way, they trust you more as a good ambassador of their products.
10. Activate timely supplier audits
A healthy way to build and develop a strong relationship with your Chinese suppliers is to do a constant audit of your suppliers. This can be achieved by communicating your KPIs with your suppliers. After which you have a supplier score card. You define the metrics for performance such as: delivery time, product quality, incident reports, and customer feedbacks. These are the data you need to audit your suppliers.
Now that you understand how to build and develop a strong relationship with your Chinese suppliers, go ahead and implement these actionable plans to improve your entire supply chain process.
Naiyuan Mart is a first-class transborder Supply Chain Management company created to bridge the gap between Chinese Suppliers and businesses around the globe.
With a presence in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Nigeria, we are poised to ensure all parts of your supply chain, from sourcing to final doorstep delivery is as smooth, stressfree and profitable as possible.