Supplier Relationships and Personalities

In regards to my last blog post, “Target pricing: Will your target hit the Target”, reader Jim Smith wrote “I don’t think it is dangerous to be frank and say exactly what you need, unless of course you haven’t done your homework.” You know Jim, I agree!  I think that being frank is very important, and I tend to lean that way more often than not, but it is good to know when frankness is required. That brings me to what I think Jim’s point is, and that is relationships.  

I have multiple suppliers that I deal with and my main problem is switching my personality to best match that of the person I am dealing with. (As a side note, there are lost of classes out there that will help you determine your personality type and who you work best with and what types you don’t work well with.  If you never have taken this kind of class, I highly recommend them!)

A couple of weeks ago, I was entangled in an argument with a supplier over excess inventory and why we should not pay for the entire amount.  As the argument continued way past when it should have ended, I had to stop and ask myself why this was happening?  What I found was my approach was all wrong and I needed to approach this supplier’s representative from a different perspective.  As I said earlier, I tend to be direct with out emotion, but the person I was dealing with needed me to address their emotions.  So after changing tactics a little, we resolved the issue quickly and where able to move on.  

So I ask you, are you managing your relationships? It is hard to do at times, but it is required.  My suggestions are find out what type of personality you are, and find out what types your customer/ suppliers are, and with this knowledge you can hopefully overcome personality conflicts.

I am not an expert on relationships, but as we continue in this blog I will continue to share my success and defeats.  Jim, Thanks for your comments!  I would encourage all of you to post comments, your experiences, other topics you might want to discuss or post any question you might have.