For most businesses, their supplier pipeline is a key ingredient of success, but many times business owners have worked for many years with the same suppliers.  On the surface, that’s a great idea, but it makes sense to evaluate your supplier relationships every few years to determine whether it’s truly the best thing for your business.

If you’ve been dealing with the same suppliers for years—or even if it hasn’t been that long—here are a few important questions you should ask yourself about your relationship.

Can You Be Honest with Each Other?

If you got into a tight spot in your business, could you make a call to the supplier and ask them to ride it out with you for the next couple of months?  What if you needed an order quicker than normal—could you call someone and arrange it?  These are the types of things that can only be accomplished when you have an open and honest relationship with a supplier.  Likewise, if the supplier needed your support for an unexpected event, such as a flood in their warehouse, would you feel comfortable in allowing them some leeway?  Just as in any business relationship, honesty and a willingness to work together are key-in good times and bad.

Are They Reliable?

There is nothing worse than not being able to properly service your customers because a supplier let you down.  Whether it’s late shipments, stock that’s consistently on back order or customer service representatives who won’t work with you, it all accomplishes one thing: it costs you business.  Take a close look at your history with your current suppliers and ensure that they’ve been reliable in the past.  And if you do decide to change suppliers, be sure to ask for a test period so that you can judge their reliability as well.

Are They Growing?

You likely want to grow your business, and as you do so, you’ll need to make sure that your current suppliers will be able to keep up with your pace.  For instance, are they in the habit of adding new technology as it becomes available, such as paperless invoicing and online tracking of orders, or have they stayed the same over the years?  Do they have the capital to expand their business as orders increase, or do they have a production ceiling that they’ll never surpass?  You can talk to your representative, or check them out via press releases and Dunn & Bradstreet to get an idea of where they are.

Suppliers are the lifeblood of many businesses, and it just makes sense to reevaluate the relationship every now and then.  Competition is fierce, so if you’re not getting the most that you can out of your supplier relationship, you might think about shopping around.

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