Knowing your supplier: the key to a successful partnership - Opinion - column

So often one hears operators complaining to suppliers that no one seems to understand and know their customers. It is not a new complaint, and it's one that has become so commonplace that it is assumed that the same rhetoric will be repeated at each and every operator-supplier seminar.

The operators are not wrong to insist that suppliers must do their homework before making an operator call, which means:

(1) Know your customer's locations.

(2) Know your customer's menu.

(3) Know your customer's organization.

(4) Know your customer's decision-making process.

(5) Know your customer's distribution system.

(6) Know your customer's purchasing system and the specific products he or she buys.

Now that Basic Sellign 101 is out of the way, the question remains: How would most suppliers criticize the operators? Do the operators know their suppliers, and does a partnership truly exist? Or, do operators abuse suppliers because of the increased competitiveness in the marketplace?

Every major foodservice operator who became successful did so with the support of key suppliers, with whom they established a very close working relationship.

Too many operators today fail to evaluate the quality, stability and technological support that suppliers can provide. Instead, they attempt to manipulate their suppliers into doing a lot of free research and development only then to find their efforts on behalf of their customers brought them nothing but the opportunity to bid against thier competitors.

We, as an industry, should know better than any other industry that there is no free lunch. Operators should not expect to get product development, additional services and other things of that kind without a commitment on their part to their suppliers, who commit dollars and manpower to help operators solve problems and satisfy their customers.

When end-users lack commitment to suppliers, they lose the opportunity to get the support of the supplier organizations. Rebates do not deliver customer satisfaction and are only a small part of the equation. Purchasing and distribution are important keys to the success of any operations, especially in these difficult times.

But that means negotiating for more than just the cheapest price. Once the negotiations are finally concluded, committing to support and protecting that supplier until that supplier organization loses the business because of its failure to meet its commitments to its customers.

Everyone is concerned about losing business, but threatening to break up a partnership when that supplier has served that customer well is not the way to bind the bond that is such a critical part of the operation's system. Nor does that approach go unnoticed by the other suppliers, who then make sure that they cover their flanks and protect themselves from undeserved hardship before it happens.

The bottom line is that suppliers must know thair customers, but operators must know and be loyal to suppliers who do their job. Without that relationship the end-user will cut off his lifeline just like an astronaut walking in space without that life-supporting umbilical cord.

Times are tought, but in this challenging environment it is a good time for operators to evaluate their supplier relationships, and, if necessary, they must mend their fences fast provided that they want to ensure their success in the future.

Thomas J. Haas is a foodservice industry consultant and is president of Thomas J. Haas & Associates, Ltd. based in Rowayton, Conn.

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