There are a lot of things to consider when choosing suppliers for your company. Below are a few common mistakes to avoid.
Not considering all the costs
Different suppliers have different ways of pricing their products. You shouldn’t just rely on the price per item – many suppliers may have separate deals when it comes to buying items in bulk.
You should also look out for extra fees. Most suppliers will charge an extra shipping fee, which will likely depend on where you’re getting the goods from and how quickly you need them. Make sure that you haven’t overlooked any costs.
Some suppliers will offer personalised quotes and may be up for negotiation. It’s worth talking to someone in order to see if you can negotiate the price. Collecting lots of quotes could allow you to ask for a price match.
Focusing only on the cost
A lot of companies are blinded by the cost when choosing a supplier. While it’s important that your supply costs are within budget, there are a lot of other factors to consider when choosing a supplier such as speed of delivery and quality of products.
Always be wary of companies that price their services much lower than everyone else. It’s possible that they could be compensating for a bad reputation or that they may be cutting corners.
Overlooking supplier capacity
Is a supplier able to handle the large orders that you need? Or do they have very limited stock?
If you need to order items in bulk, it’s worth making sure that a company can handle your order. Smaller suppliers may not be able to handle large orders of certain items. For these items, you may be better off trying a more established supplier. Specialist suppliers may also be able to carry out bigger orders of certain items (for example, a supplier that specializes in industrial cleaning solutions, may be able to carry out a larger order of cleaning products than a more generic supplier).
Using one supplier for everything
There are suppliers out there that specialize in supplying everything that a specific industry needs. It could be tempting to rely on such a company for all your supplies out of convenience. However, you could find that you’re limiting yourself to certain products and possibly not getting the best deal on all your supplies.
In industries like construction, it is often better to use multiple suppliers so that you can shop around. If you need a specific product like MasterEmaco, consider checking out deals offered by other suppliers that specialise in these types of products rather than generic construction suppliers. In many cases, it’s worth forming close relationships with multiple suppliers.
Not taking the time to read reviews
It’s worth checking that a supplier has a good reputation. Take a look at some of the online reviews provided by other clients. If there are a lot of negative reviews, you may want to steer clear of this company. Similarly be wary of companies that have few or no reviews.