无论你从事什么业务，你都有可能在专业领域使用供应商来帮助你。但你知道你花了多少钱在他们身上吗？你确定你从你的钱和他们所拥有的技能中获得了最大的收益吗？更有效地管理你的供应商可以使底线大为改观，这值得花时间在这方面。请确保你有以下策略：
价格
如果你停下来把它加起来，你可能会惊讶于你在各个供应商那里花了多少钱。你最后一次根据你需求的变化审查价格是什么时候？在大的票据项目上下功夫，而忘记其他的。看看你如何能够获得更好的性价比，同时也对他们作为一个供应商有利--例如，对数量承诺的折扣或提前付款条款。就你而言，始终确保你按时付款，除非你真的需要，否则不要拖延付款。
合同条款
但请记住，这不仅仅是基本价格的问题。看看你的交易的其他条款，想想它们是否仍然适用于你。例如，你同意与该供应商合作多长时间？这是否是一个"独家"协议？你需要提供哪些通知条款？你能以书面形式写得越多越好--即使感觉非常正式，你在前面同意的越多越好。
细节
供应商经常因为一些没有考虑清楚的细节而放弃，对你的业务产生负面影响。
质量
寻找那些在质量方面有一些成熟记录的供应商（认证、奖项或推荐信都有帮助），但最终唯一能判断他们是否符合你的质量标准的人是你。因此，要清楚你的期望是什么，并明确坚持这些期望。这可以包括产品质量、他们对你的服务、账户管理或诸如创新或附加价值的东西。
监管
将一些措施落实到位，你可以审查并了解他们的工作情况。告诉供应商什么对您来说是重要的，他们可以向您提供报告和信息。不要用每天或每周的数据来压制自己，这些数据有很多细节，你会停止查看的。最好是每个月都有几个关键的衡量标准，然后你可以花时间考虑如果有问题该怎么做。
战略
确保你的供应商了解大局，你要实现的目标以及他们在其中的作用。如果他们了解最终的游戏，他们就更有可能积极主动地满足您的需求。
关系
大多数供应商因为关系而不是因为成本而不能长期合作。准备好投入一些时间来使其发挥作用，你与他们相处的时间越多，他们对客户的影响越大，对你来说就越值得花时间。对于重要的供应商来说，这意味着定期会面和参观他们的场所，向他们介绍你的业务变化和你的长期发展方向，通过推荐或转介帮助他们的业务。严格管理供应商并不意味着你不能为他们工作而感到高兴。人们总是会在定价和提供服务方面为那些他们喜欢做的生意多做一些。
Top 7 Strategies to Manage Your Suppliers
The chances are, whatever business you are in, you use suppliers to help you in specialist areas. But do you know how much you spend with them – and are you sure you are getting the most from your money and the skills that they have? Managing your suppliers more effectively can make a big difference to the bottom line and it’s worth spending time on this. Make sure you have the following strategies in place.
Price
If you stop and add it up, you might be surprised how much you spend with various suppliers. When was the last time you reviewed the prices based on changes of your needs? Work on the big ticket items and forget about the rest. Look at how you can get better value for money that also works for them as a supplier – for example discounts for commitments in volumes or early payment terms. For your part, always make sure you pay on time and do not hold payments back unless you really have to.
Contract Terms
Remember though, it’s not just about the base price. Look at the other terms of your deals and think about if they still work for you. For example, how long have you agreed to work with this supplier? Is it an “exclusive” agreement or not? What notice terms do you need to provide? The more you can put in writing the better – even if it feels very formal, the more you agree up front the better.
Details
Suppliers often fall away because of some details that haven’t been thought through well enough and have a negative impact on your business.
Quality
Look for suppliers that have some proven track record of quality (accreditation, awards or testimonials help) – but ultimately the only person who can judge if they meet your quality standards or not is you. So, be clear on what your expectations are and stick to them clearly. This can include product quality, their service to you, the account management or things like innovation or added value.
Monitoring
Put some measures in place that you can review and see how they are doing. Tell the supplier what is important to you and they can provide you with reports and information. Don’t bog yourself down with daily or weekly data with loads of detail that you will stop looking at. It’s better to have a few key measures to look at every month – then you can spend time thinking about what to do if there are issues.
Strategy
Make sure your supplier understands the bigger picture – what you are trying to achieve and where they fit into that. They are more likely to be proactive about meeting your needs if they understand the end game.
Relationship
Most suppliers don’t work out long term because of the relationship rather than the cost. Be prepared to put in some time to making it work – the more you spend with them and the more customer impact they have, the more time it’s worth for you. For important suppliers this means things like meeting regularly and visiting their premises, updating them about your business changes and where you are going longer term, helping them with their business through references or referrals. Managing suppliers tightly does not mean that you can’t be nice for them to work for. People will always go the extra mile, both in pricing and in delivery of service, for those that they enjoy doing business with.