Solutions focus on overcoming a specific business challenge or obstacle and can be provided by any, or a combination of all, partners and vendors throughout the supply chain. When a company switches from service to solution provision, it’s important to ensure that vendors can maintain the same quality standard for clients. Managing this is one of the main components that ensures the success of your solutions strategy. Improved vendor relations aid organizations in their tasks as they often result in better pricing, efficiency, and support. Here are my top five tips for developing and maintaining solution-focused vendor relations.
Select better
Develop a defined vendor selection process. Vendors must align with the standard of quality you promise clients, and be able to deliver within the timeframes you need them to. However, for truly great solutions provision, vendors must demonstrate an ability to deal with highly-customized requests and offer a lot of flexibility.
Clarify your needs
Explain your organization’s goals, motivations, and expectations so vendors will better understand exactly what you need from them. It helps to put these into writing to ensure clarity and avoid any possible misunderstandings. The vendor will then know exactly where your priorities lie, whether it’s speed of delivery, exceptional customer service, or the best quality available. This will empower vendors to make the best decisions on your organization’s behalf. This way they truly become an extension of your team.
Nurture closer relations
Develop a sound communication system between your organization and vendors. Ensure that they hear things from you first so they are protected against any possible industry rumors or know of any announcements affecting them ahead of time. This level of communication encourages trust building and show you put a high value on loyalty. This will make you more likely to win and sustain their loyalty.
Get more feedback
Ask your customers for feedback and develop a checklist that will allow you to really examine every step of the process and monitor the performance of each vendor. Seeing as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, this process will allow you to identify and weed out the vendors who are letting you down.
Show your appreciation
Build the confidence of the vendor by letting them know they are an integral part of your team, and that you value the work they do. A great way to do this is through an annual awards program. Not only will the winners and other shortlisted vendors be grateful for your acknowledgment and the positive publicity, but it will also reinforce the message that they are an integral part of your extended team and central to your success in solution provision.
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Mitch Launius
Instructor Pilot for 30 West IP
Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
Director Of Operations, Americas, UAS International Trip Support
Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
Dudley King
President and Founder, FlightBridge
Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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