Improve Your Relationship with Your Food Supplier
Cultivating a positive relationship with your food supplier is a must.
Rank it right up there with your landlord, reliable babysitter, and mother-in-law. There are just some relationships you can’t risk burning bridges with. Although it can feel challenging with all the dual-sided logistics at play, it’s possible to navigate a successful business-to-business partnership.
Try implementing the following strategies today to improve your long-term relationship with your food supplier.
- Make NO assumptions – Don’t be afraid to double-check on your orders and communicate with clarity what you need, by when, and any other details you think are important. Let your supplier know what your expectations are ahead of time and upon delivery. Do your due diligence to inspect the accuracy of your delivery right away.
Make sure whatever supply chain communication you are using is streamlined with clear and accurate information from both ends. Food safety, quality control, and your budget are on the line when bad communication fails to prevent avoidable mistakes.
Feel free to share with your supplier how you measure acceptable and non-acceptable food deliveries, so they know ahead of time when meeting your regular inventory orders.
- Share Your Business Ideas That May Affect Them – Keep everyone you work with on the same page. This includes your food supplier. They shouldn’t be surprised to find out last minute you’ve chosen to downsize, expand, switch locations, or go out of business altogether. Keeping food suppliers in the loop is important. Have open and honest communication about your goals and plans for the near future and provide reminders along the way.
For example, if you plan on opening a new restaurant and will require a food item that is in short supply or has raised its market costs, you can plan accordingly by communicating with your food supplier ahead of time.
- Remain Personable – Remember that all business is humans helping other humans with the transaction of products and services. The human-to-human element is a crucial foundation of every business relationship.
It can be easy to get caught up in the business management side of everything and lose touch with how you relate with those around you. Put your relationships first and you’ll likely find your business flourishes as a by-product.
Your food supplier runs a business, but they are also people with names, families, dreams, and goals. Stay friendly and open to who they are and remain positive and humble for the best relationship outcome possible.
- Always assume positive intentions – This goes with any business or personal relationship. When you jump to conclusions about bad intentions in whatever situation you’re in, it negatively affects your view of the person and harms any hope of maintaining a positive bridge between the two of you.
This often occurs in emails or texting where it’s unclear how best to interpret messages. Regardless, if you always assume positive intent, you will keep your head clear and do your part to maintain healthy work relationships.
Peddler’s Son is Arizona’s Top-Quality Food Supplier
Peddler’s Son is the go-to farm-fresh food supplier for Arizona restaurants, hospitals, schools, and more. Family-owned and operated since 1988, Peddler’s Son brings you honest pricing, unparalleled customer service, and farm-fresh produce every day.
We believe in quality and that’s what you’ll get when you rely on us to deliver high-value foods for your dishes. We put our food quality and reliable delivery service first along with the customers we serve all across the state.
Want to get reliable quality fresh foods for your restaurant, school, or business? We can help! Contact us today to see how we can help you get the food you need to be delivered fresh and on time!
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