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7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Reviewing a Supplier
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Whether you work with one supplier or one hundred, there are probably a lot of thoughts swimming around your head right about now. Who should I review first? What should I say?
If you are experiencing this common ‘reviewer’s block,’ you’re not alone. Being specific is one of the key aspects of a great review. Ask yourself one (or many) of these questions to jog your memory of supplier experiences. They will just about write the review for you!
1. Is there a supplier that has exceptional customer service, or one that you dread dealing with?
Show proof of customer service in action, like this review of a medical products supplier:
“Great customer service. If I have to call them late on a Friday because someone is coming in, they are usually here in about an hour.”
2. Is there a supplier with exceptional and consistent timeliness, or one that is routinely behind schedule?
This one reviewer was not satisfied with the timeliness of this telecommunications company:
“They are slow to fix things. Getting to the right person is difficult and the internet is slow.”
3. Do any of your suppliers charge above-market pricing? Are there any that give noteworthy quantity discounts?
Says this one PA-based review,
“If you buy on state contract, the pricing is unbelievably good on some vehicles, sometimes 20% less than list price. “
4. Think of the last time the quality of a product or service exceeded, or missed, your expectations. What occurred to create that positive, or negative, experience?
Regarding a car dealership, this reviewer shared:
“The...vehicle has had some issues, we feel that we are having to replace parts like the tie rods more frequently than we should have to.”
5. Think of a time something out of your control (weather, policy change, etc.) threw a wrench in a project. How did the supplier respond?
This one review shares how their contact reacted to an unexpected procurement delay:
“They were able to take care of our needs. There was a delay during the procurement process, and they held the vehicle for a month, and the vehicle was exactly what we wanted.”
6. Mistakes are inevitable. Think of a time a vendor made an error – how did they react in the following hours and days?
This review shares how their customer service contact at one of their suppliers handles an inventory shortage:
“She is always willing to help out. If items aren't available, she will find a substitute for me.”
7. Is there a supplier whose expertise adds value to your project? Or, a supplier whose lack of expertise threatens the project’s success?
This review gives insight into why the quality is superior to other suppliers:
“[The Supplier] makes aluminum box culverts. They are the engineer and the manufacturer, so they make a very good product.”
What review will you write?
Sharing specific experiences and details gives your peers in procurement the best possible insight into working with a supplier. Now that these experiences are top of mind, it’s time to leave a review. Just write a quick summary of your experience and add a star rating. Done!
Published on Aug 26, 2020
