| How To Lower Costs And Build Quality Relationships With Vendors |
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| Written by Stu McLaren |
| Saturday, 30 August 2008 14:31 |
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One great way to build your relationship with someone is to send them as many referrals as you can. By sending them recommendations and referrals they will see your relationships as having more value then just someone they do business with. When I do this with the vendors I work with I am now not only benefiting them by giving them business but by also bringing more business to them. This puts me in a much more favorable light then most of their costumers. You want to give them as many benefits as quickly as possible - sending referrals is a very easy method to do so. Joint venture projects is something else I have done with my vendors in the past. An example of this is when I worked with a graphic designer on a product. She did the graphic designer element, I put together the product and did the marketing side and then we split the profits. Boom! Just like that I had almost completely eliminated my cost up front and now don't have to worry about coming up with that money. Starting out, this was really helpful as I didn't have the money to put up front to hire a graphic designer. So this strategy is really great for that reason and many others. Some people will think, "If I split the profits with someone else, I'm going to loose a big chunk of money!" Time out. Personally, I think that it is better to actually get your projects completed, making some money, rather than not have any completed and not be making any money. Instead of just letting those ideas sit on shelf, not making any money, I made an effort to approach and build a relationship with that specific vendor and was able to get those projects completed and off the shelf. Whether you are just starting out, on a tight budget, or just want to get projects done economically, you really have to look to be creative. Joint venture project with my vendors is one creative idea I've used with multiple different vendors. The other thing that you can do to save a lot of money when you're working with vendors is do as much of the work as possible, ahead of time. You're saving the vendor time. You're saving them effort. You can ask them, perhaps, questions on how you could save money, how you could cut down their effort, cut down your overall project costs. These vendors will work with you. They'll help you. They know you have budgets to work within, and so they're always interested in working with you and trying to help you. Here is another tip - create a template instead of just a project. This way you can use it more than once, without having to pay for the same thing twice. I'll go into more detail to explain it better. We will use developing e-Books for example. Instead of getting a graphic designer to design a specific layout for each of your e-Books you generate, it would be a lot easier and cheaper for you to get them to design a template. That way you can use that template for every e-Book you generate after that point instead of paying for it again. Even though this may seem like a different approach, it will save you tons of money in the long run. For your graphic designer its about the same amount of effort, but saves you money. This is just another creative idea on how you can build quality relationships with your vendors but also save yourself a lot of money. Your vendors and fulfillment companies can really make a difference in your business and these are just a few ideas on how you can build your relationship with them and also cut costs. More strategies will come to you if you only start thinking outside the box! By exploring your creativity ideas will come to you when you need them the most! About the Author: Answers to all the major business questions you have are only a click away. With live and recorded, audio, visual and written responses, Instant Business Answers can assist with small business support. |