Improve the B2B Communication
Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.
Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:
- Quality, range and design
- Delivery method, speed
- Communication, method and level of service
- Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
- Prices, wholesale and retail price
A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. By adding value to the business relationship the product that is supplied moves away from just becoming a commodity item that can be sourced from anyone.
If wholesalers do not adequately value the many benefits that working with a professional and well organised supplier brings they may suffer from higher overheads and lost reputation working with suppliers that deliver sub-standard products, late without proper, clear or accurate invoice and delivery documentation.
By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. By understanding and taking into consideration the requirements of both parties the business processes between any two organizations can be streamlined and all parties benefit from all the efficiencies that come from implementing a more efficient order fulfilment programme.
For manufacturers it is in their interest to establish long term contracts that will allow them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers are interested in the benefits that long term relationships can bring. By manufacturers and wholesalers working together the whole fulfilment process can be streamlined and companies can work towards a just in time model where the need to hold large volumes of stock is reduced and along with all the associated costs.
The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.