Willingness and readiness to act
A key element often overlooked in supplier evaluation programs is your willingness and readiness to act on the feedback you receive from key strategic partners. These suppliers may sometimes feel that their feedback is disappearing into a “black hole”! To prevent this, here are three vital communication steps you should follow:
Firstly, always respond to the supplier, letting them know you’re taking their feedback into account. This acknowledgment lets them know that their voice is being heard.
Secondly, take appropriate actions based on the feedback and allow the supplier to comment on the changes being implemented. This creates a sense of inclusion and ownership for the supplier.
Finally, if for any reason you decide not to act on a part of the feedback, communicate this to the supplier. They need to understand that you’ve considered their input but have a thoughtful reason for not acting on it.
Decoding Feedback
Improvements often come from small adjustments rather than massive overhauls of existing processes. This involves analyzing the feedback carefully. In your formal evaluation programs it helps to pair traditional Client-on-Supplier ratings with Supplier-on-Client feedback for a more comprehensive view of the issues.
Its worth noting that some suppliers may be more candid than others. With this in mind, it helps to focus less on the exact scores and more on trends and patterns in ratings. A drop in scores, regardless of the scale, is worth your attention.
One of the most frustrating factors to deal with is “sweetened” comments, where feedback addressing issues is couched in compliments. This may require some reading between the lines! The good news is you may find that supplier comments become more direct as suppliers become more accustomed to the 360 process.
Treat Feedback Responsibly
Given suppliers’ varying degrees of openness, you should avoid comparing overall feedback scores across suppliers or using those scores to rank performance internally. This can be seen as a breach of trust, which may lead to undermining your feedback process.
Taking Ownership of the Action Plan
Once you’ve committed to addressing feedback, it’s essential to have a systematic action plan. We recommend incorporating a structured communication strategy, which should:
- Identify the main processes & behaviors the client needs to improve
- Create an actionable plan
- Identify and utilize development resources
Finally, it’s crucial that client stakeholders take responsibility for the action plan. The effectiveness of an action plan is dependent on its implementation. This is a shared journey which helps to enhance your strategic B2B relationships.
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