When you think about your organization as a whole, its likely overwhelming to consider how many external vendors your department heads work with on a daily basis. Whether it be for shredding, AP software, copiers, IT vendor, or even cleaning services – it can be difficult and time consuming to keep track of each. In addition, it can be extremely costly.
In contrast, companies that offer multiple services may offer discounts if you choose more than one service on a contract. This quarter is a great time to evaluate your current expenses and processes with your external vendors and see if a “one vendor” approach works into your operational goals. Here are our top reasons to consider consolidating your vendors.
Top 3 Reasons To Consolidate Your Vendor Relationships
1. Increases Your Bottom Line
The old saying goes, “Time is Money.” Think about how many hours are in a work-day. Do you really want to spend that valuable time tracking down vendors for a project, paying separate administrative fees, and missing out on multiple product discounts? It all adds up. What may sound minuscule now, could really impact your bottom line when you start calculating the cost of doing business with multiple partners. If you’re looking for ways to maximize your budgets, the first place you should look is into vendor consolidation. Chances are, some of your favorite vendors offer products and services that you weren’t aware of. With one partner, you can likely place larger orders, take advantage of special discounts offered to customers that expand within that company, and eliminate any hidden fees that may be present with some of your other suppliers.
2. They Can Manage Expectations of Services Across the Entire Company to Compliment Your Goals
Think about your own client base. You likely take the time to understand their organization so you can work to cover their goals. A caterer doesn’t usually sell just the hamburger. They also sell the bun, French fries, coleslaw and other sides. You don’t purchase the fountain soda without the cup, do you? Likewise, in your office environment, working with one vendor that offers multiple product lines and services can help alleviate challenges in every aspect of your business. For example, a technology provider offers copiers, managed print services, IT Services, document management, and shredding services. It would make your life a whole lot easier to work with one business for all of those office needs, wouldn’t it? Their consultants can evaluate the scope of your business and provide you one solution that will solve your challenges. Creating meaningful relationships with minimal vendors allows you to be very strategic with your time and communication.
3. ONE Vendor To Call If You Experience Issues
In a perfect world, you could snap your fingers and any service call would be placed for you, every invoice would be paid, and every salesperson would leave you alone. But, unfortunately that’s not how the real world works. However, having a much simpler process for ordering, having one invoice, one salesperson, and one customer service line to call would make your life a lot easier I would imagine.
While it’s common knowledge that you can’t find that ONE fairy godmother vendor that can take over every single aspect of your operations, there’s a good chance that many of your vendors can still be consolidated. While it sounds like a lot of work, the outcome will be well worth it. Many companies even offer vendor management services through their IT division so that could be another route to consider. There is always a way to make operations more streamlined, which in the end, will impact your overall customer experience (which is your ultimate goal.)