Here\u2019s a piece of advice that, if followed, will make you a better purchasing professional: adopt the philosophy \u201cIf it\u2019s the vendor\u2019s fault, it\u2019s really my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
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You pick your vendors. You manage your vendors. So you need to be responsible for your vendors.<\/p>\n
It is a pet peeve of mine when companies blame their vendors when they fail to fulfill their obligations to their customers. As if they totally absolve themselves of responsibility.<\/p>\n
In the last 10 days, I\u2019ve had two experiences like this that I thought were interesting and\/or funny enough to share.<\/p>\n
First, I decided to take my kids to a Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 baseball game. One of the factors in choosing the day that they went was their promotion for that day: a slick looking Freddy Sanchez jersey for kids 12 and under.<\/p>\n
When we got to the game, a Pirates representative handed my kids a cheap looking Freddy Sanchez t-shirt along with this card:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note the first line: \u201cDue to a delay on the part of our vendor\u2026\u201d Finger-pointing at its finest. Or worst.<\/p>\n
Then, today\u2026I was planning on working through lunch. Walking distance from our office is a Unimart that serves surprisingly good pizza. So I decided to go there.<\/p>\n
I walk up to the counter where their pizza display is and\u2026no pizza. I ask if they have pizza and they tell me there will be no pizza today.<\/p>\n
OK, I\u2019ll get one of their cheeseburgers instead. There are mustard packets but no ketchup. I\u2019ll ask about that later.<\/p>\n
Then I go to their beverage coolers. Not a single bottle of water.<\/p>\n
OK, Sprite will work.<\/p>\n
So I go to check out. I ask about the ketchup. The cashier says that they have ketchup packets and excuses herself to go find them. She returns and says they have no ketchup.<\/p>\n
I start a joking rant about them having nothing. The cashier interrupts me to say \u201cWe don\u2019t have any bags, is that OK?\u201d<\/p>\n
At this point, I am laughing quite hysterically. The manager comes out and says \u201cWe don\u2019t have anything, but it\u2019s not our fault.\u201d I ask what he means and he says \u201cSuch-and-Such Company (I don\u2019t recall the name) hasn\u2019t delivered in four weeks. I have their customer service number, do you want to call them?\u201d<\/p>\n
I said that that\u2019s his problem, not mine, but he may want to talk to the people across the street (Next Level Purchasing) about getting some training about how to manage their vendors\u2026<\/p>\n
Again, if it\u2019s the vendor\u2019s fault, it\u2019s really your fault.<\/p>\n
Treat your work like this and your vendors will perform better. You will be inspired to defend your pride to yourself.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t take the \u201cUnimart Manager\u201d approach to vendor management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here\u2019s a piece of advice that, if followed, will make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"\n