{"id":1489,"date":"2014-01-28T16:43:15","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T16:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/?p=852"},"modified":"2024-01-23T11:36:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T11:36:10","slug":"3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Improve Communications with Suppliers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Developing and maintaining strong supplier partnerships depends on a solid foundation of successful communication.<\/p>\n

In our thirty years of experience at the table with clients and suppliers around the world, we’ve seen a range of outcomes where communications are concerned. \u00a0The impact is quite often more substantial than you may think, with some arguing that communications are the primary reason for a partnership’s success or failure.<\/p>\n

Certainly, there is no shortage of recommendations out there for improving communications. \u00a0However, our three recommendations focus on suppliers and our observations over the years.<\/p>\n

1. Recognize that communication is about understanding.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In order for us to understand a perspective outside of our own, we need to actively listen. \u00a0We are all guilty of wanting to believe we’re right, but the mindful moment is when we realize that others think they are right as well.<\/p>\n

Recognizing that communication is about understanding means that we allow all parties to express their position without judgement, interruption or disrespect. \u00a0Communication ceases to exist without this.<\/p>\n

Ask yourself, what is their purpose as compared to yours at this particular moment? \u00a0Our clients and their suppliers often find their objectives are more similar than they thought. \u00a0With common ground, understanding is less stressful and more focused on problem solving.<\/p>\n

Bonus: Taking time to listen and evaluate in any given situation actually saves time because it’s likely to avoid conflicts, miscommunication, etc.<\/p>\n

2. Nonverbal communication counts.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In addition to managing our own nonverbal communications, it is helpful to assess the other party’s as well.<\/p>\n

The tone of someone’s voice is considered nonverbal communication. \u00a0Be mindful of the tone in any communications, from email to face-to-face. Clarify before assuming.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

With operations in over thirty countries, we recognize there’s a heavy reliance on email. \u00a0But, when emails and regular phone calls fail to get the desired results, try Skype (or whatever similar) or an actual face-to-face before giving up. \u00a0The best communicators know exactly when to make that call.<\/p>\n

3. Stay positive. \u00a0Seriously, stay positive.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Staying positive definitely sounds easier than it may be at times, especially when you’re facing production issues, shipment deadlines, etc. \u00a0Higher stress situations often send all of the regular rules of communications packing. You want your purchase order and you want it to match the specifications. \u00a0The supplier wants their payment and says you weren’t specific enough. \u00a0What’s there to smile about in this situation?<\/p>\n

Well, take a moment and consider the effect of not smiling in this situation. \u00a0Not staying positive has a much higher incidence of the situation not getting resolved in an ideal manner. \u00a0Even if you feel like you’ve gotten what you wanted in any given situation, the future of the relationship \u00a0may have suffered because you didn’t think about the long-term investment. \u00a0There’s often significant value there. \u00a0 And, consider that even if you don’t value this particular relationship, it is entirely possible to believe that your negative reaction will result in a poor perception of your organization to your stakeholders. \u00a0That’s not good.<\/p>\n

So, be positive… Take that extra moment to process the effect that being negative will have on the situation and rest assured you do catch more flies with honey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Developing and maintaining strong supplier partnerships depends on a solid foundation of successful communication. In our thirty years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[73,17,18],"class_list":["post-1489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supplier-management","tag-communication","tag-quality","tag-supplier"],"yoast_head":"\nThree Ways to Improve Communication With Suppliers - Pro QC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pro QC International has three recommendations when focusing on supplier quality from our 40 years of experience and observations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Ways to Improve Communication With Suppliers - Pro QC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pro QC International has three recommendations when focusing on supplier quality from our 40 years of experience and observations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Quality Blog | News on Quality Assurance & Control | Pro QC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-28T16:43:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-23T11:36:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jennifer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jennifer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jennifer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/031754d39d861d38ee251d8605b3cb7f\"},\"headline\":\"3 Ways to Improve Communications with Suppliers\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-28T16:43:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-23T11:36:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":548,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"communication\",\"quality\",\"supplier\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Supplier Management\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Three Ways to Improve Communication With Suppliers - Pro QC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-28T16:43:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-23T11:36:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/031754d39d861d38ee251d8605b3cb7f\"},\"description\":\"Pro QC International has three recommendations when focusing on supplier quality from our 40 years of experience and observations.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp\",\"width\":400,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 Ways to Improve Communications with Suppliers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pro QC\",\"description\":\"Follow the Pro QC blog to find articles, news, case studies, and videos on quality assurance, quality control, supplier audits, supply chain, and manufacturing.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/031754d39d861d38ee251d8605b3cb7f\",\"name\":\"jennifer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a4a0ae554a0b3c6081c4bc6672dc4e65951bf441f2e45f3afd1fe1b91fd73cde?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a4a0ae554a0b3c6081c4bc6672dc4e65951bf441f2e45f3afd1fe1b91fd73cde?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a4a0ae554a0b3c6081c4bc6672dc4e65951bf441f2e45f3afd1fe1b91fd73cde?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jennifer\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/proqc.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/jennifer\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Three Ways to Improve Communication With Suppliers - Pro QC","description":"Pro QC International has three recommendations when focusing on supplier quality from our 40 years of experience and observations.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Three Ways to Improve Communication With Suppliers - Pro QC","og_description":"Pro QC International has three recommendations when focusing on supplier quality from our 40 years of experience and observations.","og_url":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/","og_site_name":"Quality Blog | News on Quality Assurance & Control | Pro QC","article_published_time":"2014-01-28T16:43:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-23T11:36:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"jennifer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jennifer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/"},"author":{"name":"jennifer","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/031754d39d861d38ee251d8605b3cb7f"},"headline":"3 Ways to Improve Communications with Suppliers","datePublished":"2014-01-28T16:43:15+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-23T11:36:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/"},"wordCount":548,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp","keywords":["communication","quality","supplier"],"articleSection":["Supplier Management"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/","url":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/","name":"Three Ways to Improve Communication With Suppliers - Pro QC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp","datePublished":"2014-01-28T16:43:15+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-23T11:36:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/031754d39d861d38ee251d8605b3cb7f"},"description":"Pro QC International has three recommendations when focusing on supplier quality from our 40 years of experience and observations.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/improve-personal-communication-1.webp","width":400,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/3-ways-to-improve-communications-with-suppliers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 Ways to Improve Communications with Suppliers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/","name":"Pro QC","description":"Follow the Pro QC blog to find articles, news, case studies, and videos on quality assurance, quality control, supplier audits, supply chain, and manufacturing.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/031754d39d861d38ee251d8605b3cb7f","name":"jennifer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4a0ae554a0b3c6081c4bc6672dc4e65951bf441f2e45f3afd1fe1b91fd73cde?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4a0ae554a0b3c6081c4bc6672dc4e65951bf441f2e45f3afd1fe1b91fd73cde?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4a0ae554a0b3c6081c4bc6672dc4e65951bf441f2e45f3afd1fe1b91fd73cde?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jennifer"},"url":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/author\/jennifer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1489"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3815,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489\/revisions\/3815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proqc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}