Show vendors some love

Our bookkeeper, Kristen, recently left after 8 years of service. Her husband was transferred to another city, so she resigned.

As is customary for departing employees, we provided a send-off luncheon with pizza, cake and a group photo so she will always remember her motley co-workers. She was gracious and appreciative, but life moves on.

The day of the party was filled with sunshine, fresh blooms and the promise of spring. The scene made me eager for nicer weather and ways to use it to our advantage. I don’t mean increasing parts production, but leveraging the season for promotional and “we appreciate you” events, such as luncheons and open houses, to mingle with and thank good customers and vendors for partnering with us.

We’ve always enjoyed hosting functions, and there are inexpensive ways to promote a shop and show appreciation. Friday cookouts or catered pizza parties are usually effective.

If providing cooked food isn’t possible, hosting an open house in a tidy shop with lots of good part samples and refreshments effectively promotes your services and people. Even if you have ample business, an event to thank customers and suppliers for contributing to that success is a sound business practice.

While communication via email, portals and text messages is common, sometimes a face-to-face meet and greet goes a long way. Last fall, for example, we outsourced a sizable amount of business to a newer vendor as a result of an order from a large customer. The vendor did a good job.

After the job was invoiced, though, the customer informed us of its new payment policy—unfortunately an increasingly common one—to pay invoices every “X” number of weeks or months. Because of the customer’s corporate nature, we couldn’t force payment as soon as we wanted, delaying payment to our vendor as a result of our own sporadic cash flow.

The vendor requested payment, understandably frustrated as it was 10 to 15 days late. I had never had the opportunity to personally meet the key managers, so I went to their shop and met them in person, offering a couple of solutions. The outreach helped, and we resolved the matter quickly. From that point on, they had the confidence of knowing me and were easier to work with. This approach allowed us to remain on good terms and continue working with them, even though we had disrupted their cash flow. Next time we have a function, this good vendor will be invited so we can maintain this relationship and continue working together.

You may take a different approach to handling such a scenario, but finding ways to meet, interface with and show appreciation for customers and vendors can help any business. My departing bookkeeper loyally served our company and left on a sunny day, motivating us to take advantage of the time ahead.

P.S. Cheers and much luck to you, Kristen!