Many businesses these days prefer to buy their products from certain Chinese suppliers. If you are a bulk purchaser from any Chinese company, then surely you can persuade your supplier to improve their performance like:
- Quality improvement in their products
- Reduce the cost of production
- Improve the delivery time
- Improve their overall service
- Develop a custom product faster.
This kind of process of improving the suppliers is termed supplier development. This will not only improve your supply from China, but also help you to increase your profit margin. Your supplier will also be benefitted as a result.
Your supplier development process can be further improved if you hire Qualified China buying agents because such agents are well aware of the Chinese business environment and also can monitor your supplier easily.
Various ways to motivate your supplier
The following are a few common approaches that you can employ while dealing with your suppliers in China so that they will be motivated to improve their supplies:
- Offer your expert assistance
Your supplier will surely welcome any expert guidance offered. However, you need to be careful as a few companies might take it as an offense.
If you collaborate with your supplier rather than simply ordering them an instruction, then you have a better chance of success. Your qualified China buying agents can play an important role here.
- Hold formal meetings regularly
You can be highly benefitted if you can conduct a formal meeting with your supplier at least once every quarter, where you can discuss on:
- Areas of underperformance
- The ways to address issues.
This kind of initiative from your end can surely give you positive results.
- Compare with other Chinese suppliers
It can also benefit you by comparing with some other anonymous suppliers for emulating their competitive nature and/or convince your supplier to consider your suggestions seriously.
- Penalise the mistakes of your suppliers
You may also try to penalise the mistakes of your suppliers in several ways. Some of the examples are:
- Asking for 100% source checking
- Performing frequent audits at the expense of the supplier
This will undoubtedly make their mistakes a little more unpleasant and motivate them to avoid making the same ones again.
However, you must exercise restraint to prevent a rift in the relationship. Qualified China buying agents can play a very important role here.
- Offer an incentive for a good supply
You can also offer financial incentives for quality supply and timely deliveries. This will surely encourage your supplier to offer you a better service.
How to choose your supply agent?
As you can see that qualified China buying agents have got a major role in your supplier development process and hence you must take the following steps to choose your agent.
- Check reputation and track record
Ensure that the agent has a good reputation for his professionalism.
- Know their expertise and specialization
Ensure that he is well accustomed to your product.
- Supplier network and relationships
Know about his network and his relationships with them.
- Quality control and inspections
Agent must help you to do an inspection at the supplier’s premises.
- Communication and language skills
Ensure that the agent can write and speak well both in English and Mandarin.
- Transparent pricing and fees
He must charge reasonable fees.
- Flexibility
Agent must be responsive and have a flexible attitude.
- Compliance and ethical standards
Check the ethics of your agent before hiring.
Conclusion
If you are interested to do business with a Chinese supplier on a long-term basis then it is necessary to develop your suppliers with a carrot-and-stick approach as mentioned above.
Involving a trustworthy Chinese sourcing agent can be very useful for you.