Upgrade Your Business With A Vendor Management System
Finding reputable vendors is a top priority for any business. When a project requires a bit of finesse or becomes larger in scope, you need access to a stable of professional services at reasonable rates. Keeping track of high-performing vendors, assessing their work quality in real-time and the ability to select services from a wide range of vendors at any given moment are crucial when a project needs to get done.
Using a supplier or vendor management system saves you money and increases productivity while allowing you to focus on running your business. In normal circumstances, the business selects the vendor, describes the project and waits for the vendor to put in scope of work and a bid for the job. A vendor management system streamlines the process.
As software that collects and aggregates various vendors/suppliers across an array of vocations, you can access a diverse selection of vendors, monitor their work, see current and past payments, and much more. Here are a few ways using a vendor management system can help you upgrade your business:
Rapid communication with vendors
Good communication is a vital component of success in any vendor interaction. Clear communication helps build a long-term relationship with a vendor, ultimately leading to more trust and shared accountability for the success of both businesses. With vendor management software, you’ll have an invaluable tool for effective communication and interaction that allows you to quickly select, onboard and set up a relationship with new vendors while revealing better communication options for established ones.
Digitizing the process makes rapid contact through SMS, email and the software’s access portal are all fast options for quick, effective communication with your vendors. Establishing a clear line of communication with your vendors ensures they are suited to your needs and reflect your brand with the work they perform for your organization.
Reduce costs
Managing a supply chain and a list of reputable vendors is a costly process.
Successfully applying cost reduction solutions to your business relies on quality data covering everything from supplier lifecycle to monitoring vendors for hidden costs. Using vendor management software can help eliminate overhead, reduce maverick spending on the part of a vendor and reduce fees for the vendor. The vendor may give you preferred status and provide discounts or savings based on a great relationship.
Easy access to up-to-date vendor information
Quick access to past and current vendor information is a great way to not only assess risk, but to make optimal decisions based on past behavior. You can separate the highest and lowest rated suppliers within the system to better get a particular job done properly and spend less money in the long run.
You can view a complete breakdown of a vendor’s spending and access PO’s or invoice data from one place. You can also set the system to automatically remind vendors when to submit payment or to have them fill out additional information before they are allowed to submit their new invoices. Accurate information creates simpler vendor management and due diligence at both initial and subsequent contact is much simpler using up-to-date information.
Risk awareness and assessment
In a Smartsheet report on vendor management, Tom Reid of the Subcontract Management Institute—who oversees government contracts and helps organizations understand risks associated with supplier management—compares vendor relationships to the concept of marriage. By finding vendors who understand your own rules and ethics, you’ll be able to mitigate risk and nurture the relationship.
A software solution helps with the process by using AI-powered risk scores based on a supplier’s 3rd party data and interactions with suppliers from across the software’s install base. Most organizations only do risk assessments quarterly or annually, but a good software will perform them often.
Software also helps you avoid overlooking a particular vendor during the assessment process, continually updates its risk scores and suggests actions to take regarding suppliers as risk assessment changes. Understanding and assessing risk as it applies to your vendors will help inform your successful operation for a long time to come.
Use vendor management software for simplified project management
Ultimately, using a vendor management system will dramatically decrease the time you spend managing your vendors and foster continued success. While searching for a software solution, consider the offerings from a renowned company like Coupa. Known for their expansive and useful supply chain management software, their vendor management system offers everything you need to successfully assess supplier risks and manage vendors the easy way. Give their vendor management software a look and start implementing a long-term supplier management solution today.
