When Sunil Bharti Mittal outsourced just about every major function at Airtel to different Vendors like IBM, Nokia Ericson, the Business world was taken by surprise. I remember a leading business magazine questioning the move as a part of its cover story. That radical move changed the face of the industry and now outsourcing major functions to vendors has become the norm – not just in telecom companies but others too.
That means, Airtel does not have ‘direct’ control over a large part of its business. The actual ‘job’ is done by someone else. Some ‘vendor’ that they decided to sign up with. Which means, if the Vendor Screws up, Airtel Screws up. If the vendor excels, Airtel excels.
Given the way business is evolving globally and the huge focus on sticking to one’s Core Competence [God Bless your soul – CK Prahlad], Vendor Management is going to be a
major component of whether your business succeeds or not.
Whether it is as intimate a relationship as outsourcing your entire IT function OR creating brochures for you company – you are dealing with a vendor. But what do we usually do with our vendors? Do we consider Vendor Management as the most ‘Strategic’ part of our business??
I don’t have some comprehensive list on what you should be doing – but here’s a start.
• Do you enjoy working with your Vendors? Is the process of doing business fun for both of you’ll? Not just the end product. But the process of getting to the end product. You are going to spend a large part of your working hours dealing with Vendors. If you can’t stand their sight, there is no point working with them.
• Is your vendor making a decent amount of money off the transaction? You heard me right. It should be your concern that the vendor makes a decent amount of money of the transaction. Negotiate well. But don’t haggle to death and kill your vendor’s joy of working with you. Often 4 people try to negotiate a single deal. Beat the rate and vendors to death. In the end, the joy of doing business is gone. The vendor is not making enough money and stops feeling strongly about the project at hand. He may do the stuff for low margins out of some compulsion but will rarely produce great work if he is unhappy with the way he is remunerated.
• Is your vendor trustworthy? Can u trust him to deliver?
• Does your vendor understand your company well? The culture, the working etc.? More importantly, is he taking the effort to??
• Is your vendor enthusiastic?? Big factor. Enthusiasm is infectious. If your Vendors are enthusiastic that’s bound to rub off on you. Enthusiasm about work is the biggest key to the success of any business.
• Will he go out of his way for you? In any business, slip ups are bound to happen. You will slip up really bad. Your boss will be sitting on your head for something. At that time, does your vendor go out of his way to meet your need and that of the company? If he saves your rear when you need it, that’s a sign of a real good vendor. [ I’m DEAD serious]
• Does your vendor believe in Innovating? You are often as Innovative as your vendors. If your vendor does a super creative event or ad film – your company becomes innovative. So ensure that you work with Vendors that believe in Innovation as a philosophy.
• Work with a few trusted Vendors instead of spreading yourself too thin.
In my years as a Professional, I have realized that you are often as good as your Vendors. Finding the right Vendors for my business – both – when I worked for a Fortune 50 company or an entrepreneur has been a struggle. So go out and look for them. Once you have found them, don’t let them go.