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If you own or market an Oregon business, it's likely that you receive a dozen or so calls each week from vendors wanting to help you with your Web site, promotional items, advertising, public relations, graphic design, collateral printing, directory listings, or comprehensive marketing plans. How you select and manage your vendor relationships can have a huge impact on your success in the marketplace.
Consider for a moment your current vendor relationships. Are you getting everything out of them that you possibly can? In other words, are you working together as a team to meet your company's specific needs on a strategic basis, or do vendors just pepper you with calls, trying to get you to spend money? Have you investigated the benefits of doing business with similar vendors in the marketplace? Many of you may have compared costs from one vendor to another, but what about other considerations such as quality, timeliness, and intangible or tangible benefits provided at no cost?
Here's a specific example. If you have hired someone to put up a Web site for you, does the designer know your industry and target market? If not, have you trained the designer about your target customer and industry? Also, have you considered how your Web site might integrate into other company software programs to make it self-updating? Can other features and functions be added in the future for low cost? Can they save you labor costs in the long run? Does your designer have the capacity to help you build and design new cutting-edge technology so that you stand out from the crowd? If you can manage to find vendors who give you something special or help you win awards in your industry, that can turn into valuable public relations and customer goodwill for your company.
The same ideas apply equally to all vendors in different ways. Many vendors offer special programs or incentives or are willing to work with you to create something unique to help your business stand out. And once you have something in place, keep it and move on to studying the next vendor relationship. Innovation and creativity means never standing still. Your competitors will be following you.
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