We Make Our Pharmacy Supplier Relationships Stable
The fundamental thing about a business relationship is a healthy connection between the sides
We try hard to let our clients buy what they want and receive the parcels with medications and pharmaceutical equipment timely. Supplier Relationships have become the leading driving force of any business. When it comes to honest relationships between the partners, you’ll have to get through tough decisions. Establishing a stable communication involves mutual understanding and reciprocal ways when the time comes to make serious choices.
Challenges We Face
My Canadian Pharmacy team has been through many challenging situations concerning the suppliers’ fulfillment of obligations.
- Some of them decided they are not willing to continue working with us within the obligations established in the official agreement. They terminated it without any preliminary discussion about the potential that our online pharmacy could bring.
- Some of them were not pleased with the changes in our management staff and tried to impose their terms of the contract, which was not always beneficial for the pharmacy.
Supplier Relationships: The Big Divide
Basing on our experience, as well as on the knowledge of our associates, we found out that the suppliers can be divided into three primary groups:
- Suppliers who demonstrate initiative and a keen interest in a partnership with our pharmacy;
- Suppliers who are ready to work with us only if we strictly follow their rules and regulations;
- Suppliers who were not interested in the cooperation demonstrating coldness and absence of business interest in us.
By trial and error, we’ve managed to find a balance between our needs and potential suppliers’ possibilities. We want to make sure we have sufficient control over our business while making our customers fully satisfied. No one wants to feel vulnerable when it comes to public health and financial matters.
We’ve Regained Control
We have decided to avoid challenging situations with partners not ready to come up with a compromise. No matter whether it’s a pharmacy member or the representative of the supplier’s management — anyone has the right to discuss complementary options. Improvements that can be added to the existing contract at any time.
There’s no universal approach to supplier relationship management.
Throughout the years, we’ve learned how to deal with this issue with the help of the following simple steps:
- Make sure you understand what you want from the potential partnership. Create an overall image of your potential supplier. What kind of a vendor will fulfill your expectations about your successful cooperative business? What requirements do you have?
- You should be open-minded and frank in communication. An open conversation will save you from a lot of trouble. Never be against of the regular visits of the supplier’s management representatives to your pharmacy office. Share information about your successes and failures. Honesty is the chief support of your business — your vendor has the right to know whether you manage to control everything.
- There’s nothing wrong with a polite rejection. Besides, you don’t have to excuse yourself for this. If it’s clear that the requirements of the current or potential supplier are unfair or senseless. Each of the requirements should be at least partially profitable for both of you. If you need time to make the decision, you have the right to make the pause. If the potential supplier is not ready to find a mutually rewarding solution, your relationship will get tense and fruitless over time.
- Demonstrate your best qualities. You are a customer who needs high-end service from the supplier of healthcare products. Both of you deal with the business. That’s why you should demonstrate your best sides to show that your performance can be trusted even if you have flaws at present.
- Understand that the supplier also experiences pressure. The company has to deal with a significant number of businesses unable to adhere to the rules established previously. Show that you can be trusted.
- Don’t forget about the reasonable evaluation of your medication suppliers. It’s highly essential to get accustomed to each other. Take things slow and be objective while evaluating your current business relationship. Make reviews and collect statistics not to make mistakes in the future or to improve your communication at present.
Supplier Relationships: Essential Factors
- Mutual trust and regular communication from both sides. Get in touch daily, create a shared account, learn to discuss troublesome issues, make your business relationship as close as it can be.
- Honesty is your best policy. This truth is evenly important for all relationships, no matter whether they are about romance or business. Your objectives, plans, and strategies should be shared at least partially. Avoid unpleasant surprises not to lose trust.
- Taking and giving should be even. It’s about the ability to find compromises. Concessions are reasonable in a healthy business relationship. Just make sure your supplier is not pushing you too hard.
- Collaborative success. You should take sufficient time to get profit and success from the brand medication provided by the supplier. Both of you should deal with metrics and statistics. When you find ways to measure your progress, you’ll get better results in the pharmaceutical business.
Bottom Line
Collaborative success and the ability to accept each other’s flaws will bring your pharmacy to a whole new level of success. Reputable distributors and online pharmacies are a part of an extensive healthcare governmental system aiming to help numbers of people remotely. Pharmacies need traditional drugs, and other pharmaceutical products delivered regularly.
Properly arranged logistics and high-quality products are key to the successful pharmaceutical business. My Canadian Pharmacy understands the efficiency of this collaboration. Our supply chain partners provide us with safe and cost-effective meds so that you can enjoy affordable and effective treatment solutions.