5
Corresponding With Vendors
A buyer usually has the upper hand over vendors. After all, as the adage states, “The customer is always right,” and the buyer is the customer. However, miscommunicating with or mistreating a vendor will affect a buyer’s bottom line. Here are some tips for more effective customer-to-supplier communications:
1. Put everything in writing. If something changes after a purchase order or contract is signed, be sure to put the changes into writing.
2. Be specific and precise. Spell out the details, terms, and conditions.
3. Don’t be a difficult customer. Difficult customers are often perceived as pests. Vendors may put you at the bottom of their priority list rather than the top. You won’t know they’ve done this—until your orders take more time to arrive.
4. Don’t overestimate your importance and power. Some customers delight in making vendors jump. However, they are surprised when successful vendors, who already have plenty of business, won’t fill more orders for them.
E-Mail Empowerment Tip
You can communicate with your vendors by e-mail for all the correspondence discussed in this chapter. For many of these communications, particularly those involving purchase orders, proposals, contracts, credit adjustments, requests that require detailed follow-up, and complaints for which you are asking for a specific resolution, you should e-mail your letter as an attachment (that is, a standard business letter typed on letterhead paper) that can be printed and filed, instead of typing it directly as an e-mail itself. This will better enable you to establish a paper trail of communications between you and your vendors. Whenever this approach is advisable for a particular type of correspondence, we have noted as such in the “Background” section for the correspondence; otherwise, you can just type the correspondence directly into e-mail.
Hiring vendors
To avoid misunderstandings and unexpected bills from vendors, put everything in writing. With the following sample letters, you can request proposals and sales presentations, award contracts, and notify losing bidders.
Requesting a proposal
Background: When you want to invite a vendor to place a bid on a project, you typically need to write a letter of transmittal, then include a request for a proposal (RFP) form, which invites the supplier to bid on the project and outlines the items that the supplier’s proposal must address. The sample provided shows a suitable letter of transmittal. (If using e-mail, you can type this letter of transmittal into the body of your e-mail message, but attach the RFP form as a separate file.)
Essential elements: Be sure your letter includes:
1. The job you want to hire out.
2. Notification that an RFP form is enclosed (if mailing your correspondence) or attached (if e-mailing).
3. The criteria that will be used to select a proposal.
4. An invitation to call with questions or clarifications.
Sample:
Dear Richard:
We have recently won a large-scale government project to produce mobile ground-based radar stations. We want to subcontract the antenna interface design and manufacture to one or more outside contractors.
Our RFP is enclosed [or attached]. If you wish to bid on this project, please respond by the date indicated in the RFP. Proposals will not be accepted after the deadline date.
Price as always is an important consideration. But we are not constrained to accept the low bid. The technical solution, reliability of supply, and conformance to military specifications are also important factors in our selection of subcontractors.
If you have any questions about this, please contact me. [If mailing a standard letter, state your contact information here. If using e-mail, include a statement that directs attention to your e-mail signature.]
Sincerely,
Request for a sales presentation
Background: It’s not difficult to get vendors to compete with one another to win your business. However, just because they’ll come at the drop of a hat for a sales presentation doesn’t mean such presentations are productive. Tell them why you are inviting them. Explain what they should bring and how to prepare. Be specific about the outcomes you expect. Why waste their time or yours? Make every meeting more productive.
Essential elements: When you ask vendors to present their services, ideas, or products, state in writing exactly what you’re looking for:
1. Begin by complimenting their work or reputation and extending an invitation to conduct a sales presentation.
2. Make it clear that this is a sales presentation, not a paid consultation.
3. Emphasize that you are actively seeking to hire a vendor for the particular service, product, or idea about which they will present.
4. State exactly what you would like the presentation to accomplish and how to prepare for this meeting.
5. Set a date and time, or ask them to call to arrange a convenient appointment.
Sample:
Dear Mr. Smith:
We’ve reviewed the sample portfolio you sent us and like what we see. We’d like to invite you to meet with the marketing department and discuss ideas for new promotions.
This would be a preliminary meeting, not a paid consultation. But we have an urgent need to improve response rates on mailings for more than a dozen products. If you like us and we like you, chances are good that you’ll walk away with an assignment to do a major package for us.
I’ve enclosed control mailings for six of our most critical products. Based on your review of these mailings, we’d be interested in hearing which product you feel you could be the most successful with—and why. We want to know how you would propose to beat mailings that have worked well and that are only tiring recently.
We’re hoping you’re available sometime next week, preferably Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Please let me know your availability so we can set a firm time and date. [If mailing a standard letter, state your contact information here. If using e-mail, include a statement that directs attention to your e-maiZ signature.]
Sincerely,
Acknowledgment of a sales presentation or proposal
Background: It takes time and energy for vendors to follow through on proposals and sales presentations. Waiting for your response can be agonizing for them. Your company can “outclass” others by simply sending off an acknowledgment of the vendors’ work and offering an estimated response time.
Essential elements: After you receive a sales presentation or a proposal, send a letter that includes the following:
1. A thank-you for the presentation.
2. A statement of how many vendors are being considered.
3. An assurance that no more proposals are being accepted.
4. An estimate of when you will choose a vendor and an assurance that all vendors will be notified of your decision.
5. A thank-you for showing interest in your company.
Sample:
Re: RFP #48508934 [Include this in the “subject” field if sending an e-mail.]
Dear Mr. Hasse:
Thanks for your proposal in response to our RFP.
We are reviewing proposals from you and four other vendors. No further proposals will be accepted.
Our decision will be made within two to three weeks. We will inform all bidders of their status by mail once a contractor or contractors are selected. Thanks again for your interest in Talbot Industries and the AMC-400 project.
Sincerely,
Awarding a contract
Background: A contract award is happy news for the vendor. The award is also made with great hopes, so let your enthusiasm set the tone. If you have questions or reservations, it’s best to bring them up before you award a contract, not after.
Essential elements: This is the kind of letter that keeps vendors in business. They are happy to get the news and need only a simple go-ahead to get the job going. Be sure to include:
1. A congratulatory introduction.
2. The exact job for which you are awarding the contract; include the RFP number (vendors have many bids out at one time).
3. A request for a meeting to finalize the contract details. (This can also be done through a telephone conference.)
Sample:
Re: RFP #48508934 [Include this in the “subject” field if sending an e-mail.]
Dear Mr. Hasse:
Congratulations! We are pleased to announce that we have selected your firm as the sole subcontractor for the AMC-400 project.
We suggest a meeting within the next week or so to work out particulars so that we can draw up a contract for your signature. Please call to set up an appointment. [If mailing a standard letter, state your contact information here. If using e-mail, include a statement that directs attention to your e-mail signature
Once again, congratulations!
Sincerely,
Notifying losing bidders
Background: Every sales presentation and proposal requires a response, even when it’s a negative one. Use the sample provided to notify firms who didn’t get the business. You can keep it on file on your computer (if using e-mail, in your “drafts” folder) and fill in the blanks when you need to send out notifications to losing bidders.
Essential elements:
1. An assurance that the proposal has been carefully reviewed.
2. A compliment about the quality of the company’s work.
3. A statement of rejection.
4. A thank-you.
5. A promise to consider the company for future projects.
Sample:
Re: RFP #________ [Include this in the “subject” field if sending an e-mail.]
Dear _________,
Your proposal for the _________ project has been carefully reviewed.
Although you are an impressive vendor, we have chosen to go with another subcontractor.
I thank you for your proposal effort. Your products might be right for some of our other contracts, and I will keep your company’s name on file for consideration for future projects.
Sincerely,
Placing and receiving orders
You can pick up the phone and order just about any service you want. But, again, to avoid miscommunication and unexpected bills, put everything in writing. In this section, you’ll find several samples to use when placing and receiving orders with your vendors. The following samples include a quick order request, a sample purchase order, and other letters to place an order, as well as letters to refuse a shipment, to cancel an order, and to report damages to an insurance carrier.
Purchase order
Background: Many companies use standard purchase orders to buy goods and services. If your company doesn’t already have a purchase order form, you can use the sample provided or a version of it.
Sample:
[Insert your company name and address.]
Purchase Order
Date:
Authorized by:
Purchase order number must appear on all invoices and correspondence. Please sign and return second and third copies.
E-Mail Empowerment Tip
If you would like to use e-mail to send a purchase order to a vendor, attach the electronic file of your completed purchase order form to your e-mail message, and state briefly in your message that you are placing an order and that a purchase order (state the purchase order number) is attached. Explain that the form must be signed and returned to you, and draw attention to the address in your e-mail signature to which the signed form should be sent.
Placing an order
Background: Small businesses that don’t use purchase forms or have computerized accounting systems often use simple letters to place orders or confirm telephone orders. When you know exactly what you want and who you want it from, dash off these easy kinds of order requests.
When using e-mail, attach your order request as a separate file, typed as a standard letter on letterhead, that you can print for filing and record-keeping.
Essential elements: The basic elements of a letter placing an order include:
1. Your company name and address (presumably on your letterhead).
2. A clear, numbered list of the items you’re ordering, including exactly what you need and how many you need.
3. When you need your order fulfilled.
4. How you want the order shipped.
5. How you will pay.
6. How and when the vendor should confirm receipt of the order.
Samples:
Letter #1: Standard order request
To whom it may concern:
Please send the following items to the above address via Fast Express Next-Day Air:
Catalog No. 675-XS, toner cartridge, $80 x 4 = $320
Catalog No. 232-QP, Canary yellow card stock (case), $47 x 1 = $47
Total of order: $367.
Sincerely,
Letter #2: Quick order request
Dear Samantha:
Our publishing company is planning its annual sales meeting on June 30 in Atlanta, Georgia. Approximately 225 people will attend. While I realize that time is limited, is it possible to obtain 250 copies of your brochure “Quality Time in Quality Lives” before June 15? These can be shipped COD to my attention at the above address.
If possible, would you call my assistant, Ivan Johnson, at 123-456-7890 within the next week to let him know whether these are available? Your cooperation is very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Refusal/return of a shipment
Background: Sometimes you will get a shipment from a vendor that needs to be returned because the contents are the wrong items, damaged, or not of the expected quality. In these cases, you can either ask the company to correct the mistake, or you can cancel the order and request a refund. In either case, explain clearly in writing why you are returning the items and what you expect the vendor to do.
If you would like to use e-mail to send this correspondence, definitely attach it to your e-mail as a separate file, typed on letterhead, so that you can print it and properly document your refusal of the shipment.
Essential elements: When refusing a shipment, state exactly what items you’re returning. You should:
1. Give your order number and enclose (if mailing your letter) or attach (if using e-mail) a copy of the original purchase order, if you had one.
2. Explain your reason for returning the items.
3. State what you want the vendor to do: either correct the order or refund your money.
4. Give a date by which you expect the correction or the refund.
5. End with a cordial thank-you.
Sample:
Dear Mr. Millington,
I am returning with this letter a recent shipment of 500 imprinted golf balls (order #3345) along with a copy of our original purchase order. As stated, the logo should be reproduced in our corporate color, which is green. The logos on the golf balls you sent are bright blue and therefore unacceptable.
Please make the necessary corrections and send another shipment of 500 golf balls (with the logo in our corporate green) by the 15th of this month. We need them for a company-sponsored event that starts the first of next month.
Thanks for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Canceling an order
Background: There are many reasons you might cancel an order after you’ve placed it. You might get tired of waiting for delivery. Or, if the product was not a special order just for you, you might cancel it if you find the material for a lower price elsewhere or if you decide you don’t need it any more. For whatever the reason, your cancellation should be made in writing.
If you would like to use e-mail to send this correspondence, attach it to your e-mail as a separate file, typed on letterhead and signed (you can scan your signed version and attach it to your e-mail). Again, this will better allow you to create a paper trail than casually typing your correspondence into an e-mail message. You could also fax this letter and follow up with a hard copy, if you so chose.
Essential elements:
1. Give your order number.
2. State the reason you are canceling your order.
3. Make it clear that because you did not accept delivery of the items, you do not expect to receive a bill.
Sample:
Re: Order #794556
Dear Mark:
After a six-week wait, we have not received the connectors we ordered from your company.
At this point, we can’t wait any longer without the risk of missing our production deadlines. I am buying the connectors from a local supplier and canceling my order with you.
I do not expect to receive a bill.
Sincerely,
Day-to-day contact
When you hire out work, you will often need to keep in touch with the vendors. The following sample letters will show you how to request a status update, request changes to a job, or discontinue an order.
Request for a status update
Background: A fax or e-mail is a good way to request a status update on an order or project from your vendors. Putting the query in writing helps clarify what you’re asking for and shows the vendor you are serious and expect a timely response.
Essential elements: Keeping track of your vendors can keep you very busy. Make it simple with a two- or three-sentence request for a status update. Include:
1. The project you’re inquiring about.
2. The date you expect to see the finished work.
3. Any information that will help the vendor meet your expectations.
4. A date by which you expect a status report.
Sample:
Dear Sam:
How is the Website coming? I know things are hectic over there, but I’m looking forward to seeing a sample of the site by Friday the 22nd. Be sure to scan in the photo I sent you last week and add the link to the publisher as we discussed. Please let me know how things are progressing by the end of this week. [If sending a fax, state your contact information here. If using e-maiZ, include a statement that directs attention to your e-mail signature.]
Thanks.
Cordially,
Request for changes to a job
Background: Another situation in which communication with vendors should be made or at least confirmed in writing is a request for changes to a job in progress.
If using e-mail, include this type of correspondence as a standard letter that is attached to your e-mail so that you can establish the proper paper trail. (A simple e-mail message might get lost in the shuffle, presenting problems if the changes you requested were not properly handled.)
Essential elements: It is important that this letter be very specific and each change be numbered. Be sure to include:
1. The name of the project you’re talking about.
2. A positive comment to open.
3. A numbered and detailed list of the changes you want.
4. A date you will call to confirm that the changes are understood.
Sample:
Dear Pat:
The ad layouts look good. My comments follow, along with some input from the client:
1. One layout has three columns of copy; the second has only one paragraph. Because the ad is copy-heavy, I feel only the three-column copy can be used. The rest of my comments apply to that copy.
2. I do not care for the image of the hand holding the disk. My suggestion would be to either show samples of stationery printed with the program or a printer churning out letterhead. The client prefers the latter.
3. The border around the entire ad needs something, perhaps a shadow.
You’ve done a great job! Laura will call you tomorrow to discuss all of this.
Thanks,
Discontinuation of a vendor’s services
Background: As vendors ourselves, we can tell you that we become concerned when a satisfied client suddenly stops requesting our services. “What did we do wrong?” we ask ourselves. Often, it’s not that a vendor did anything wrong, it’s that the client’s needs, objectives, priorities, and situation have changed. If you stop using a vendor, especially one with which you have been satisfied, you should explain why. Believe us, it’s comforting to know.
Essential elements: When you have to discontinue service from vendors you are satisfied with, be sure to include:
1. A positive statement about their work.
2. The fact that you will not be sending an order in the near future.
3. The reason for discontinuing the service.
4. An expectation of more orders at a later date.
Sample:
Dear Gary:
Enclosed is a summary of the interpersonal skills workshop evaluations. We are very pleased with the results, and you exceeded our expectations! Thank you for tailoring the course to meet our objectives.
Even with the good feedback, however, we will not be able to schedule another workshop with you this year. The money is simply not available. However, I hope that next year will be another story. Once again, it was a pleasure working with you!
Sincerely,
Problem situations
In any business, there are times when things don’t go smoothly. When you have a problem with a vendor, be prompt about your complaint and clearly state what you need to fix the problem. The following letters will show you how to ask for a credit adjustment and clarify information on a vendor invoice.
Request for a credit adjustment
Background: Refunds or credits should always be requested in writing—and, if you really want to use e-mail, should always be attached as a formal letter typed on letterhead, preferably a signed copy that you have scanned. This gives you a written record with a date to use as follow-up if the request is initially ignored. Be sure to print and save a copy for your files.
Essential elements: If you’re not happy with a service or product and want a refund or credit, your letter must be direct and firm. It should include:
1. Documented details of the problem.
2. What you expect done (discontinue, return, remove, and so forth).
3. The amount of refund or credit you expect.
4. The date by which you expect these things done.
Sample:
Dear Ms. Jordan:
On February 28, you installed a water-purification system in our office building. On the following dates, we requested service: March 3, 10, 20, 25; April 7, 14, 20, 23; May 2, 9, 10. The system is still not functioning today.
We have been more than patient with the system and your technicians’ work. As I said on the phone this morning, I want the system removed immediately. Also, please issue a check for $935.35, the amount we have paid to date. Please complete the above transaction no later than May 22.
Sincerely,
Request for clarification of a vendor invoice
Background: Because this is a routine matter, many accounts payable departments have form letters for dealing with this problem when it occurs. Type the following form letter and save it on your computer, or save it as a form e-mail message in the “drafts” folder of your e-mail program, and use it whenever you encounter missing or incomplete information on a vendor’s invoice. No other writing is really necessary.
Sample:
Re: Your invoice #-[Inclucle this in the “subject” field if sending an e-mail.]
Dear Vendor:
Your invoice is being returned to you for the following reason(s):
__ No purchase order number
- No job number
__ No Social Security or federal tax ID number
__ Amount of invoice does not match purchase order
__ No sign-off of acceptance from customer
__ No/incomplete receipt of goods
P!ease add any missing data and resolve any of the other issues indicated. Then resubmit your invoice for payment.
Thank-you correspondence
Sometimes a vendor is particularly good. When that happens, say so in writing. This simple communication is an excellent way to cement business relationships that benefit both the client and the vendor.
Praise of a vendor
Background: Customers are quick to complain and slow to praise. If you are happy with a vendor, say so in writing. The goodwill from such an act will make you stand out!
Essential elements: When you have something nice to say, it’s not necessary to get gushy or overdo the flattery. Simply state:
1. What you like about the service or product.
2. How it has helped your business.
3. That the vendor can expect more business from you in the future.
Sample:
Dear Tiffany:
I want to tell you how much we like your DVD program I Don’t Have Customers. We recently used it in our seminar “Interpersonal Skills for Systems Professionals.” The program clearly and forcefully gets across the point to our trainees that we all have customers—even those of us who serve internal departments. One technical professional said after the course that viewing the DVD opened his eyes and changed his entire attitude for the better.
Thanks again for a great program. I’m sure your DVDs will become an essential element of our interpersonal skills courses in the future.
Sincerely,
Thank-you for extra effort
Background: In today’s competitive business world, many vendors bend over backward to service, please, and retain clients. Clients know this and often demand it. The only reward for the vendor is often retention of the account.
When a vendor pulls out all the stops to serve you, the least expensive thing you can do to motivate the vendor is to thank the vendor sincerely. Few customers do it, so your note of appreciation stands out. If you don’t think motivating suppliers should be a concern of yours, think again. Not all customers are treated equally; some are a vendor’s favorites. Why not position yourself as a favorite customer, so when it counts, you will get the service and delivery you need?
Essential elements: You can’t send a letter or e-mail of thanks to every person you do business with all day long, but when someone goes out of the way to make things work for you, be sure to say so with a letter or e-mail message that includes:
1. A strong, clear thank-you.
2. Your understanding that this was a special effort.
3. A promise of future business.
Sample:
Dear Madelyn:
What a great Orlando meeting! And we have you to thank!
The problems with the hotel could not have been anticipated. When they happen, most clients come down on their meeting planners, as I did on you. The pressure from my unhappy management made me short-tempered. But not only did you handle the situation with grace, you got things solved!
Aside from the first-day mishaps, this was our smoothest conference ever. You can be sure of our continued patronage of your meeting planning services. In fact, we should be thinking about next year soon. Give me a call after Labor Day if you don’t hear from me first.
Sincerely,
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.