Should Vendors Be Surveyed?
It sounds controversial--what do you think? Should vendors be surveyed to determine their satisfaction with purchasing staff? It would be interesting to know what vendors really think of purchasing staff, wouldn't it?
Even if you agree, how would you obtain candid vendor feedback? Most vendors would be reluctant to provide feedback on purchasing staff, concerned that their input will not be anonymous or confidential. To ensure anonymity and confidentiality, an Internet-based blind survey could be used.
So what questions are appropriate and make sense to ask? The feedback solicited from vendors should be more open-ended than quantitative. The rationale for open-ended survey questions for vendors is that they are likely to be unwilling to provide post-survey feedback--you're going to have to take action based on the responses provided and you're not going to be able to get any other anecdotal feedback. Here are some example questions:
· Do you feel that the VMO staff was fair during the negotiation process?
· Did the VMO staff respond to your requests on a timely basis?
· Did the VMO staff provide you with straightforward answers?
· Do you feel that the VMO facilitates or hinders your relationship with the end customer?
· Do you feel that the VMO adds value to your sales process?
Stephen,
I agree you will get more actionable information from a survey of open-ended questions. However, you imply they are not quantitative. Actually, quantitative analysis can be done on open-ended answers by doing content analysis and calculating frequencies. We regularly provided quantitative analysis of open-ended questions in our research and find it quite valuable. As an aside, you might want to replace your current list of closed-ended questions with open-ended ones to better illustrate your point.
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Christina,
Thanks for your comment. What I was trying to imply, but didn't do such a good job explaining, was that it has been hard in my experience getting vendors to respond to a survey asking them for their feedback as it relates to purchasing staff. If a VMO or other purchasing organization is successful in getting vendors to respond to a survey, they need to gather as much meaningful data (it could be both quantitative and qualitative) as possible at the point of the survey because--I believe--it is nearly impossible to go back to the surveyed population to ask for qualitative data to supplant any of the previously collected data. In other words, I can usually survey a population, use the quantitative results to determine what subjects I would like to isolate, and then create focus groups from the surveyed population to obtain more qualitative (and therefore more actionable) data. With vendors, it would be difficult to do that due to the sensitive nature of what is being surveyed and the vendor's perceived risk of retaliation.
Best,
Stephen
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Yes, I beleive that vendor surveys support the customer's willingness to understand how to make the relationship mutually beneficial. (Take the high road)
It also can serve as a CYA after a Vendor is not selected on a large deal - to subvert the flurry 'the VMO was not fair' calls made to Sr. Management(IT & non-IT). (don't allow yourself to be surprised when they take the low road)
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Have you ever been called upon to do a customer satisfaction survey of your last visit to the auto mechanic ... and it's been a particularly bad experience? I always give a glowing report. I want the car fixed, not damaged on my next visit.
Unless their treatment has been very bad, vendors will have nothing but great things to say about the purchasing organization. A negative comment can destroy a relationship and a positive comment won't make it any worse but may make it better. The risks are too high for a vendor to give truthful feedback in a survey. I've seen little value gained from a vendor facing satisfaction survey especially if the survey is open ended.
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Thanks for your comment! I have the name of a good mechanic if you need one...
Best,
Stephen
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