How You Can Become More Strategically Important To Your Customers
You don’t just want to be seen as ‘simply another supplier’. You want to matter – to be seen as ‘strategic’. In so doing you want to stand apart from your competitors and to compete on the basis other than lowest price.
But just how important are you really to your customers? More important still how can you get your customers to see you as a strategic supplier to their business.
Are You A Strategic Supplier?
The question is not ‘Are you are a strategic supplier?’ That is because a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ is generally insufficient. There is for example no point in saying ‘we are not strategic’ and giving up in a sense of helplessness.
Think of it this way. Becoming a strategic supplier is not a matter of flicking a switch, but rather turning a dial. It is not an ‘On’ or ‘Off’ switch that determines whether you are strategic. Rather think of strategic importance as a dial – one that can be adjusted up, or down.
The real question is ‘How strategic are you?’ and more to the point ‘How strategic can you become?’ Let’s start with the first question.
