Frustrated with Suppliers & Partners? Change their Processes

Working with suppliers and partners is no piqnic.

As a paying customer, you have an expectation of your external partnerships to create a seamless and transparent experience.

Unfortunately, a lot of processes in digital workplaces are broken, which leads to low satisfaction and a negative experience for you, the customer.

Sure - the job got done. But the road to get there was filled with endless email threads, phone calls, meeting, logins and despite all of this, you never really knew the job status.

In the position of a customer, you can sometimes be left feeling a little frustrated with the situation as you can't tell your partner to change their internal processes... or can you?

We reckon you can.

All it takes is knowing the right points to bring up, and the right pain points to present to your partner or supplier's decision makers.

Here's what we suggest bringing to the table at your next meeting.

1. "You'll have a competitive edge"

Let your partners know that by changing their processes and workflow, they'll have the advantage over their competitors.

What do we mean by that? Well, with 79% of information workers communicating or collaborating with customers daily, every single person with access to the internet is accessing, creating and sending information back and fourth.

The difference between one workplace and another, is how quickly and efficiently that information moves.

• Companies tend to trip and fall if they don't consider how every interaction (that means every email or phone call) effects their external collaborators
• Despite the overall clunkiness of email, there are over 6.69 billion email accounts worldwide. If you're able to share information in a manner that doesn't require digging through email threads to find, you're already miles ahead of the game
• Customers care about how they're forced to collaborate with their partners. If a partner changes the way they think about digital collaboration, they'll retain their valued customers.

2. "We're as tired of chasing updates as you are creating them"

As a customer, it's quite easy to feel as though you've been left in the dark throughout a project. However, if you simply say to your partner, "I wan't regular updates", it comes across like a bunch of extra effort on their part.

Let your partner know it doesn't have to be that way.

One of the most important ingredients for a successful digital workplace experience is transparency. That means throughout all stages of a project, every single stakeholder has access to relevant and up-to-date information, in real time.

Typically, cloud based systems are great for implementing this kind of visibility. You're able to set tight security around who's able to access and edit any given file and stakeholders are afforded true visibility and a top level view of progress as it's completed.

That means:

• No more need to request updates and reports constantly - any of the details can be found easily in your partner's new information management system.
• Time is saved on behalf of both parties - you don't have to feel like the annoying customer requesting information, and your partner doesn't have keep stopping and starting to loop you in.
• A profound level of trust is built. You'll be surprised at how much visibility is a catalyst for unwavering trust.

3. "Your return on investment will skyrocket"

If there's one thing that's going to command the attention of your partner's C-Suite, it's the promise of any improvement to their bottom line.

Improving your information ecosystem with a new, collaborative tool is a quick way to streamline processes and get the most out of your employees and connections.

How?

• Information silos are a silent killer of ROI. They keep employees from accessing each other's knowledge base, and essentially, create a blocker for employees potential to grow and give more to your business. Remove these barriers by fostering collaboration. Individual employee growth and knowledge = ROI.
• Improve customer service. If you feel like your partner's processes are causing a few headaches for you, it's likely that you're not the only one. Let them know, creating a smooth process means happy customers, and happy customers = customer retention and strong word of mouth. You guessed it: ROI.
• There are stats to back up the claims. Companies that didn’t identify collaboration as a top business goal saw less than half the year-over-year growth in each of these areas, and employee satisfaction for those companies actually dropped by 2 percent. If that's not a strong case for investment in new software and processes, we don't know what is.

What to do when you get a 'yes'

Of course, it's not just about suggesting that your partner's systems could use a little work, without actually letting them know there's a viable option out there that can deliver.

Through understanding both the needs of partners and customers alike, PIQNIC has created a platform that fosters better relationships.

PIQNIC can revolutionise the way digital workplaces operate through:

• Smart document management
• File sharing with muscle
• Powerful team collaboration
• Communication with purpose
• Task and project management
• User created workflows
• Tough security

But we don't just expect you or your partners to take our word for it. Why not grab a FREE trial and find out just how PIQNIC could change the way you collaborate for the better?