This is Part 3 of a 4-part series on the benefits of a strategic supplier. Read More: Part 1: Why You Need a Supplier Who Has Your Back | Part 2: Why You Need an Innovative Supplier | Part 4: How Strategic Suppliers Are Insurance Policies for Success
A customer came to us with a USPS mailer project. Since we continually monitor USPS changes, we instantly identified an opportunity to use a slightly different type of envelope that could save our customer significant money.
This story illustrates how strategic suppliers understand cost pressures and will recommend money-saving solutions that maximize ROI. Here are three ways a strategic envelope supplier can save your business money.
1. Proactively Recommend Money-Saving Measures
Where many suppliers view every customer as another transaction on their books, a strategic supplier serves as a consultant who leverages their experience to help you make the best decisions for your bottom line.
For example, the previous story shows how our expertise in cost factors can help our customers get discounts on USPS services – potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars for mass mailing campaigns.
Transactional suppliers, on the other hand, won’t take the time to identify cost-savings opportunities.
Strategic suppliers:
- Serve as consultants
- Know how minor changes can yield major discounts
- Recommend ways to save
2. Balance Quality and Costs
That doesn’t mean strategic suppliers do not prioritize quality; it just means they know how to balance quality and costs.
For example, we recently recommended a customer shift from a cost prohibitive production process to flexography, which yielded envelopes that were nearly as good at a fraction of the cost.
It’s not about recommending the cheapest possible option. In many cases, the cheapest paper and window film won’t perform well, so it’s shortsighted to sell something that’s not good enough for the job just because it’s cheap. Strategic suppliers know that “cheap” options often cause expensive issues down the road, so they recommend quality solutions at cost-effective price points.
Strategic suppliers:
- Balance quality and costs
- Prevent expensive problems
- Protect their customers
3. Long-Term Savings
Cost-saving strategies aren’t limited to one-off projects. Strategic suppliers can help their customers save over time, and those savings can add up to millions of dollars over the years.
Strategic suppliers can help you:
- Obtain favorable pricing on bulk purchases
- Plan long-term procurement strategies
- Implement efficient production processes
- Leverage economies of scale
As the term implies, strategic suppliers prioritize strategy, and an intelligent strategy means high-quality envelopes at reduced costs. Consider a strategic supplier as a tool you can use to maximize ROI.
