Few things matter more to a distributor’s success than supplier rep relationships. When a supplier is reliable, your bottom line is better, and so is your sanity and job satisfaction. Knowing someone has your back is irreplaceable.

David Anderson, Imprint Revolution (asi/541421)

As I attended the Power House by PPM event in Santa Monica, CA, in November, I had a chance to reflect on the key elements of the relationship between supplier reps and distributors like me.

In my experience, there are three levels of supplier reps:

1. Exceptional
2. Good Enough
3. Ghost

At the risk of stating the obvious, I buy far more products from Exceptional reps. It’s just easier to sell when you’re confident that the product will be good and show up on time. And while that reality depends heavily on the supplier factory and logistical team, my confidence in a vendor mostly comes from the relationship with the rep.

At the Power House event, many suppliers asked me, “What do you most want and need from a vendor?” My answer, in a word: “Reliability.”

Working With Exceptional Reps

I want a great relationship with an Exceptional rep … which is a redundant statement, because fostering a great relationship is essentially the definition of “exceptional” for a rep. Clear, accurate, proactive communication. Good listening. Connection. Consistency.

Here’s how it breaks down: When I place an order with an Exceptional rep, they immediately respond. They confirm they got my order, they confirm my in-hands date, and they let me know what steps are required of me (approvals, proofs, payment, etc.) to keep things on track. If they’re really top-notch, they specify time zones. (I’m on the West Coast, so, “Get me the P.O. by noon today” is three hours late if the rep meant EST, but didn’t remind me they’re in New York.) 

At each step of the process, the Exceptional rep is proactive. What that means for me is that they reach out before I even think of it. Before I wonder if my order is in process, they call to confirm it’s in motion. Before it occurs to me to ask if it’s shipping today, there’s an email with a link to the tracking in my inbox.

“In a custom industry, we’ll never avoid the occasional problem. When there’s an issue with an order, the Exceptional rep is leading the fix. They do what it takes to keep my business, by helping me keep my customer.” David Anderson, Imprint Revolution (asi/541421)

And, for an order that needs a little TLC, they reach out and ask clarifying questions or provide advice (“I really suggest you make this change, based on …”). An example of this happened last week: I placed a small order of medals with Simba (asi/87296), and each medal was personalized. The rep called and said, “Your order has 18 medals, but the spreadsheet only shows 17 names.” Was I missing a name? No, I wanted one extra medal just in case. But I appreciated a rep showing situational awareness (“I wonder if we’re missing a name?”)  and initiative to help me get exactly what my customer wanted.

In between orders, an Exceptional rep reaches out meaningfully. They ask questions that help them understand my customers’ (and my) goals. That way they can generate helpful suggestions. Sometimes this means they send me relevant samples – they don’t thoughtlessly toss their special of the month in the mail, which is just paying to transport junk. They’ll send a sample they believe my specific customer base will appreciate, based on our ongoing conversations.

In a custom industry, we’ll never avoid the occasional problem. When there’s an issue with an order, the Exceptional rep is leading the fix. They do what it takes to keep my business, by helping me keep my customer.

Avoiding Ghost Reps

On the other end of the spectrum is the Ghost rep. More than once I’ve only found out I even had a rep while placing my seventh order with a supplier. Maybe I have a question the main customer service line can’t handle, and they say, “I’ll have your rep so-and-so call you.” Up to this point I had no idea so-and-so existed. And, to be honest, usually I never get that callback.

The Ghost rep is basically nonexistent. At my company, we have a complex babysitting process for Ghost-repped suppliers. When we submit an order, we create calendar entries to reach out and keep the order on track (which should be the supplier’s job):

• Call to confirm the order was received.
• Did we get proof for approval yet? If not, call to see when the proof will arrive.
• Confirm order is in process (we paid, we approved, but since no one is providing any communication, we have no idea if it’s on hold for some other reason) AND that it’s still going to ship in time for the in-hands date on the P.O.
• Call the day before the ship date to confirm it’s still going to ship.
• Call the day it’s shipping to confirm it’s shipping.
• Call the day after it shipped to get tracking info.

The Ghost rep works at the supplier most likely to put your order on what I call “secret order hold.” You submitted a P.O. and artwork, you approved a proof and paid, and you heard nothing back. Ten days later when it doesn’t arrive by your in-hands date, you call, and the customer service rep answering the main line says, “Your order’s on hold for xyz reason.” When asked why they didn’t reach out to tell me it was on hold, their response tends to be: “That’s just our policy.” I hear that phrase a lot from the suppliers who assign me Ghost reps. It’s rigid, faithfully followed, but never communicated to the distributor.

This is where the ESP feature of Preferred Rank comes in handy to help us avoid working with Ghost reps whenever possible. We have a five-star scale for suppliers, and we sort search results by that ranking. If a supplier isn’t either four or five stars, we’re actively hunting for a replacement. Ghost reps live in the one- to three-star range.

Good Enough Isn’t Enough

Only about 10% of suppliers have Exceptional reps. The other 90% are split between Ghost and Good Enough. The Good Enough reps are somewhat responsive, but not proactive. They’ll give decent advice if asked, but they never offer help proactively. Being sort of trustworthy, they require less babysitting than Ghost reps, but unless we take on some of the confirmation process, some orders will slip through the cracks and deadlines will get mushy.

The Good Enough rep might be on the email chain if there’s a problem like a misprint, but they don’t really know you and your customer base, so they don’t understand the impact of the problem. If a redo needs to happen, it will likely happen, but no one is going to bat for you, securing no-cost expedited shipping or discounts.

Good Enough is just that: good enough, but just barely. If my Exceptional reps simply don’t carry the product I need, I’ll go to the second string, but Good Enough doesn’t earn much of my business.

Proactive, clear, curious, knowledgeable, aware and helpful together add up to being reliable. Reliability may not sound fancy, but it’s the core of being exceptional.