State of Flux’s training for procurement and supply chain professionals is designed to address the required blend of technical capabilities, behavioural and collaborative skills that procurement practitioners need to manage suppliers and the category management process effectively.
Managing supplier relationships – inside the account manager’s head training
To proactively develop business-to-business relationships with key suppliers, it is essential to be able to decode the motivations, drivers and methods used by the account manager, the account team members and other players in a supplier’s organisation. In this training, we reveal how a supplier’s key account management team operates, and teach the skills needed to develop the business relationship and take the lead in creating value and building a customer of choice position.
Using a live supplier as your case study, we teach you how to:
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Develop supplier IQ in order to know the account team at a deeper level
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Broaden the focus beyond the mechanics of supplier management to proactively find opportunities to release more supplier value
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Use behaviours that manage and facilitate the supplier relationship more proactively, owning the relationship and overseeing the business interactions they have with all stakeholders
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Appreciate the sales perspective on pricing, bundling and margin, and use these to influence discussions around price, value and total cost of ownership
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Engage and influence the account team (and your internal stakeholders) to build better rapport, surface true intentions, and develop the supplier relationship based on trust and collaboration
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Keep suppliers motivated, aligned to your goals and performing, especially in medium and long term service contracts
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Achieve a balance between challenging performance, using constructive tension, and maintaining and developing the relationship to build a customer of choice position
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