Customer Supplier Relationship

-Customer Supplier relationship is of great importance in quality management across organization and should be
maintained at all levels of supply chain. It should ideally be a win-win situation for both parties in order to make it a long
term and trustworthy alliance.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Customer Supplier Relationship along with its overview.
-Different customers can have similar characteristics, such as interests, appearance, shopping behavior etc. So we can
divide them prototypically into customer segments, or “types of customers”. Of course each customer is unique, but
classifying the different personality types can help understanding the various types you may encounter.
The Negotiator: Doesn’t matter if calm and quiet, or confident and loud – negotiators always want to bargain. If you’re
dealing with them, know that a common objection is to bargain your price based on a cheaper competitors offer. But
most of the time they want to bargain as a matter of principle.
How to deal with a negotiator: If you have room for negotiation, go on as long as you don’t harm your selling principles.
Sometimes negotiators will get unpleasant and keep asking for more until they are certain they will not get more. The
negotiator seeks to beat you down, no matter how good the deal is. Don’t get lured into any discussion and argue calmly
and professionally. Stay confident and point out the good quality and performance of the product. Make it clear if you
don’t want to bargain and move to a close.
The Well-Informed: The well-informed are confident. They will walk directly towards you, giving you a firm handshake.
Although they already seem to know everything, they expect professional advice from you. Often their decision to
purchase is based on how the product reflects their social status.
How to deal with the well-informed: It can get quite exhausting dealing with a know-it-all. But, power comes from
inner peace. Even if they already seem to have formed an opinion, provide them with precise information.
Acknowledging their competence will comfort them. If their idea is false try not to lecture them as this will make them
uncomfortable and perhaps even angry. Small talk might not be appropriate in this context. Instead suggest products
without trying to persuade them in their final purchasing decision.
The Annoyed One: Every once in a while you have to deal with customers who complain about almost everything.
Whether it’s the high price, the bad quality or the unfriendly seller- there’s nothing really you can do to please the
customer. They’re just always irritated.
How to deal with the annoyed ones: A way to handle these types of customers is to impress them with expertise. Also
you’re able to ease the customer’s mind with the right balance between problem solution, approval, politeness and
courteous treatment. When getting the feeling of being listened and responded to, you’re eventually able to convince
them. They might even flash a smile!
The Suspicious One: Suspicious customers will not hide their mistrust of products and advertising. They’re one thing
above all: critical. They will gladly let you explain everything and surprise you with a strong opinion and knowledge.
How to deal with the suspicious one: Don’t interrupt them, make them feel that they are taken seriously. You need to
seek confidence and show them that they are in best hands. Assure to provide reliable information and convince them
with great expertise. Everything else will make them even more skeptical. By finding the source of mistrust in a particular
product (e.g. supposedly high electricity consumption), you can invalidate the presumption with facts and give proof to
clear his misunderstanding. Giving out product data sheets is a good way to convince the suspicious type.
The Questioner: This type of customer can be very pushy as he wants to know everything.
How to deal with the questioner: Firstly try to find out if they really intend to buy. Perhaps they already ordered the
product somewhere else and just want a free consultation. If you don’t think so, stay friendly and patient as always.
Even if questioners are not buying right away, your patience will be remembered.
The Ones Who Agree On Everything:These customers are reserved and act shy. They will say “yes” quickly. At the same
time they’re overwhelmed and feel that they’ve been taken by surprise. The sales conversation is a stressful moment for
them. Sensitivity is required here.
How to Deal with the Ones who Agree on Everything: Keep talking calmly and in a non-binding way. Otherwise they will
feel pushed into a corner quickly and obliged to buy. You’ll probably won’t sell to him a second time when he gets the
feeling he needs to buy, simply to get out of the situation. So try not to turn this customer off by letting him feel like he’s
being sold to. Make sure you ask open questions to find out about the customers’ needs and preferences. Give him the
time for consideration and leave him in the meantime. Let him approach you for his final purchase decision.
The Indecisive: These are the customers who aren’t really sure about what they want. They’ll give you short, indecisive
answers, saying things like “maybe” or the dreaded “I don’t know.” There is a lot going on in their head. Numerous
questions show that they are considering whether to buy or not to buy.
How to Deal with the Indecisive: To convince them, they’re going to need a little, or a lot handholding. Learn more
about them, they’ll probably give you enough to help you lead them down the right path. Educate this type of customer
on why your product is the best one for them. Support their final decision a few more times by approving the purchase.
Bear in mind that most people are going to be some sort of combination of these customer types. However,
understanding each type and how best to approach them, will help you attract all of the personalities and hopefully
close more sales.
Customers play the most significant part in business. In fact the customer is the actual boss in a deal and is responsible
for the actually profit for the organization. Customer is the one who uses the products and services and judges the
quality of those products and services. Hence it’s important for an organization to retain customers or make new
customers and flourish business.

To manage customers, organizations should follow some sort of approaches like segmentation or division of customers
into groups because each customer has to be considered valuable and profitable.
Customers can be of following types:
Loyal Customers- These types of customers are less in numbers but promote more sales and profit as compared to other
customers as these are the ones which are completely satisfied. These customers revisit the organization over times
hence it is crucial to interact and keep in touch with them on a regular basis and invest much time and effort with them.
Loyal customers want individual attention and that demands polite and respectful responses from supplier.
Discount Customers- Discount customers are also frequent visitors but they are only a part of business when offered
with discounts on regular products and brands or they buy only low cost products. More is the discount the more they
tend towards buying. These customers are mostly related to small industries or the industries that focus on low or
marginal investments on products. Focus on these types of customers is also important as they also promote
distinguished part of profit into business.
Impulsive Customers- These customers are difficult to convince as they want to do the business in urge or caprice. They
don’t have any specific item into their product list but urge to buy what they find good and productive at that point of
time. Handling these customers is a challenge as they are not particularly looking for a product and want the supplier to
display all the useful products they have in their tally in front of them so that they can buy what they like from that
display. If impulsive customers are treated accordingly then there is high probability that these customers could be a
responsible for high percentage of selling.
Need Based Customers- These customers are product specific and only tend to buy items only to which they are
habitual or have a specific need for them. These are frequent customers but do not become a part of buying most of the
times so it is difficult to satisfy them. These customers should be handled positively by showing them ways and reasons
to switch to other similar products and brands and initiating them to buy these. These customers could possibly be lost if
not tackled efficiently with positive interaction.
Wandering Customers- These are the least profitable customers as sometimes they themselves are not sure what to
buy. These customers are normally new in industry and most of the times visit suppliers only for confirming their needs
on products. They investigate features of most prominent products in the market but do not buy any of those or show
least interest in buying. To grab such customers they should be properly informed about the various positive features of
the products so that they develop a sense of interest.
An organization should always focus on loyal customers and should expand or multiply the product range to leverage
impulsive customers. For other types of customers strategies should be renovated and enhanced for turning out these
customers to satisfy their needs and modify these types of customers to let them fall under loyal and impulsive category.
Types of Suppliers
There are 7 main types of suppliers:
Manufacturers and Vendors – These are the companies that research, develop and actually produce the finished
product ready for purchase. Manufacturers and vendors are the source of the supply chain. Distributors, wholesalers,
resellers and retailers who purchase goods from manufacturers and vendors benefit from the cheapest prices because
no other companies have added their margin to cost of the goods yet.
Wholesalers and Distributors – These suppliers are companies that buy in bulk from several manufacturers or vendors.
They warehouse the goods for reselling to smaller local distributors, wholesalers and retailers. Distributors and
wholesalers may also supply larger quantities to organizations or government departments directly. A genuine wholesale
supplier will require your VAT or Tax ID number. This distinguishes them from discount retailers and resellers who
market, particularly online, as wholesalers.
Affiliate Merchants - An affiliate merchant is a supplier that wishes to drive traffic to their website or sales of their
product through banner ads and links placed throughout a network of affiliates. Merchants will normally pay affiliates a
commission for every visit to the website or every sales conversion.
Franchisors - A franchisor is a business owner and will grant a licence to an individual, which allows them to develop
their own business using the trademark, name, know-how and business systems of the franchisor which includes
suppliers and often at better pricing than an individual could get themselves.
Importers and exporters – These suppliers will purchase products from manufacturers in one country and either export
them to a distributor in a different country, or import them from an exporter into their country. Some may travel abroad
to buy direct from suppliers in another country.
Independent crafts people – These are normally manufacturers of products they have designed or produced on smaller
unique scales of economy and will usually sell direct to retailers or the end consumer through agents or trade shows.
Dropshippers – These are suppliers of products from single or multiple companies that will deliver direct to the buyer
once they have made the purchase from your business. This can be cost effective as it eliminates the need for storage or
display of the items for sale.

Each of these types of suppliers can be found operating globally and within all industries.