Let Your Vendors do What They do Best
If you have hired vendors to represent your brand and your company by selling your products for you, you may have a tendency to let your pride get the best of you. Your vendors aren’t an extension of your company the way that your sales staff is, so you can’t expect them to know more about your products than you or your employees do. If you have hired the right vendor, however, they should have plenty of information at their disposal to sell your product, and have the experience they need to effectively and bring in new clients. Trust your vendors, and they will work hard for you for as long as you need them. Any marketing agency in Denver will tell their clients to hire vendors carefully, and give them a long leash once they have made a decision.
The crucial time in which many vendors lose their contracts with companies is within the first three to six months of their partnership. As ad agencies in Denver tell companies, their vendors need time to acclimate to expectations. Expect your vendor to have some growing pains when they first start to work with your company. These vendors don’t know everything there is to know about your products, your services, and your brand, so don’t expect them to hit the ground running with excellent sales from the outset. If you have made your vendor hiring decision wisely, your vendor will work to get a better grasp of your brand and your products as time goes along, and you’ll see sales creep up over time.
Managing your vendors is all about managing expectations. If you expect to see your sales numbers jump immediately after you hire a new vendor, you have to temper your expectations in order to work with your vendor. Any good marketing agency in Denver will tell you that when you hire a vendor, you’re entering into a relationship. As with all relationships, there are expectations on both sides. The closer these expectations are to each other, the smoother the relationship, and the more productive your vendor will be selling your products and your brand. Another key component of any relationship that is no different for vendors is communication. The more open the flow of information between vendor and company is, the easier it will be to manage expectations and change them as necessary. If your company expands and you need to make more sales to support this expansion, your vendors need to know it. This is especially important during the crucial three to six month period after you hire your vendor. Once you establish clear lines of communication and you show your vendor that you trust them to do their job, you vendor will become more comfortable with your company, increasing productivity. Many ad agencies recommend hiring vendors to establish your brand in ways you couldn’t, but the only way to let them work for you is to communicate and let them do their job.
adam-oleary
Adam is a graduate of Colorado State University (bachelor’s degree in marketing), and he has experience on both the client and agency side of the marketing world. These experiences led him to come up with a unique, more efficient business model, which he’s incorporated into Encite Marketing. Adam sets the strategic direction for all Encite projects, developing integrated marketing campaigns that bring results. He takes a consultative approach with clients, educating them about how the process works, and keeping them in the loop about end goals, steps, and tasks.