Untangling the Desk: How Real Supplier Interactions Build True Competitive Advantage
- Graham Leary
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
Intro: Beyond the Screen — The Human Advantage
In today's hyper-tech world, sourcing managers find themselves "chained to the desk", feeling compelled to constantly run analyses, RFPs, and savings reports. With AI adding additional pressures, we feel we must be part of it all.
While these digital activities are essential tasks and new realities of sourcing, there are simple opportunities beyond the realm of technology. I like to think of them as part of a multi-dimensional sourcing approach—one that masterfully balances analytics with authentic relationships.
Why Genuine Interactions Still Matter
Humans are social creatures, wired to connect; we want to share, tell, explain, vent, and celebrate. At its core, the art of sourcing is about asking questions, listening, and observing, all of which help acquire knowledge.
Through my own experiences, I've found that the propensity to share is greatest when we are face-to-face (rather than through a screen) and when we feel we are in a comfortable setting where we can tell our story. That's when true insights emerge.
Three Uncomplicated and Inexpensive Interaction Strategies
These three recommendations emphasize personal interactions and offer unique benefits for competitive advantage.
Physically meeting face to face with some of your suppliers: The most basic step, but you'll be surprised how much more can be accomplished.
On-site supplier plant, facility, or HQ meetings: A treasure trove of information and knowledge building.
Top-to-top meetings: An opportunity to develop your leadership skills and broaden supplier engagement.
1. Face-to-Face Supplier Meetings: Gaining Deeper Insights
Post-COVID, there is less time and emphasis on scheduling in-person supplier visits to the office. It’s easy to let a video meeting, or worse, a demanding email, suffice.
But think about what you’re giving up. A face-to-face setting gives you a chance to share what's currently important and what the "lay of the land" is. Ask for their support and resources—it can be hard to say no in person. Ask reasonable questions about:
Market dynamics and cost pressures
Innovation opportunities
Internal organizational challenges
You'll be surprised by how much you learn.
I recall a large supplier under contract, requesting an out-of-contract price increase. We pushed them away, and not long after, they folded, leading to increased costs for us. While a meaningful price increase wouldn't have changed their larger predicament, I took away a valuable lesson: Meet more often with your essential suppliers. Ask questions. Listen more. Be open to dialogue.
Even during the most challenging relationships, meeting directly helped me gain a deeper understanding and new insights by hearing different perspectives.
Actionable Goal: Consider scheduling one or two face-to-face supplier meetings a week. By year's end, you will have met with 50-100 suppliers at no direct expense, generating immense information and insights.
2. On-Site Supplier Visits: Building Your Mental Database
My career started in procurement as a materials manager in a production factory, planning production, managing inventory (including crawling over pallets to count packaging materials), and negotiating supply agreements. Those early experiences fostered a lifelong curiosity for visiting my suppliers' factories.
Over the years, I've set foot in many supplier facilities across diverse industries, from food and electronics to financial services and manufacturing. Walking through a facility—from inbound receiving to production to supporting services—provides essential insights into the products or services you are procuring.
If your suppliers don't invite you, ask! If you have a limited travel budget, start with local suppliers. Remember, it’s beneficial for both you and your supplier, as you can work from a more common language when confronting future issues or opportunities.
What to observe and inquire about:
Materials and suppliers used in your products
Level of automation and vertical integration
Staffing levels and available capacity
Condition and size of facilities (plant, warehouses, and offices)
Scrap and the Quality Assurance process
People and culture
The benefits are enormous:
Enhanced knowledge of cost-estimating products or services.
Greater insight into the supply chain and curated markets.
Deeper understanding of quality processes and systems.
Better fact-based decision making.
Improved risk management and more productive business relationships.
Are site visits useful for service suppliers? Absolutely. I recall visiting the headquarters of a large financial institution that administered our company's 401(k). Spending an immersive day meeting with executives and visiting the call center gave me the insights and confidence to play a more effective role in the 401(k) committee.
As you become more accustomed to site visits, the mental database you'll build over time will prove forever useful throughout your career.
3. Top-to-Top Meetings: Broadening Engagement and Leadership
A top-to-top is a cross-functional meeting that brings together your leadership, key departments, stakeholders, and your top suppliers. These sessions provide opportunities to broaden discussions, solve problems, confirm priorities, make decisions, and help build your leadership skills.
How to get started:
Select Suppliers: Start with a short list of your most critical suppliers based on sales or strategic importance. Focus on those delivering new products where quality is paramount, or those with a high commodity component.
Develop the Agenda: Work with the supplier to develop a meeting agenda. A typical agenda could include:
Business updates (sales, volumes)
Quality, New product launches, and Innovations
Logistics, Packaging, and Cost reduction initiatives
Market forecasts and decisions needed
Invite Cross-Functional Leaders: Include senior people aligned with the agenda, such as marketing, product development, quality assurance, logistics, and your own leadership (e.g., Head of Supply Chain, VP Procurement).
Running the meeting, organizing the forum, and writing the recap are basic but essential leadership development opportunities. Don't always expect the meeting to go as planned. Getting all views and information on the table, rather than keeping it hidden, has long-term benefits and allows you to manage ambiguity—a key leadership skill.
Conclusion: Your Competitive Advantage is Across the Table
Often in sourcing, we get stuck in the same mental loop: "Why the price increase? This supplier let us down again....
These three uncomplicated and inexpensive focus areas are the antidote. They can help move you to the next track on the reel by:
Expanding your knowledge and sharpening decision-making.
Fostering more transparent and productive supplier relationships.
Driving sales, unlocking lower costs, and building leadership skills.
I hope you take the opportunity to experiment with them. You’ll find your true competitive advantage isn’t in another dashboard; it’s often across the table.
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