milkshake 9
that can be ordered directly. If you want to
handle the ordering and details yourself,
don’t take a supplier’s time to provide their
expertise and then order online to save a
few dollars. “Personal relationships are key,”
Russell says. “I am proud to say that most of
my vendors I have worked with consistently
for over 20 years, and my swag vendor, has
been with me close to 40 years.”
AC Hampton helps people build and run
profitable e-commerce businesses. Ask him
and he will tell you that at the heart of every
one of his students’ success stories is the
one where a good supplier is involved.
“The supply chain for marketers is more
accessible today than ever before,” says
Hampton, who has helped build a number
of e-commerce entrepreneurs as founder
and CEO of Supreme E-com. “With
suppliers understanding what convenience,
speed and reliability means to customers
and sellers, suppliers on multiple platforms
have consistently found ways to improve on
that. When selling any product and deciding
what supplier to work with, whether that be
a private supplier while scaling and branding
a product or a supplier I may not be too
familiar with when I’m in the testing phases
for a product, I like to put myself through
something called supplier validation.”
With how big the supply chain is and how
many suppliers there are, Hampton says it is
possible to run into a few kinks in the chain.
“Always make sure communication is up to
par, suppliers have the product physically in
stock, and their shipping times and product
costs match the needs of your business.
These will all be key to the success of
working through the supply chain as a
marketer.”
In the end, it all comes down to
relationships. And the best way to foster
these relationships is by keeping an open
line of professional communication. If you
want you and your business to be taken
seriously, you need to take your supplier
and their business seriously. “That means
when deciding to work with a specific
supplier, make sure you both are on the
same page when it comes to the type of
communication you’ll have so that you don’t
run into any roadblocks in the future.”
The more trust you build with each
other, the more you lean on what works
by meeting the expectations and needs of
the other, the stronger your professional
relationship will get.
November 2022