Friends indeed - your suppliers

In my so many years in the field of Packaging, one of the greatest friends that one has made are those among some of our suppliers and vendors. Friends who have indeed been through thick and thin, friends who have understood your problems and empathized in times of your down turns. The fact remains that it is these relationships that help you to learn , contribute and develop in this extremely dynamic area of Packaging.

It is some of these suppliers who open your windows to the happenings outside your office, it is they who bring in the fresh air of Innovation that is blowing around your competition and enhance your awareness levels. The fact remains that one gets to learn so much from them that it is unimaginable and one can not thank enough.

In between ones very tight schedules, if we get an email from one of the suppliers that he/ she wants to come across and meet you, our first reaction is that of irritation and pain of going through another PowerPoint presentation. More often than not it is these presentations that open up so many ideas and expose us to new opportunities. Often such unsolicited meetings are a great means of striking a relationship and building up your library of materials and solutions.

What one needs to do is to offer respect and a patient hearing , without offering to buy any thing. Perhaps this is the first and the most important objective of a Salesman. Helping him/her achieve this first objective works towards striking a chord and sets the foundation stone for the sharing of learning and a symbiotic relationship.

It is these learning that we draw from our vendors and suppliers that often become such major inputs for our packaging development process.

Often experimentation and trials start with this preliminary meeting, which then set the basis for a large scale Packaging Innovation. The thrill of doing something new and exciting motivates the suppliers to add more and more value into the process. This ultimately contributes to your own and the projects success. One should therefore not forget that they are friends indeed!