Mastering Vendor Management in the Hospitality Industry
Use These Strategies to Support Your Procurement Plan
No hospitality business can operate without the help of trusted vendors. From the food in your on-site eateries to the services that keep your property looking great, vendors provide the teams and tools your team needs to provide exceptional guest experiences.
That’s why effective vendor management is paramount for hospitality operators. Developing an effective vendor relationship management strategy can help you maintain smooth operations, ensure quality service, and optimize costs. Read our tips and tricks for keeping vendors happy here.
Why Are Your Vendors Vital?
Effective vendor management is the foundation for efficient operations and guest satisfaction. Cultivating trust with your suppliers can help you save money through better deals on products and services, but also create the best possible guest experience. Your guests will notice things like the quality of the food in your restaurants and the cleanliness of your property. You want to make sure you’re making a good impression in every facet of your offering.
When you have a strong relationship with your vendors, it’s easier to find the best products and services for the best prices. Plus, a long-term relationship with vendors translates to a consistent guest experience and simplified management of ordering.
Choose the Right Vendors
The first step to building strong supplier relationships is to choose vendors you can trust long-term. Every business will have different needs and preferences when it comes to finding the best vendors, but you may want to consider:
Your top-value amenities and menu items. You’ll want to focus most on the vendors who contribute products and services to these offerings.
The importance of sustainability and supplier diversity to your operation. There may be sourcing options that help you meet sustainability and diversity goals.
Whether you need specialty items or services. If your operation includes a unique feature like a water park, you may need specific supplies to maintain it.
Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that your chosen products are consistently available through your current distributor.
Focus on Communication
Once you’ve identified your key suppliers, you’ll want to establish a streamlined communication and feedback protocol. Creating these vendor management systems early on means you’ll have a precedent in place in case issues arise in the future.
We recommend establishing routine supplier performance assessments to ensure relationships are routinely meeting your needs. You’ll also want to determine the best method of communicating stocking issues or order changes for fastest response time.
Leverage Technology
Monitoring your procurement processes is easier than ever with modern eProcurement and data analytics platforms. How do these platforms contribute to your vendor management strategy? Monitoring your product spend product-by-product and vendor-by-vendor can reveal patterns and price changes that you might otherwise miss, including “spec” products that differentiate your offerings. It can also help you spot opportunities to save by switching to certain supplier’s products.
All of this provides the complete transparency you need to make the best possible decisions when it comes to optimally managing your purchasing.
We’ll Help You Get Started
Handling all your vendor management needs in-house can be time consuming. That’s why many hospitality operators outsource with a group purchasing organization like Foodbuy Hospitality.
Foodbuy Hospitality has long-standing supplier relationships across a wide range of categories, including services, food, equipment, and supplies. We also offer eProcurement and data analytics platforms that provide accurate insights for our Members.
Interesting in working with a trusted hospitality GPO? Become a Foodbuy Hospitality Member today.