Growing your business in a highly-competitive market can be tough, especially with a limited number of supply chain contracts from buyers to win.
To create the best results, a strategy must make a company as visible as possible while still complying with procurement standards and regulations. This is much easier said than done.
Our supplier solutions offer a range of benefits for companies looking to stand out from the crowd. Here are the top five ways in which joining our community can help to grow your business.
1. Make yourself visible
The first step is making your organisation’s presence and credentials visible to potential buyers. Previously, this would have meant suppliers spending hours filling out multiple tender questionnaires. Our solution replaces this with a single set of questions.
This set of core information is then made visible to all the relevant buyers in your industry. By keeping this information up-to-date, such as updating product and service codes, you can be sure that buyers are always seeing what you have to offer.
Making yourself visible can have potentially huge effects on your business. The process of reviewing and updating product codes on the questionnaire profile has helped companies get in front of the right people.
2. Promote yourself
Just being visible to buyers in the community isn’t enough. You need to be making noise about your achievements and capabilities too.
Our team is happy to help you talk about your business. Some of our communities offer community-specific press release templates so that you can share your news with people that are likely to be interested. We also put together regular case studies highlighting particular success stories or innovative practices, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
With ‘Achilles Rewards’ you can also benefit from exclusive discounts and offers from a range of our partners – including award winning marketing agency – Wov&n. Being a full service agency means that they’re on hand to provide advice and support across all digital channels. With our Rewards programme, suppliers can save up to £2500 just by taking advantage of a couple of the discounts.
3. Get yourself audited
Having your pre-qualification information validated by a third party is invaluable and an audit is an extra step in that direction. It quickly establishes trust between you and potential buyers particularly if the quality of data provided is high. A buyer can see exactly how you would slot into their operations and how much risk you represent to them.
For example, many buyers, such as Scottish Water, require suppliers to demonstrate the strength of their health and safety management system by achieving an Achilles UVDB Verify Audit score of at least 75%.
4. Get networking
Networking is one of the most powerful tools available to you. The social media posts won’t amount to much if you aren’t getting out there and meeting people.
It is easier to stand out next to your competitors and highlight your best qualities face-to-face. We find that good networking really does help increase a company’s chances of winning new supply chain contracts.
Some buyers host regular ‘Supplier Days’ for their contractors, where they give their suppliers the chance to network with the people they work for, helping to create strong professional relationships and providing an informal setting for any questions to be asked.
Some of our communities host regular ‘Achilles Connect’ events, where members can gather, share insights and network with people from other companies.
Supply chain industry conferences and exhibitions offer the same networking opportunities. You are unlikely to be in a room so full of people from your industry in any other scenario, so these events represent an important opportunity. Don’t forget to display your Achilles community stamp on your stand.
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn. The professional social network has over 500 million users around the world, so it’s vital for suppliers to have an active presence on the site to ensure they can connect with buyers, as well as fellow suppliers in their industry. Take the time to highlight your skills and expertise on your profile and buyers are more likely to notice you.
Are you struggling to stand out from the crowd? Contact a member of our team to see how we can help you start making buyers take notice.
