Hi!
I'm getting some samples to validate my idea. I've been doing this like @Walter Hay suggested, by going very slow.
The result is that I'm talking to many different suppliers, on a couple of different platforms. Sometimes, a message from one supplier comes by email, sometimes it's only in the platforms message center.
So I've been organizing. I gave each supplier a folder on my harddrive with a document of all the communications and a folder of the pictures he send. Then I made a spreadsheet to compare the suppliers by price, quality offered, services they are able to provide, friendliness and status (what I'm discussing with the supplier at a given time).
It worked up until 4 suppliers. At 6 it got annoying to update everything when I got my answers in the morning. I'm at 10 now and I don't want to contact any suppliers anymore because of my system. It's not just the folders, it's the comparison excel sheet as well.
There has to be a better way right?
What do you guys use for this? How do you keep it organized. I just like to view all my communication with one supplier in one timeline.
I'm open to a paid solution, but I would much prefer a free one. Keeping it lean.
Also: side question. While @Walter Hay recommends communicating slowly and building a relationship (right Walter?), I've read @biophase doing this completely different. He seems to ask the supplier for what he wants in the first message, instead of asking for the catalog and asking questions. This appeals to me as thus far I've got one supplier who isn't able to provide a sample of my product. That's days of communication wasted.
Obviously, both tactics seem to work. When should you go for either one?
You know what? Another thought. Just using Skype, would that be better? I could work around the time difference, but I fear I would not be able to convince them that I'm not a starter who is looking to buy orders under the MOQ.
I'm getting some samples to validate my idea. I've been doing this like @Walter Hay suggested, by going very slow.
The result is that I'm talking to many different suppliers, on a couple of different platforms. Sometimes, a message from one supplier comes by email, sometimes it's only in the platforms message center.
So I've been organizing. I gave each supplier a folder on my harddrive with a document of all the communications and a folder of the pictures he send. Then I made a spreadsheet to compare the suppliers by price, quality offered, services they are able to provide, friendliness and status (what I'm discussing with the supplier at a given time).
It worked up until 4 suppliers. At 6 it got annoying to update everything when I got my answers in the morning. I'm at 10 now and I don't want to contact any suppliers anymore because of my system. It's not just the folders, it's the comparison excel sheet as well.
There has to be a better way right?
What do you guys use for this? How do you keep it organized. I just like to view all my communication with one supplier in one timeline.
I'm open to a paid solution, but I would much prefer a free one. Keeping it lean.
Also: side question. While @Walter Hay recommends communicating slowly and building a relationship (right Walter?), I've read @biophase doing this completely different. He seems to ask the supplier for what he wants in the first message, instead of asking for the catalog and asking questions. This appeals to me as thus far I've got one supplier who isn't able to provide a sample of my product. That's days of communication wasted.
Obviously, both tactics seem to work. When should you go for either one?
You know what? Another thought. Just using Skype, would that be better? I could work around the time difference, but I fear I would not be able to convince them that I'm not a starter who is looking to buy orders under the MOQ.
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