Vendor or Partner

If you are in business, chances are you rely on a vendor to provide you with products or services that help your business stay afloat.  We use vendors to help us with payroll, software systems, IT, office cleaning, building maintenance (plumbing, HVAC, etc.) and other things that help us do business. We also rely on vendors to do things for our clients; printing, video and audio services, digital ads, billboards, broadcast stations and many more.

The relationship with a vendor should be a symbiotic one. The products and services that they provide to you must be good, timely and delivered at a reasonable price. In return you pay them for their products and/or services and reward them for performance.

However, many vendors go “above and beyond” merely selling you stuff. They offer advice and expertise. They become ingrained in your company culture. They have a vested interest in your success and they would sacrifice the short term sale for the sake of the long-term relationship.

When the vendor rises to the level of partner, it becomes more of a friendship. We trust friends. We can be wary of strangers.

Vendor relationships are purely transactional services with no proactive idea generation, in-depth understanding of your business, or investment in your future.  Partner relationships are born when they immerse themselves into your company culture to understand inner workings for long-term success. Since one size does not fit all, it is really important to know what each, partner and vendor, will bring to the table.

With costs of everything rising and inflation hitting 50 year high levels, our company – along with many others – have been looking at cost-savings. We’re evaluating not only the costs of products and services, but we’ve looking for added value – the kind of value a partner brings.

I’m proud to say we have made some great partnerships at Madison+Main. Some, like Wythken Printing, have been with us since the beginning in 2005. Ric and his team are partners in every sense of the word. If you have a printing vendor, maybe you should get a printing partner.