Senior Account Executive
It took me awhile to realize just how much further I could go with great vendor partners. For the first few years of my career, vendors were just people to go to when I needed to buy stuff. They weren’t part of the team.
Fast forward a bit, and I developed closer relationships with vendors who consistently brought amazing service, great pricing, strategic thought and helpful insight. On more than one occasion, these folks saved my derriere, and I’m forever grateful.
Take Cathy Fike, at KPB Printing. I was working for a large hospital, and due to operational changes we needed to implement a system for managers to order their own printed materials. Like, yesterday. A couple of frantic phone calls to Cathy, and she was well on her way to getting an on-line catalog established for the managers to order the items they need with just a couple of clicks. She gave me a step-by-step PowerPoint to share with everyone who would need to use the system, and she even went so far as to allow me to step out of the middle when ordering problems arose.
Our cadre of expert vendors at our Cincinnati PR agency Rasor Marketing Communications includes digital experts, designers, printers, audiovisual specialists, writers, web designers and advertising agencies, among others. There’s a lot we can do on our own, but when we need additional service, we have ready bench strength.
Make sure you’re nurturing those vendor relationships. They’re not just people from whom you send an invoice and set up PO numbers. They can move mountains, and ultimately make you look great.