Rules of engagement: as a supply chain technology or systems supplier, how do you get a successful customer relationship off the ground? And once you begin, how do you keep that success going?

Frontline Solutions, Feb, 2004 by Jim McNerney

Building a solid customer-supplier relationship requires listening and posing questions that help the customer to articulate, and you to clearly understand, the strategic and tactical issues that need to be addressed. Once these issues are understood, solutions can be found and expectations can be established. Questions that can be asked to build the necessary level of understanding include:

* What are the operational problems that need to be addressed?

* What services or products are being considered and at what costs?

* What is the expected timing for product and/or services procurement and delivery?

* Who is expected to perform the work?

* Has a detailed schedule with expected supplier and customer resource requirements been prepared? What are the major milestones?

* Who will be responsible for post-delivery services and support? At what cost?

A properly prepared project roadmap is an excellent tool for setting expectations. It identifies the project drivers, outlines the project goals and objectives, documents the measurements for success, outlines the estimated total costs for deployment and lays the foundation for success through use of a cost-based, time-phased project plan.

Before the actual project begins, time must be set aside to communicate project expectations within your own organization. Once your team members understand their roles and responsibilities, a kick-off meeting or call should be held with the customer's project team. The purpose of this meeting or call is to:

* Communicate project objectives and goals

* Discuss the project organizational structure and roles, responsibilities and expectations

* Review the project plan

* Present how the project will be managed and the scope controlled

* Discuss how issues will be maintained and managed

Once the project has begun, it will be the responsibility of the project manager to continually manage against expectations. This requires frequent communication with all project team members, close management of issues and constant vigilance to identify more efficient ways to meet goals and deadlines without negatively impacting results. The project manager should not assume that the customer is happy, even if the project is on schedule and within budget. It is the supplier's responsibility to continually update project status for the customer and confirm that expectations are being met. Reports, meetings, phone calls--communications can take many forms, with the key being regular and consistent interaction. Check and recheck to determine if the project is being executed to the customer's satisfaction and what, if anything, could or should be done differently.

After project completion, a post-engagement meeting can go a long way toward maintaining a good customer-vendor relationship. After the dust has settled, the customer may provide suggestions that can be followed on the next project. However, if solid communications have been maintained throughout the engagement, there should be no surprises. The meeting is a good way to pull all of the team members together for one final review, recognize contributions and establish next steps.

The importance of building and maintaining strong customer relationships must be understood and embraced throughout your organization--and reinforced at every opportunity. Not only should the same procedures be set for everyone, but also the process should be reviewed on a regular basis to make sure that it is working properly and achieving results for your customers and for you, the supplier.

Jim McNerney, a principal with ESYNC, specializing in providing operations consulting, engineering, software development and systems integration services as well as requirements characterization and the implementation of data collection and information systems for supply chain management. You can reach him at 419/841-3941 or james.mcnerney@esync.com.

Jim McNerney, esync Guest columnist 419/841-3941 james.mcnerney@esync.com