Chapter 16 – Searching for New Suppliers if Necessary

If you realize that the negotiations are not going well and may not provide the desired results, you may want to take a break from them. During that break, you can look for new suppliers manufacturing the same or a similar product as the one you have filed a claim about.

Your other option, while taking a break from the negotiations, is to visit any other suppliers that you are familiar with in the area. Maybe one you have worked with before or one that you previously evaluated. It cannot hurt to see how their business is doing and if they have any new products of interest to you.

The latter one is of course much easier and more likely to succeed if you have a limited amount of time.

I always stress the importance of not to putting all your eggs in one basket. That means you should try to find at least 2 or 3 other suppliers that potentially can replace the supplier you have a claim against in the event negotiations fail. If you return to the negotiations with this information, you will be more confident there are optional solutions and will have considerably strengthened your bargaining position.

Of course, if your supplier is the exclusive manufacturer of the product, you are in a much weaker position and the outcome may not favor you. In chapter 23, I come back to this situation one more time.