Supplier Survey: Purpose, Best Practice, and Template

supplier survey

When it comes to building strong supplier relationships, conducting a supplier survey is a vital tool for any organization. 

Suppliers are often the hidden growth assets of your business, and the adage "You are as good as your suppliers" rings especially true. 

In this guide, we’ll explain how supplier surveys can benefit your business and provide a simple template to get you started.

Read More: Supplier Survey to Purchasing Procurement Center 

Why Conduct a Supplier Survey?

Suppliers play a key role in your business's success. In the past, companies often viewed suppliers as replaceable and would switch between them to find better options. However, this approach doesn’t work well over time. 

A better strategy is to treat suppliers as partners, involving them early in the process to help design products, cut costs, and improve quality.

By working closely with suppliers, you can make things run more smoothly and reduce costs for both sides. A supplier survey helps you check how well they’re performing and ensures that you maintain a strong and productive relationship.

Purpose of a Supplier Survey

The purpose of a supplier survey is to evaluate how well your suppliers are meeting your business needs and to improve your working relationship with them. 

By collecting feedback on things like product quality, delivery times, communication, and costs, you can spot areas that need improvement and make your supply chain more efficient.

Here’s why a supplier survey is important:

  • Improve Collaboration: Treating your suppliers as partners helps you work together on cost-saving ideas, product improvements, and smoother processes.
  • Ensure Accountability: Regular feedback keeps suppliers accountable, ensuring they continue to deliver high-quality service and products.
  • Identify Risks: Surveys help you find potential risks early, like delays or financial issues, so you can avoid disruptions.
  • Reduce Costs: By assessing your suppliers, you can identify ways to lower costs without affecting quality.

In short, a supplier survey helps both you and your suppliers improve, leading to better communication, efficiency, and long-term success.

Check Out: Supplier survey to Vendor Management

The Importance of Supplier Surveys

Traditionally, many companies treated suppliers as just vendors, focusing mainly on price and delivery. This approach often led to dissatisfaction and constant switching of suppliers. However, this view is changing. Companies now realize that suppliers can be key partners in reaching business goals.

Supplier surveys are valuable tools for gathering feedback from your suppliers about your performance. This feedback helps you identify areas for improvement, strengthen relationships, and achieve better results for both sides. 

Additionally, a supplier survey encourages open communication and collaboration, which are essential for long-term success.

Early Supplier Involvement (ESI)

With ESI, suppliers become partners in the design and cost-cutting process. This partnership reduces costs for both your business and the supplier, often leading to long-term contracts and stronger commitments from suppliers.

One way to improve supplier relationships is through Early Supplier Involvement (ESI). ESI means involving suppliers early in the product design process. By collaborating from the start, products can be developed that use fewer components, are faster to manufacture, and lower costs.

Structuring the Supplier Survey

To make the most of your supplier survey, it’s important to structure it well. Here are some best practices:

  • Define the Objectives: Know what you want to achieve. Are you measuring satisfaction or looking for areas to improve?
  • Choose Relevant Metrics: Focus on key areas like professionalism, cost-reduction ideas, and technology support.
  • Keep It Simple: Make the survey easy to understand, avoiding complex language.
  • Use a Mix of Question Types: Combine rating scales with open-ended questions for detailed insights.
  • Conduct Surveys Regularly: Doing this annually helps track progress and address any issues early.

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Areas to Evaluate in a Supplier Survey

When designing your survey, consider asking about the following areas:c

  • Business Growth Potential: How well does your company support the supplier’s growth?
  • Purchasing Professionalism: Are your purchasing practices fair and transparent?
  • Early Supplier Involvement: Does the supplier feel involved in product design?
  • Response to Cost-Reduction Ideas: How well does your company consider cost-saving suggestions?
  • Schedule Stability: Are delivery schedules reliable?
  • Technology Support: Is your company providing enough tech support?
  • Commitment to Partnerships: Are you fostering a collaborative culture?

These questions will help identify any gaps and opportunities for improvement in your supplier relationships.

Benchmarking Performance

A supplier survey can also be a great benchmarking tool. By comparing your performance with other clients that your suppliers work with, you can identify industry standards and stay competitive.

Implementing the Survey

Once your survey is ready, communicate its importance to your suppliers. Explain how their feedback will be used to improve the relationship and enhance business performance. After collecting responses, analyze the results and share the findings with your internal teams. 

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4 Best Practices for Conducting an Effective Supplier Survey 

To make the most out of your supplier surveys and strengthen supplier relationships, it’s important to follow these best practices:

  1. Involve Your Supplier: Invite suppliers to provide feedback on their relationship with you. This helps you see how you can improve as a client, making the partnership stronger.
  2. Survey Key Areas: Focus on important areas like growth potential, professionalism, cost-saving ideas, schedule stability, and technical support.
  3. Conduct Annual Reviews: A yearly survey helps you keep track of progress and ensures you’re continuously improving your relationship with suppliers.
  4. Benchmark Performance: Compare your performance with other clients that your suppliers work with to see how you rank. This can help you identify areas where you can be more competitive.

Supplier Survey Template

Here’s a simple supplier survey template that you can use to get started:

Supplier Survey Template

Supplier Name: [Insert Supplier Name]
Date: [Insert Date]
Conducted By: [Your Name/Company]

Performance Evaluation:

Rate the following areas from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent):

  • Quality of Products/Services: ____
  • Timeliness of Deliveries: ____
  • Communication and Responsiveness: ____
  • Cost Competitiveness: ____

Collaboration

  • How well do we work together on cost-saving projects? ____
  • Are you satisfied with our involvement in product design? ____

Overall Satisfaction

  • Rate your overall experience working with us: ____

Additional Feedback

  • What can we do to improve our relationship?

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Q. Why should I conduct a supplier survey?

A supplier survey provides critical insights into your relationship with suppliers, allowing you to identify strengths and weaknesses. This information can help enhance collaboration, improve performance, and ultimately lead to cost savings.

Q. How often should I conduct a supplier survey?

It’s recommended to conduct supplier surveys annually. This regularity allows you to track changes over time and respond promptly to any emerging issues.

Q. What types of questions should I include in the survey?

Include a mix of quantitative questions (like rating scales) and qualitative questions (open-ended responses) that address areas such as satisfaction, communication, and collaboration.

Written by Lindsay Chesar (Education Director), Edited by Artin Vaqari (CEO Purchasing & Procurement Center), Updated by Azmi Anees

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