Monitoring Both Sides of the Client-Vendor Relationship is a Must

For maximum effectiveness, vendor analytics should consider both client and vendor responsibilities

Foodservice consultants have many different responsibilities, depending on the nature of the project they have been hired for. In many cases, they are called upon to help foster strong, mutually beneficial relationships between their clients and food vendors.

Whether a foodservice consultant is hired to help set up a brand new business or revamp a troubled one, when it comes to creating the best possible client-vendor relationships, it is essential to look at both sides of the equation. After all, client mistakes have the potential to disrupt the relationship just as much as vendor mistakes do. To maintain a smooth relationship and ensure the client gets what they want from the vendor, it is essential to set up a process for vendor analytics that considers the responsibilities of both the client and the vendor in contributing to smooth and cost-effective operations.

Common Food Vendor Performance Problems

There are a variety of issues that can crop up in the world of food vendor performance:

• Missed deliveries
• Late deliveries
• Incorrect items delivered
• Spoiled, defective, or substandard products
• Duplicate charges
• Duplicate invoices
• Incorrect pricing codes and amounts
• Incorrect shipping fees
• Non-contracted charges

Some of these food vendor performance issues can threaten the success of the foodservice company by making their customers unhappy or even putting their health at risk. Other performance issues will threaten the financial health of the foodservice company.

Identifying the Source of Problems

It’s important to remember that although at first glance it may look like the food vendor is the one falling short, it’s possible that the client is actually setting them up to fail in some way. Often, the issue is that the client does not have a clear understanding of their own demands and lacks the technical resources and know-how to perform reviews.

If there is a problem, check the client side first. Make sure expectations are reasonable, clearly defined, and clearly communicated. Then you can proceed with vendor analytics. Make sure you have access to accurate data–from the vendor and/or from the foodservice company’s data collection activities–and be as transparent as possible with the vendor about what is going on. This will position the parties to figure out how to make mutually beneficial improvements in the relationship.

Choose Your Analytics Tool Wisely

You definitely don’t want a client going to a vendor with complaints that are unfounded or based on bad data or inaccurate interpretations. That’s why it’s important to choose a user-friendly analytics tool that makes reaching actionable insights as easy as possible. MyFieldAudits definitely fits the bill. MyFieldAudits is a cloud-based analytics solution that can be used to collect data from multiple streams including site audits and generate automatic email reports and/or realtime dashboard reports.

For a free demo of MyFieldAudits, contact us at info@MyFieldAudits.com.