| It's important to find a reliable supplier that can | | | | Any customer that gives a testimonial allows |
| supply you with the right materials. The materials | | | | themselves to be contacted to check the |
| need to be of high quality and the price needs to | | | | accuracy of the review. |
| be right. If the source of materials becomes | | | | Word Of Mouth |
| unreliable mid-way through a project; you could | | | | The single most powerful marketing channel is |
| face major problems. | | | | also the most basic. If a business gets a bad |
| In this article we'll look at 5 top tips you can use | | | | reputation it won't take long before lots of people |
| to finding the right supplier for your project. Feel | | | | have heard the name and can tell you about the |
| free to use this as a guide when shopping around | | | | business. Ask around, read reviews, talk to people. |
| and researching a good supplier. If you can find | | | | If a supplier has a bad reputation; you'll soon find |
| somewhere that ticks all the boxes below; you'll | | | | out about it. |
| most likely see an excellent project finish. | | | | Price |
| Reliability | | | | If all the above is in place; is the price right? You |
| It's critical that any supplier is reliable. You might | | | | don't want to pay too much for materials |
| be tempted by a very cheap price, but if the | | | | because this might send the project over budget. |
| materials don't arrive in time or the order is | | | | Ask around for a handful of quotes, you can then |
| wrong; your building construction might be | | | | choose the building material suppliers that are |
| significantly delayed. Are you able to ask for | | | | offering the best deal whilst also ticking the above |
| testimonials from existing customers/clients? | | | | boxes of reliability and reputation. |
| Some websites offer a feedback system in | | | | Stock levels |
| certain industries. Are you able to find good | | | | Although this forms part of reliability, is there |
| reviews on the supplier? | | | | enough stock to complete your project? In most |
| Reputation | | | | cases the supplier will have to order in the |
| What does the reputation of the supplier tell you? | | | | materials. Whilst this is perfectly normal it's worth |
| Do they have excellent customer/client | | | | checking to see if the supplier is confident she/he |
| recommendations? If a company has lots of | | | | can get enough materials in time for the project |
| testimonials on its website or in its business | | | | to start. |
| premises; ask if you can verify the testimonials. | | | | |