In-Depth Tips from Dr English

Your boss says to you “Phone them up and tell them how angry we are”. He is referring to a delay in the provision of a service that has caused you significant inconvenience.

So you call the supplier and vent your anger and your boss’ anger. But what now? All you have probably done is alienate the supplier, leaving them feeling resentful and not inclined to remedy the problem.

If your objective is to correct the problem, try the following approach:

Step 1: Clearly state the problem. Focus on facts. Make no accusations. Don’t guess at motives or motivations. Just focus on details such as the duration or frequency of the problem or error, as well as the material (not emotional) effect of the problem or error.

Tip: Whenever possible, quantify the consequences of the problem. “Late delivery of this material has cost us over HK$30,000.”

Step 2: Either propose a solution or ask for one.

Step 3: Conclude by converting ‘I’ into ‘We’. Stress that you want to work with, not against, the supplier.

Below are some possible situations requiring complaints to suppliers.

Delivery or Service Overdue

The most common complaints against suppliers are related to time. Deadlines are missed and schedules fall apart.

What to Say:

Begin gently, if you can. Try to secure cooperation. A delivery may have arrived late enough to have an impact on your work. You call the supplier, who offers some explanations and excuses. How do you reject the excuses without losing a previously reliable supplier?

YOU: I understand the problems you are facing, but we-you and I-are facing a problem too. We need to work out a reliable schedule. This can’t happen again. We can’t absorb a delay like this . Let’s work together on the problem and agree on a new schedule to prevent late deliveries in the future.

TIP: Translate the I versus you situation into a we.              

Here’s a simpler situation:

YOU: Hello, Tom. This is James from CEDD. You know we made a booking for one of your venues for our conference on April 3rd and paid a deposit of $10,000 with the order. A month has gone by, and we have yet to receive confirmation of the venue set up and food arrangements. I know you are probably busy, but we need that confirmation. We were promised it within three weeks. What’s happening?

SUPPLIER: I’ll look into it and get back to you.

YOU: Tom, when will I hear from you? Because look, we’re up against it here. We need to let our delegates know the arrangements. Unless we get that confirmation by the 14th, we will cancel the booking and recall our deposit.

SUPPLIER: Well, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

YOU: Tom, I don’t want to have to cancel this booking. We want the venue. And I’m sure you don’t want to lose the booking. Please work with us now to avoid something neither of us wants. Please give me a definite time when you will get back to me.

SUPPLIER: You’ll have the information this afternoon before five.

YOU: That would be great. Thanks.

Repeated Errors by the Supplier

Repeated errors are, of course, especially frustrating. Calling to complain about such problems should set two objectives:

1. To make it clear that the situation is unacceptable and cannot continue; and
2. To offer help, advice, or suggestions in an effort to improve the supplier’s system problems.

As always, address issues, not personalities or character.

What to Say:

The following are two approaches to opening up discussion of repeated errors.

YOU: We’ve been doing business with you for a long time now, and I feel I can speak frankly with you. The performance of your shipping department over the past three months has been unacceptable from our point of view.

It’s just this simple: Of twenty five shipments we received since November, five have been late by at least three days; eight have been incomplete; and three have included items we did not order. Bill, your shipping department’s errors have cost us time and effort, and they have often inconvenienced our staff as well as other departments. These errors have to stop.

I am very interested to hear your views on this situation. It might be productive for us to speak further about it. Maybe I can even make some suggestions you would find helpful.

YOU: Ed, as you know, we’ve been using your company for some five years now. Most of the time, we’ve had no reason to be anything less than delighted. Our staff were happy and the work has gone smoothly. But since April, I have received fifteen complaints from my staff about the quality of work.

I have to conclude that you have a problem in your quality control procedures.

SUPPLIER: I’m not aware of any problem. I mean, this is the first I’ve heard of this.

YOU: We can’t keep going with your company if our staff are unhappy with the work. Are you willing to review your quality control procedures?

SUPPLIER: Sure…we’ll review them.

YOU: We do a lot of business together and your work is important to us. I would like to meet with you to discuss these problems in more depth. We can go over what steps you will take to ensure that quality of work improves.