98% of Suppliers Want Better Communication: Survey

HICX announces its Voice of the Supplier Survey 2024. The survey builds on its predecessor from 2021, which revealed that some of the world’s biggest businesses are making it hard for suppliers to do their best work.

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HICX announces its Voice of the Supplier Survey 2024. The survey builds on its predecessor from 2021, which revealed that some of the world’s biggest businesses are making it hard for suppliers to do their best work. Keen to learn the state of affairs today, the Supplier Experience vendor set out to repeat the study.

HICX surveyed 1,000 suppliers that serve large multinationals, typically those with more than $1 billion in revenue and which operate in the consumer-packaged goods, aerospace and defense, and energy sectors. Respondents, who work directly with businesses in this category, were asked to relate the survey to their biggest customer.

“We found that supplier experience is still a problem,” says Costas Xyloyiannis, HICX’s CEO. “Presently, 59% of suppliers struggle to do their best for major customers, compared with 61% in the previous study. This very minor improvement is concerning. With supply chain resilience so critical to business success in today’s economy, it’s time this figure drops."

Key Takeaways:

  • The survey suggests the issue originates with how businesses work with suppliers –specifically, how they communicate. A staggering 98% of suppliers long for their biggest customers to communicate better.
  • Instead of collaboration, though, suppliers are experiencing a fractious relationship. Nearly half of all the suppliers surveyed find it hard to resolve queries with their customers, who, suppliers say, can also actually hinder the relationship. For example, many suppliers feel too stretched to volunteer new ideas and they find big customers unpleasant to work with.
  • What’s very clear is that companies should take this situation seriously: the survey also found that if customers were easier to work with, most suppliers would do better work. Specifically, suppliers could send data faster, respond to requests more accurately, give more detailed feedback and even volunteer extra information.
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