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Treating Vendors with R-E-S-P-E-C-T

By Michael Nibert posted 06-05-2010 12:26

  

Hello AARC friends,

  I am continually amazed how vendors that call on me are not treated with respect by some Materials Managers and Respiratory Care Directors and Managers. I personally view vendors as the backbone of our services. They work with us on best pricing to allow improved operational margins, sponsor and showcase their services at seminars, educate us on their product lines and provide CEU's, and provide updates to their technology to provide better patient outcomes. Some of the things I am told I prefer not to put in print but the bottom line is that some folks are providing POOR customer service to vendors. So the next time a vendor is in your department, remember what they bring to the table for you and your patients, be on time, and cancel your meeting if events change that allows you not to keep your committed appointment.

 Treat them with professional courtesy as you expect in return as the golden rule implies . This is how YOU earn R-E-S-P-E-C-T !

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Comments

Jeffrey Davis
04-05-2011 15:37

I'm a little late with responding, but I couldn't agree with you more! Where would we be without the vendors showing us their new products, looking for our opiniions? Where would we be without all the "free" educational offerings provided by our vendors? Where would we be as a profession without our vendors supporting us at all our conferences, nationally and locally? Trust me when I say, the VENDORS are the ones who pay those expenses to put on a great show and provide CRCE credit for our peers.
Give respect to get respect. I ask all my vendors to make an appointment with me. when they do, it goes on the calendar, and that is first come- first served (unless Hospital Admin overrides). I will allow for drop-ins if I am available, and sometimes I am.
I know (and know of) too many managers who won't even give a vendor the time of day. That is rude and frankly, it's part of our job.

Mary Barrows
06-10-2010 16:00

I try to give as much respect to a vendor as I get. But there are certain vendors who actually get reputations as "stalkers". You all know the type, they show up unannouced, manage to find out the internal methods to contact you and generally make an annoyance of themselves. We just had a drug rep who did this and no longer works for the company.

Bill Cohagen
06-10-2010 14:14

I have been in management for over 12 years and I have established great relationships with my vendors. There are boundries that have to be established from the onset on both sides as we are all busy with our daily activities, but with the boundaries and guidelines set by both sides the seeds of RESPECT are planted and ready to grow and flourish.

Michael Nibert
06-08-2010 11:37

Julia and Jason,
I certainly appreciate your dialogue. I found out from one of my vendors, that a new policy is in place from "Vendor Clear" that an appointment MUST be setup >= 48 hours in advance. I do not see vendors without an appointment and they respect my position. My office door is like a revolving door and I bet most Directors have the same issue with open door policies----

Julia Downs
06-08-2010 11:27

I agree wholeheartedly that vendors, both the account managers and the clinical specialists are a wealth of knowledge and benefit our field. I value there time and resources greatly. Respect is a two way street though. As managers, directors, and educators our time is valuable also. Appointments are a must for our busy schedules. I have had some vendors "drop in", with comments like.. "Well I was in the building for an appointment with anesthesia, so thought I would drop in." If they called or emailed ahead to set up that appointment, they could have set one with me at the same time. I have heard in the past from vendors that not all directors, etc have them set appointments, so I guess what needs to happen is a dialogue up front so that everyone is on the same page.
Nicely written and great reminder to us all on professional courtesy.
Julia

Jason Higgins
06-06-2010 09:24

Mike Nibert - Thank you for the blog. I'm not sure about other vendors but I went from being an adult critical care registered therapist to a vendor overnight. My goal is to continue to improve patient care. Thanks again for your respect, sir.
Sincerely,
Jason Higgins
CareFusion