If you do not understand what the vendor needs, which is often not as simple as selling you more stuff, and the vendor does not understand what you need, both organizations will never reach full selling capability. Daily, monthly and annually you will leave opportunities on the table that never will make their way to either organization’s P & L and the opportunity to realize increased profitability will never materialize. Vendor surveys as well as face-to-face meetings with your vendor partners to ascertain needs are invaluable. More