I agree that establishing policies might not be the way to handle vendors. You don't want to damage the vendor/client relationship and you don;t want to make it difficult for you to contact them if you need something.

I always get pricing quotes and details in writing. I have set up e-mail folders for each of my vendors and move all conversations to the proper folder. For vendors submitting price quotes on products we currently aren't interested in or able to purchase, I transfer them into the 'quote' folder for future reference.

The vendors I work with are very understanding when I tell them that I will have to pass on a visit and catch them the next time they are in the area. I ask them to either snail me brochures on any new products or email the information.

If I receive a cold-call from a vendor, I usually interrupt their spiel and ask them to email information and I will get back with them at a later date. If pressed for a date I usually give them a date far enough in the future to discourage them from contacting me.

If time is a problem, remember that you can set time limits. Tell a vendor that you can only spare 5-10 minutes and stick to it.

On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:41 PM, Rossmann, Doralyn <doralyn@montana.edu> wrote:

I’m curious if other libraries have developed any policies or guidelines for communication with vendors. Between on-site visit requests, telephone calls received, and emails received from vendors, I find time-management to be challenging around these relationships.

To be consistent and clear with vendors, I’d like to develop some policies which might make this communication less time intensive. For example, might we limit vendor visits to a specific month or two of the year or only when we request an on-site visit? And, could we say we prefer email to telephone communication?

I realize vendors have their own time challenges and needs to communicate so I want to respect that. How do others manage the communication relationships with vendors?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Doralyn

Doralyn Rossmann
Head of Collection Development

Associate Professor

Montana State University Library

P.O. Box 173320

Bozeman, MT, USA 59717-3320

(406) 994-6549

doralyn@montana.edu

doralyn.org

@doralyn on Twitter

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