If allowed by your facility, the provision of references to colleagues requesting information about vendors and specific vendor performance is a highly prized reward for good vendor performance. Some institutions do not allow the sharing of vendor information with others outside of the facility.
Excellence in the quality and delivery of products or services by the vendor, as measured objectively through agreed performance metrics, is a reward in and of itself.
For example, the GSA requires periodic vendor performance to be measured according to an agreed metric.23 Appropriate information may be collected and reported by the end user, which may be the laboratory or other institutional service line. Include the following queries as a part of the evaluation of the vendor:
- Has necessary equipment been provided?
- What percentage of deliveries are on-time?
- What percentage of shipments are rejected?
- How many incorrect invoices (over- or under-charges) were submitted by the vendor?
- How many damage claims have been submitted?
- Other feedback? (Safety record?)
This information is then readily available to the other network users, as well as to the purchasing agents for future reference. A great reference - or a well-documented poor performance - is helpful when other end users are evaluating a vendor. As expected, the vendor wants to do everything possible to achieve a great performance.
