A new survey has revealed that businesses in the UK engineering and manufacturing sector are being let down by bad supplier practices. When asked what they found most frustrating about suppliers, 49% of businesses operating within engineering and manufacturing replied that ‘not providing a quote as promised’ was top of the list. Other irritants included a ‘hard sell’ approach and ‘inexperience and inability to answer questions’.
The survey, which was commissioned by Signs Express, the UK’s largest sign company, revealed a whole raft of bad business practices and unacceptable errors that are, very possibly, having a negative impact on the UK’s economic recovery.
Craig Brown, managing director of Signs Express, said: “We first carried out this survey in 2011 and were expecting that lessons would have been learned from the economic downturn. In fact, we’ve been unable to identify any significant changes in supplier practices from the data our survey has revealed: it seems that poor supplier practices are still causing problems for those in the engineering and manufacturing sector.
“Even though the UK has officially come out of recession, today’s business world is facing many challenges, so it’s surprising that many suppliers are still behaving in a way that is unprofessional, unhelpful and that clearly alienates the very businesses that they need to attract. Engineering and manufacturing is one of the sectors that is poised for recovery, so suppliers need to stop letting down businesses if the economy is to get back on its feet.
“This research has helped us to better understand the priorities and concerns of UK businesses – our customers – and of course to gain insight on their opinions and needs regarding signage and graphics. However we were really surprised by the statistics generated in the area of really poor basic levels of customer service being delivered by suppliers.”
142 engineering and manufacturing business decision makers were surveyed and, when asked what their biggest supplier frustrations/turn-offs were, they answered:
Frustrated Experienced in
by: last 6 months:
Hard sell 48% 35%
Not providing a quote as promised 49% 52%
Quote exceeding estimate 28% 30%
Inexperienced supplier representative unable to answer questions 38% 33%
Turning up late for an appointment 20% 28%
Supplier not turning up for appointment 33% 28%
Acting over-friendly/inappropriately familiar 7% 14%
Supplier looking scruffy/unprofessional 22% 22%
The figures in red, above, indicate how many engineering and manufacturing industry decision makers have actually experienced this supplier approach in the previous six months.
“These are basic errors that really should play no part in the modern world of business. Professionalism, punctuality, presentation and attention to detail are all basic must haves and any business not offering these as standard needs to look hard at the way they operate. These reports of hard selling, of not delivering quotes as promised and not answering questions have the potential to cause serious damage to businesses’ bottom lines and the economy as a whole,” concludes Craig Brown.
