7 Ways to Motivate Vendors to Deliver Exceptional Service Deliverables: A Checklist for Clients

If you’re a client looking to motivate your vendors to deliver exceptional service, look no further!  In this checklist, we’ll be discussing seven ways to incentivize your vendors to go above and beyond.

1. Bonus Structure: Offering bonuses for achieving specific performance targets can be a great motivator.  Whether it’s a monetary bonus, additional services or other benefits, bonuses provide vendors with a tangible reward for their hard work.
2. Long-term Contracts: Providing long-term contracts with automatic renewals for outstanding performance can give vendors a sense of security and stability.  This can encourage them to take risks and deliver exceptional work without worrying about job security.
3. Public Recognition: Highlighting the outstanding work of vendors through various means, such as the company website, social media, or industry events, can be a great motivator.  Recognition not only recognizes the vendor’s hard work but also helps build their reputation.
4. Flexible Working Arrangements: Allowing vendors to work flexible hours, remote working arrangements or the option to work remotely can be a great motivator.  This provides them with a better work-life balance, which in turn can lead to better work quality.
5. Access to New Projects: Providing vendors with exclusive access to new projects or projects with a higher budget or greater visibility can be a great motivator.  This provides them with more opportunities to showcase their skills and build their portfolio.
6. Support and Collaboration: Offering vendors access to support and resources that can help them improve the quality of their deliverables can be a great motivator.  This shows them that you are invested in their success and want to see them grow.
7. Performance-based Compensation: Implementing a performance-based compensation structure that rewards vendors for achieving agreed-upon performance targets can be a great motivator.    This compensation could be issued in the form of an “earnback” process where the vendor will have the opportunity to “earn back” or receive a refund for any fees they paid for missing prior performance targets.  For example, if the vendor missed a performance target in January of a given year and subsequently paid a fee for missing that performance target, the vendor may then be required to meet or exceed that same performance target for the following six (6) consecutive months (i.e. February – July)  before they are eligible to earn back the fees paid for the performance target miss in January.  This not only incentivizes them to deliver exceptional work but also helps align their goals with yours.

 Remember, motivated vendors equal exceptional service deliverables and a successful project! 

If you need help implementing any of these incentives or have other ideas you’d like to explore, feel free to contact us at contact@selektpartners.com.