Working with others
When the other side will not change
The supplier who only sends emails and the client who insists on their portal. Both have a way through.
No organisation works alone, and not everyone will use the same thing. There are two distinct situations — those who will not change and those who impose their system on you — and they are solved differently.
Case 1: the supplier still on email
The key point is that they **do not have to change tools**. No account, no password, nothing to learn: they receive a request, enter by their link, upload from a phone, done. If your request suggests otherwise, the problem is the message, not their resistance.
| What they say | What it usually means | What works |
|---|---|---|
| "Just email it to me" | They do not want to register anywhere | Explaining there is no registration |
| "I'm not good with those things" | They fear it is complicated | An example or a two-minute call |
| "I already sent it" | They sent it to a person, not to the file | Asking them to reply on the same link |
| "I haven't got time" | It is not a priority for them | A concrete date and a clear consequence |
Important
The third row is the commonest and looks least like resistance. Receiving documentation in someone's inbox is exactly the problem you are trying to solve: if it ends up there, you have not moved forward even though the supplier cooperated.
Case 2: the client who imposes their portal
There is no negotiation here and it is not worth attempting: if your client requires uploading to their platform, you upload. What is up to you is not doing the work twice.
- 1
Your file remains the source
Prepared, reviewed and kept here; whatever they ask for gets uploaded there.
- 2
Record what you uploaded and when
Their portal is theirs: if it changes or closes tomorrow, your evidence must be yours.
- 3
And do not duplicate the review
Review once, here. Their portal is a destination, not a second archive.
Watch out
The expensive mistake in case 2 is stopping keeping copies "because it's already on their portal". When the relationship ends, that access disappears — and with it two years of your documentation.
And the middle case
Worth knowing
None of this requires the other side to contract or pay. Whoever supplies or signs consumes nothing: consumption always falls on the requester.
›Can the request be sent from our domain?
Yes, and it helps a lot with sceptics.
›What if the supplier emails the document anyway?
Upload it to the file and thank them; what matters is where it ends up.
›Is it worth insisting they use the link?
Yes, for the outcome rather than the principle: the link leaves a record and email does not.
A real case
The situation
A twenty-year supplier refuses to "sign up to yet another platform".
What you do
- They explain there is no sign-up and send an example
- He uploads from his phone in two minutes
What you get
He supplies as always and the documentation ends up in the file, not in an inbox.
The situation
A twenty-year supplier refuses to use the link and keeps emailing.
What you do
- Uploads their document to the file yourself on receipt
- Sends them the link on the channel they do use
- Shows them once what they gain: seeing what they are missing without phoning
What you get
The file is complete from day one and the supplier changes when they see the benefit, not under pressure.
The situation
They are pressed and the relationship suffers.
What you do
- Accepts their channel and adapts the record
What you get
The file moves without a commercial cost.
The situation
The supplier says they have no time to learn another tool.
What you do
- Shows them there is nothing to register for
What you get
The objection disappears in one sentence.
The situation
They email it and nobody uploads it to the file.
What you do
- Assigns somebody to upload it on receipt
What you get
The delivery is recorded even arriving another way.
The situation
They are written off and left with no file.
What you do
- Records whatever they send, however it arrives
What you get
No supplier falls outside the control.
The situation
The contact person changes and the new one does use the link.
What you do
- Tries again with every change of contact
What you get
The resistance was one person's, not the company's.
The situation
Their way is accepted and nobody records why.
What you do
- Notes the exception in their file
What you get
The team knows why that supplier works differently.
This article answers
- the supplier refuses to use the platform
- the client forces us onto their portal
- working with people still on email and spreadsheets
- adapting to a client's tool