Getting started
The first supplier you ask
The first request to an outsider teaches more about your process than any internal test.
You can test all you like among colleagues: someone inside understands what you meant even when it is not written down. The process only starts existing for real when it reaches someone who does not know you, owes you nothing and has their own Monday.
Who to pick as the first
| Profile | Good first choice? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The one who treats you best | Yes | They will tell you what is unclear, without taking offence |
| The one with most documents outstanding | No | You mix launching the process with an old dispute |
| The biggest one | No | They have their own portals and their own rules |
| A small one working from a phone | Yes, as the second | It is the acid test of your format |
Important
What to watch in that first request is not whether the document arrives: **it is how many questions they ask before sending it**. Every «what is this?», «are you asking or is your colleague?» or «will the one I sent last year do?» is a hole in your message, not carelessness on their part. The other forty will have the same doubts, except most will not ask: they simply will not reply. Each doubt fixed now is saved forty times over.
How to prepare that first send
- 1
Warn them on the usual channel before sending
One line: «something is coming and it is from us».
- 2
Ask for little: one or two things
Launching with eight documents tests their patience, not the process.
- 3
Say what happens once they send it
Knowing someone reviews and confirms changes their willingness.
- 4
And ask them afterwards how it went
Two minutes of conversation beat staring at a dashboard.
Watch out
The commonest launch mistake is not in the message: **it is not telling anyone inside that this supplier will now reply here**. They send the document, it arrives through the new system, and whoever handles that supplier keeps watching their own inbox — so the very first person to try the process waits a week and concludes it does not work. Before the first request, someone has to be watching the other side.
What the replies you get actually mean
Worth knowing
It is worth writing two lines about how this first one went, because by the fortieth nobody will remember what changed after that conversation — and those changes are usually the best ones the process gets.
›Should I call or is email enough?
For the first one, a short call. After that it is unnecessary.
›What if the first one goes badly?
That is exactly what it is for. Discovering it at forty would be worse.
›How long before chasing?
As long as that supplier normally takes, not as long as you would like.
A real case
The situation
A company launches its process with the supplier that owes the most documents.
What you do
- Starts with a friendly one, asks for two documents and calls beforehand
What you get
The doubts come out in a conversation and get fixed before the other forty see it.
The situation
The most difficult supplier is chosen for the first trial.
What you do
- Starts with one you get on well with
What you get
The process's flaws surface in a friendly conversation.
The situation
Nine documents are requested at once the first time.
What you do
- Requests two and adds the rest in the next round
What you get
The first attempt completes and builds confidence on both sides.
The situation
The supplier does not understand why something is being requested.
What you do
- Explains in the notice why each document is needed
What you get
They reply without a preceding phone call.
The situation
No warning is given and the email looks suspicious.
What you do
- Phones before sending the first notice
What you get
The link gets opened rather than binned.
The situation
What was learned with the first one is not applied to the rest.
What you do
- Saves the corrected process as a template
What you get
The next forty receive the good version.
This article answers
- which supplier should I ask first
- how do I tell a supplier we are changing
- first request to a third party
- pilot with a real supplier