---
id: KB-CR-020
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-role/vetting-a-supplier-you-already-work-with
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-rol
subcategoria: compras
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CF-009, KB-CL-012]
citadoPor: [KB-CR-002]
---

# Vetting a supplier you already work with

_Asking a ten-year supplier for documents reads as distrust unless explained. And the oldest one reacts worst._

**Responde a:** asking long-standing suppliers for documents · vetting existing suppliers · the supplier takes offence at paperwork · starting to control the usual suppliers

Vetting new suppliers is easy: it enters the conversation from day one and nobody argues. The problem is the other thirty — those who have supplied for years without anyone asking for a document, and who must now be emailed for five of them.

## How each one reacts

| Supplier profile | How they usually react | What works |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Large and organised | Sends it in two days | Just ask: they have it ready |
| Small and tidy | Asks what for and sends it | Explain the reason once |
| Long-standing, informal | Takes it as distrust | A call before the email |
| The one who does not have it | Goes quiet and stalls | Time and a realistic minimum list |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third row is the one to work on before sending anything: **for a long-standing supplier, asking for documents after ten years is not a formality, it is a message**. And the message received, unexplained, is that something has happened or that you no longer trust them. A one-minute call — «we are doing this with everyone, starting with those who do most work for us» — changes the response entirely, and it is the difference between papers in a week and a negotiation you never intended.

## How to run the campaign

1. **Start with the highest risk or highest volume** — And say so: being first reads better when the reason is given.
2. **Ask for the minimum list, not the ideal one** — Five documents get sent; fifteen open a discussion.
3. **Give one realistic deadline** — A short deadline with extensions teaches that deadlines do not matter.
4. **And say what happens if it does not arrive** — With no consequence, half of them never will.

> [!WARNING]
> Every vetting campaign's uncomfortable discovery: **some long-standing suppliers will not be able to provide what you ask**, and not for want of willingness. They have worked for years without that document because nobody asked. There the decision is no longer purchasing's: it is whether you keep working with them, give them time to obtain it, or accept the risk in writing. What does not work is leaving it open — because then the work continues and so does the gap.

## What the relationship gains when it is done well

**En corto**

- The supplier knows what you expect, which rarely harms them.
- The awkward conversations at every audit stop happening.
- And whoever does keep their documents current competes on equal terms.

> [!NOTE]
> If your own clients require you to control the chain, say so: for a supplier, «we are being asked» is very different from «we have decided to ask». It is true, it is understood and it stops them taking it personally.

**Do I stop orders if they do not send it?**

That is the decision to take before starting, not when it happens.

**What if they have never had that document?**

Case by case: sometimes another one proves the same thing.

**Do I ask again every year?**

Only for what expires. Repeating what does not change wears the relationship.

## Ejemplos

**A company emails thirty long-standing suppliers for five documents and gets four replies.**

- Calls the oldest ones first and explains it applies to everyone, starting with the main ones

→ Most reply within a week and the awkward conversations come down to two cases.

**New suppliers are approved and existing ones have no file.**

- Launches the same process to those already working with you

→ The criterion is the same for everyone.

**A long-standing supplier has never provided anything.**

- Launches onboarding as if they were new

→ Seniority stops being an exception.

**There is a fear of upsetting a trusted supplier.**

- Explains it is the same process for everyone

→ The request does not read as distrust.

**A hundred are onboarded at once and nobody replies.**

- Launches in rounds, starting with the critical ones

→ Progress is real from the first round.

**An audit uncovers suppliers with no file.**

- Checks beforehand who has no file

→ The gap closes with time to spare.