5 MIN READ
Thursday, October 17, 2024
As businesses grow, managing vendor-related processes—such as order tracking, invoicing, and compliance—can become complex and time-consuming. Without the right systems in place, these tasks can overwhelm procurement teams, making it difficult to maintain efficient operations. This is where vendor management tools, such as vendor portals, come into play.
These solutions help teams move away from emails and spreadsheets, and significantly ease supplier relationship management. They usually offer a CRM-like data management system, as well as an external facing portal with a secure login. These tools act as a centralized platform for vendor communication and onboarding, data sharing, document management, and more.
By automating and organizing these processes, businesses can reduce manual effort and improve vendor collaboration, leading to smoother operations and stronger supplier partnerships.
But making the switch to a new vendor portal or vendor management tool successfully requires some advance planning.
Drawing from our experience with clients who have undergone this transition, we've put together a list of the most frequent—and most avoidable—problems that tend to arise. Here's a quick checklist, with more detailed information below:
Define your needs and objectives before getting started
Plan the data migration carefully
Test both new and existing integrations within the new setup
Involve your users–the vendors–in the process early on
Keep the legacy system accessible for a while after launch
Have an actual launch plan in place, with comms and support resources
1. Define the specifications of your new vendor portal
You’ll save a lot of time considering tools that are not fit for your purpose if you take the time to assess your needs and define the required specs before diving into the search for a new vendor management tool or vendor portal.
A good place to start for procurement teams is to focus on the pain points the current system or manual processes create.
Some key questions to consider:
What vendor processes are taking up too much time?
What features would help improve supplier relationship management?
Which tasks, such as order tracking or invoicing, need automation?
By clearly defining these goals, you can ensure that the chosen vendor management software addresses the unique challenges your business faces.
For example, if real-time order tracking is important, you'll want to find a solution that has strong tracking features. And if staying in touch with suppliers is a challenge, a vendor management CRM with built-in messaging could be key.
2. Plan the data migration into the new vendor management tool
One of the most challenging parts of switching to a new vendor management tool is ensuring the existing vendor data is migrated seamlessly, without gaps or significant interruptions in service. Whether your data is currently stored in spreadsheets, older systems, or multiple platforms, you shouldn’t skip the planning.
Your approach to data migration will largely depend on how your new vendor portal handles data. Here are two common scenarios:
When your vendor portal uses a native database:
Some tools, like certain vendor apps, come with a native database. This requires importing existing vendor data directly into the new system. Stacker, for example, gives you the ability to build a vendor portal on top of a flexible CRM-like database.
Before migrating, review and clean up your data, removing duplicates and standardizing formats.
Perform a test migration with a small subset of data to ensure everything is imported correctly, with data mapping into the right fields, and calculated fields or roll-ups are working correctly
Set up automated data imports if the portal doesn’t offer real-time integrations.
When your vendor portal relies on external databases:
If your vendor management portal uses external data sources like Airtable or Google Sheets, the process will involve setting up integrations to ensure data flows correctly.
Recreate or update all existing integrations, ensuring they function properly within the new system.
Test these integrations thoroughly to ensure vendor data is transferred accurately and in real-time.
By taking the time to plan your data migration carefully, you ensure a smooth transition to the new vendor management tool, reducing the risk of operational disruptions.
3. Test new and existing integrations
A vendor management portal doesn’t operate in isolation. It must integrate with your other business tools, whether they are accounting software, ERP systems, or procurement platforms. Before fully committing to the switch, it’s crucial to test both new and existing integrations to ensure everything runs seamlessly.
Conduct an integration audit: Before migrating, evaluate all third-party systems that interact with your current vendor management software. This might include tools like payment processing systems, contract management software, or even vendor tracking software used to monitor shipments and deliveries.
Plan for data and integration mapping: Map out how data will flow between systems and make necessary updates to integration endpoints. For instance, ensure that order information moves from the vendor management CRM to the accounting software without issues.
Test and validate: Conduct test runs with small data sets before migrating your entire database. Test how well the integrations handle real-time data exchange and perform under high volumes.
Establish error handling: Always have contingency plans in place in case integrations fail during or after the migration. This might include reverting to manual data entry or using backup systems temporarily.
Thorough testing helps avoid costly errors and ensures that your new vendor management tool operates efficiently from day one.
4. Involve your vendors in the portal design
When switching to a new vendor portal, it’s important to involve your vendors in the process. Engaging them early can help identify pain points and feature requests that you may have missed. By considering their input, you can create a system that not only works for your procurement team but also enhances the experience for your vendors.
Gather feedback: Reach out to key vendors and ask about their current frustrations with your existing system or processes. This might reveal useful features, such as automated order confirmations or better document sharing options within the vendor app. This is particularly helpful if you’re building your vendor portal with a no-code app like Stacker.
Build vendor buy-in: When vendors are involved in the design process, they are more likely to adopt the new vendor management portal without resistance. By addressing their needs directly, you’re also improving supplier relationship management, ensuring smoother collaborations going forward.
Involving vendors early on will create a system that meets everyone’s needs, leading to better outcomes for your business.
5. Keep Legacy Systems Accessible During the Transition
Even after implementing your new vendor management portal, it’s a good idea to keep your old systems temporarily accessible. This allows you to cross-check data and troubleshoot any discrepancies that might arise during the transition. It also ensures that your business can continue operating smoothly if any issues occur with the new system.
Verify data accuracy: Use the old system to compare vendor data and ensure that all information has been accurately migrated to the new portal.
Minimize disruptions: Keeping legacy systems accessible provides a safety net, allowing you to maintain important vendor services during the transition period. This can prevent delays in payments, orders, or communications, safeguarding your supplier relationship management throughout the switch.
By keeping your old systems accessible temporarily, you reduce the risk of service interruptions while ensuring a smoother, more reliable transition to your new vendor management tool.
6. Plan a comprehensive roll-out
Develop a step-by-step plan for introducing the new vendor portal, including key milestones and timelines. For example, start by notifying a small group of vendors to gather initial feedback before expanding the roll-out to all vendors.
Have a communication plan to inform vendors of the upcoming changes to your vendor management software: Create a clear communication plan to keep vendors informed. For instance, you could send out an initial email announcement detailing the changes, followed by a webinar to answer questions and provide a demo of the new system.
Provide training and resources for vendors: Ensure vendors have access to useful resources. This might include video tutorials, step-by-step guides, and a dedicated FAQ page. You could also host live training sessions or create a knowledge base for ongoing support.
Use multiple channels to announce the new vendor portal: To maximize awareness, use more than one channel. For example, send email updates, post platform notifications when vendors log in, and share the news on your company’s LinkedIn page or other relevant social media platforms.
Collect feedback post-launch to iterate and improve the system: After the launch, gather feedback from vendors using surveys, email responses, or in-platform feedback forms. Use this input to make improvements, like refining features or adding more resources based on vendor suggestions.
—
Switching to a new vendor management portal or vendor app can transform how you manage vendor relationships. It streamlines processes, improves communication, and boosts efficiency, making your operations run smoother.
If you're ready to make the switch, don't hesitate to book a demo or sign up to explore how a no-code tool like Stacker can help you build a vendor management portal tool that fits your needs.
