True Partnerships Drive Spare Parts Logistics Account Management

When looking to outsource service supply chain logistics, you need to consider asking yourself this simple, yet vitally important question: When it comes to spare parts logistics account management, do I need a vendor or a true partner?

The answer could make all the difference in achieving long-term accelerated growth. You need help solving the challenges you face, whether you are the COO of a network security startup or a seasoned SVP of Supply Chain Services for a well-established network hardware provider.

Vendor
A vendor will provide services in exchange for dollars, strictly a transactional approach with no emotional commitment beyond that.

Partner
A partner, on the other hand, will approach spare parts logistics account management with a heavy focus on making a meaningful impact on your business. Partners look to add value, build trust, and provide complete transparency. They serve as an extension of your business. They are committed to your success, always looking for ways to optimize your spend while supporting your continuing growth.

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Spare Parts Logistics Account Management: How to Tell a Partner from a Vendor

How a third-party services provider demonstrates their spare parts logistics account management style will go a long way in determining if are they a flexible partner who will drive growth in the relationship, or if they are a vendor with a one-size-fits-all solution.

A trusted partner will answer “yes” to each of the following questions:

Will they wrap themselves around you with an account structure that includes experts in inventory control, experts in international trade, and warehousing & distribution?
Will they have weekly operational status meetings? How about a quarterly business review, to talk about your next move?
Will they have the foresight to ask your 2- and 5-year plans? Will they care about where your product is going and how your product line is evolving?

That is what spare parts logistics account management means to us. Flash Global is a partner that is solely focused on time-sensitive service parts solutions.

A Partnership Approach in Action

logistics-account-management Our approach to spare parts logistics account management is a big reason why high-tech OEMs ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies trust Flash to help them grow their service logistics capabilities.

If a customer or a prospect comes to Flash and says, “Our sales team has just started selling products and service contracts in Africa, a great growth opportunity! But we don’t have service parts in that area of the world to meet SLAs, nor do we know how to go about importing and exporting in Africa.”

Here’s how this scenario would be handled if you partnered with Flash. You would start by reaching out to your single point of contact at Flash. Not a regional contact or someone in Africa, but the ONE person who is your global account manager.
From there, we’d say let’s have a conversation. Let us bring our global trade operations and compliance experts to the next meeting. We will explain what you need to prepare for to start moving service parts into and out of Johannesburg. Our warehousing and distribution experts will join the meeting, as well as those who can provide critical insights into the areas of inventory and order management.

The result: