Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1529988
32 SMT007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2024 concierge, white glove service. Sure, we're a distributor in traditional form, we get supplies that manufacturers need quickly and competi- tively priced, but we're best working with cus- tomers we have deep, consistent relationships with. What does that look like when customers develop a closer relationship with you? We shine with our specialized concierge-style customer experience. Primarily, we are seeing that procurement is broken from both a strate- gic and tactical perspective: Procurement folks are resource-constrained and time-pressed, so they aren't able to optimize and plan things out before there's a problem. So, when procure- ment acts in a price-myopic manner, it opens the door for risk in the supply chain. Cost avoidance issues are ignored, and those short- sighted attempts at cost cutting can take the whole operation down. e worst thing that can happen to a company is when production goes down. It's strategically stepping over dol- lars to save pennies. Does it move the relationship from reaction- ary to proactive when you connect with your customers as a concierge? Yes, that's very much what I mean by con- cierge. Once a customer-partner gets to the place of being open-minded, they might say, "Can you help us fix this procurement prob- lem?" ere's obviously a trust element there that allows us to say, "Let's look at your partic- ular situation and see how we can continually improve and optimize, but also get organized Alex Corral Account Manager