Resource Guide

Methods that Work for Creating Corporate Clients, page 14

Center for Women’s Business Research

Preferred Vendor Lists Another way to increase your visibility is to have your company’s name included on preferred vendor lists. What are these lists – and what is the benefit to being on them? And, most importantly, how does one get her company’s name to appear on a corporate preferred vendor list?

Preferred vendor lists are internal databases maintained by corporations. Every corporation has its own list, developed by its own purchasing professionals and executives. The list includes vendors that have been approved by the corporation for quality, on-time delivery, and other factors. Preferred vendor lists are often maintained by smaller companies who work as prime contractors to corporations, as well.

Why be on a preferred vendor list? Most importantly, companies that are on preferred vendor lists are usually first in line to hear of business opportunities. Since they have already gone through a screening process, requests for proposals (RFPs) are usually targeted to these companies before new suppliers are considered. In many cases, purchasing executives do not initiate a search for additional vendors until companies on the preferred vendor list have responded to an RFP.

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