Resource Guide
Methods that Work for Creating Corporate Clients, page 19
Certification is important because it validates that your firm is a majority woman-owned firm and is a woman-operated company. A number of corporations surveyed are actively expanding the role of women-owned businesses as suppliers, and they need assurance that the firms they are working with are majority-owned by women or a minority. When a woman-owned business is certified, corporate representatives know that hers is precisely the kind of company they are trying to reach. Being certified immediately establishes you as a qualified candidate for clients who are seeking diversity.
Certification, therefore, can get you in the door through the supplier diversity department. And, once you’re in, it can help to seal a deal. It can also broaden your company’s exposure, as a majority of purchasing professionals surveyed use lists of certified corporations to find new suppliers.
The Commitment to Diversity in Corporate Purchasing Many readers of this guidebook may be familiar with the corporate commitment to diversity in over-all hiring practices. Many corporations also institute policies to increase diversity specifically in the area of purchasing. Half (50%) of the corporations require diversity training for all buyers. Close to a third (32%) of them offer buyers incentives for using suppliers who are women’s business enterprises.
Many corporations also encourage their prime contractors to pursue women’s business enterprises. A majority (79%) encourage their primary contractors to focus on diversity as they consider bids. Almost two thirds (61%) of them report that they track their prime suppliers’ subcontracts to confirm the number of diverse subcontractors.
More than half (52%) of the corporations surveyed initiate a direct connection between 1st-tier suppliers and women’s business enterprises.
Citation
Center for Women’s Business Research. “Methods that Work for Creating Corporate Clients, page 19.” Washington, DC.