There’s nothing worse than radio silence from a key supplier when your truck hasn’t arrived and your customer is already asking for a delivery ETA. For Vendor Relations Managers at steel service centers, few things are as frustrating—or as damaging—as poor communication from mills. Whether it’s unreturned emails, vague status updates, or outright misinformation, vendor silence can derail your supply chain and erode customer trust.
Here’s how to hold mills accountable and re-establish control over communication breakdowns.
Recognize the cost of poor communication
When a supplier stops communicating, it’s not just inconvenient—it’s operationally and financially dangerous. Late delivery updates mean your scheduling team can’t adjust production. Missed material readiness dates delay shipments and trigger downstream customer penalties. And a vague “we’re checking with shipping” response is no comfort when your CRC order was due two days ago.
Communication failures add real cost: detention fees, production line stops, and lost customer confidence. Your job is to ensure every supplier understands that silence is not neutral—it’s expensive.
Document expectations early and often
Prevent ghosting by setting expectations upfront. Include a communications clause in every PO or long-term agreement. It should cover:
Response time commitments (e.g., 1 business day for non-urgent inquiries, 2 hours for delivery issues)
Escalation paths with contact names at multiple levels
Required weekly or bi-weekly check-ins during critical order periods
Verbal agreements don’t cut it. Put these standards in writing and refer to them consistently. If your supplier is late replying or vague in responses, refer back to the documented SLA and request compliance.
Build a primary and secondary point of contact matrix
One of the biggest gaps arises when a single supplier contact is on leave, out sick, or tied up. To avoid this, require every mill to provide at least two active points of contact per account:
A commercial or account manager for pricing and PO issues
A logistics or traffic coordinator for shipping, delivery, and MTRs
Keep this list updated quarterly, and don’t rely solely on your CRM. Have the contact sheet accessible to your warehouse, scheduling, and customer service teams. If your main contact goes dark, your team should know exactly who to call next.
Create a structured escalation ladder
If ghosting persists, escalation must be fast and effective. Develop a clear, internal escalation ladder:
Contact the primary rep
Contact the secondary rep
Escalate to the sales director or regional manager
Escalate to the mill’s VP of supply chain or operations
Make it known to the supplier that failure to respond will automatically trigger this ladder. It keeps the vendor accountable and gives you a tool to regain momentum.
Use shared calendars and dashboards to boost visibility
Many mills miss communication deadlines because there’s no shared view of what’s due. Set up shared order status dashboards or delivery trackers—Google Sheets, Smartsheet, or ERP-integrated tools—that show:
Expected ship dates
PO numbers
Quantity and coil specs
Trucking status and BOL
Require your vendor to update it twice weekly. This transparency reduces email back-and-forth and ensures both parties operate from the same data set.
Put QBRs to work for communication issues
Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) shouldn’t just be for price and volume discussions. Dedicate a section of each QBR to communication metrics. Track:
Average response time by vendor contact
Number of unacknowledged inquiries
Number of missed shipment updates
Present this data with specific examples. Use phrases like, “On March 12, we followed up three times before receiving a truck confirmation.” Concrete examples matter—and they drive change faster than abstract complaints.
Incentivize responsiveness in the contract
If poor communication has real costs, then high-quality communication should offer benefits. Consider contract clauses that tie responsiveness to business allocation. For example:
“Mill will receive volume preference for CRC if order status updates are provided within 24 hours.”
“Failure to confirm ship dates within SLA will reduce future allocations by X%.”
You’re not punishing vendors—you’re aligning incentives. Reliable communication becomes a prerequisite for volume growth, not just a nice-to-have.
Train your team to escalate professionally
Vendor ghosting often goes unchecked because buyers or schedulers are hesitant to push back. Create internal escalation scripts and training so your team knows how to respond when suppliers go silent. Provide templates such as:
“Hi [Supplier Name],
This is our second request for an update on PO #12345. The material was due to ship June 21. Please confirm status by 3 p.m. today or we will escalate per our contract terms. Thank you.”
A consistent escalation tone—firm but respectful—signals to suppliers that your team is aligned and serious about accountability.
Know when to escalate to senior leadership
If communication issues persist beyond reasonable correction, it’s time to elevate. Bring in your procurement director or VP of operations. Sometimes a higher-level conversation reframes the issue, especially if the mill values your long-term business.
In some cases, you may need to reduce volume allocation or switch vendors entirely. Chronic communication breakdowns signal deeper organizational dysfunction—and as a vendor relations lead, it’s your job to protect the business from those risks.
Final thought: communication is part of the product
You’re not just buying steel—you’re buying predictability, trust, and transparency. When those things go missing, no low price can make up the difference. Strong communication isn’t an add-on. It’s part of the supplier’s deliverable, and it deserves the same scrutiny as coil flatness or chemical certs.
By setting clear standards, tracking performance, and holding vendors accountable, you can ensure your supplier relationships work with you—not against you—every time an order’s on the line.
