To counter this, what can you do to get the attention you need from your vendors? The bottom line: Make it personal.  Try to interface with the owner of the company directly and or a manager that gets paid based on the growth of the business (commission). See your vendors often and in person, if possible. Take the vendor(s) out to lunch frequently… Play golf with the guy… Anything to create a personal relationship.

This will pay-off in spades the day you need to (ex.) increase your volumes and/or need him to slow things down (which happens frequently).

I was successful in doing this with my plastics molder in the project I describe in my book: Invent-onomics 101: A Guide to Getting Your Invention to Market Without Losing Your Shirt. I became friends with company owner’s son, who was also the company’s sales manager at the time. We had lunch frequently during the tooling/production process and, when things started to go bad, I had his and his father’s “ear.”  We remain friends today, though we haven’t done business together in years.

Making yourself a priority to a running concern is difficult, but will help you reach your goals. Your invention is personal… Make the products success personal to your vendors as well.