A recent Harvard Business Review article reported on a study by researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management that “found that consumers may be willing to pay 2% to 10% more for products from companies that provide greater supply chain transparency.”
But, transparency alone does not equal trust nor is trust alone enough. As our founder and managing partner Scott Steinford says: Make Trust Apparent; Believe in Transparency and that’s why he always uses the words together. Trust transparency is the intersection point of trust and transparency. It is a proactive and top of mind strategic approach to create a process and value system that aligns organizations and their internal and external partners to create tangible, quantifiable ROI.
The dietary supplement industry supply chain is complex. Below is a simplified version we created to provide just an inkling of how complicated it can be. Most companies have multiple raw material growers, processors, etc. from all over the world. And, they rely heavily on their contract manufacturer, but in some cases, key personnel at larger companies don’t even know who their CM is.
Moreover, online communities are expanding, information and misinformation is out there and it’s up to you to make sure consumers can easily obtain credible information about your organization/brand or someone else will provide it to them and then you lose control of the message.
Some ways to control your message and increase supply chain trust transparency:
Commit: Make trust transparency one of your organization’s values and regularly conduct internal checks to make sure you’re putting it into practice.
Connect: Tradeshows are a great opportunity to bolster existing relationships and forge new connections. In between shows, contact your supply chain partners via phone/email or better yet, make plans to visit them. If they’re not willing to have you visit, then find a new partner.
Collaborate: Utilize your connections to collaborate with supply chain partners and other like-minded industry leaders to develop innovation ideas.
Participate: We all have a responsibility to contribute to and work toward a better industry. Participate in industry initiatives like Inside the Bottle; join industry associations, make commitments.
Trust transparency across the supply chain is beneficial on both the B2C and B2B sides and is crucial to helping keep and rebuild trust in our industry. What will you do to increase trust transparency in your business?
~Traci
