In today’s fast-changing supply chain landscape, strong supplier relationships are more critical than ever. Yet many organisations still rely on assumptions when it comes to supplier satisfaction and performance. This is where a Voice of the Supplier (VoS) survey can make all the difference.

A Voice of the Supplier survey is a structured method of gathering honest, confidential feedback from your suppliers. It helps you understand how your organisation is perceived from the supplier’s perspective, identifying what is working well and where there is room for improvement.

By listening directly to suppliers, you can uncover hidden risks, strengthen trust, and unlock opportunities for greater collaboration and innovation.

Why Voice of the Supplier Matters

Suppliers are not just vendors. In many cases, they are strategic partners who influence your organisation’s resilience, cost competitiveness, quality, and speed to market. Yet suppliers often hold back their true opinions due to fear of damaging the relationship or losing business.

A well-designed Voice of the Supplier survey breaks down that barrier. It invites open and honest responses on critical topics such as communication, responsiveness, fairness, support, transparency, and innovation.

By capturing these insights in a structured and repeatable way, your organisation gains a reliable view of its supplier relationships across business units, regions, and categories.

What to Expect from a Voice of the Supplier Survey

A professional Voice of the Supplier survey typically covers areas such as:

• Ease of doing business

• Clarity of communication and expectations

• Alignment on goals and values

• Commercial fairness and contract management

• Joint planning and innovation

• Responsiveness to issues and feedback

  
  

Suppliers are invited to score statements and provide qualitative comments. Results are then analysed to identify trends, strengths, blind spots, and gaps between perception and reality.

The outcome is a clear picture of how suppliers experience your organisation and what actions will strengthen these relationships.

The Benefits of Using an External Partner

Running a Voice of the Supplier survey internally can lead to limited participation and guarded responses. Suppliers may be reluctant to speak freely if they know the results are being reviewed by the same people they negotiate with.

That is why leading procurement and SRM teams choose to work with an external specialist like SRM Tribe.

An independent partner creates a neutral environment where suppliers feel safe to speak candidly. SRM Tribe manages the survey design, distribution, data analysis, and reporting end to end. This ensures high response rates, rich insights, and complete confidentiality for suppliers.

Our expertise also helps you ask the right questions, interpret the results, and take action in a way that builds trust rather than erodes it.

Why SRM Tribe Leads the Market

SRM Tribe is the trusted partner for procurement teams that take supplier relationships seriously. Our Voice of the Supplier surveys go beyond surface-level satisfaction to deliver deep, actionable insights that drive performance, collaboration, and innovation.

We bring proven experience, a supplier-friendly approach, and a focus on value creation. Our surveys are GDPR-compliant, customisable by industry or business unit, and designed to work without the need for complex logins or system integration.

We believe that when suppliers are heard, organisations can lead.

Ready to Hear the Voice of Your Suppliers?

If you are ready to take your supplier relationships to the next level, SRM Tribe is here to help. Let us help you turn supplier feedback into a strategic advantage.

Contact us today to learn how a Voice of the Supplier survey can give you clarity, build trust, and unlock new value from your supply base.