Find out interesting insights with Claudia Mejia, Managing director, Ikigai Edge

Moderated by Srishti, Digital Transformation Consultant at Hyperbots

Don’t want to watch a video? Read the interview transcript below.

Srishti Rajveer: Hello, everyone! My name is Srishti Rajveer, and I am a digital transformation consultant at Hyperbots today. I’m delighted to have Claudia Mejia as my guest. So thank you so much for taking the time, Claudia.

Claudia Mejia: And thank you for having me.

Srishti Rajveer: It is absolutely a pleasure having you, and just a little bit about Claudia for the audience. She is the managing director at Ikigai Edge, and today we’ll be discussing the topic of strategic management of vendor relationships during cash crunches. So let’s get started to begin with. Can you help us understand what challenges companies typically face when managing vendor relationships during cash crunch situations?

Claudia Mejia: Well. What I have noticed is that when certain companies are in a crunch from a financial point of view, they tend to keep those situations in-house and try to manage them internally. However, you really do best when you are proactive, and if you know that you’re gonna be delayed with your vendors. It’s better just to open the communication and be very clear about the expectations. That way. You can prioritize payments and also see which vendors are able to be more flexible with your payments.

Srishti Rajveer: That absolutely makes sense. So that brings me to the next question: how important is open and transparent communication with vendors during financial hardships? And how can companies implement it effectively?

Claudia Mejia: So, like I said, it’s very important to be very proactive with communications. I have been involved on both sides of the equation, and I have seen that vendors are always willing to work with you as long as you provide the information and you are clear about why you are in these situations, and financial crunches are usually temporary. And when you explain those situations and how you’re mitigating those situations, vendors most of the time are very willing to work with you.

Srishti Rajveer: And that’s fair. So can you explain how prioritizing critical vendors can help in cash conservation during cash crunches?

Claudia Mejia: Well, it’s very important to keep the operations going, right? So when you have those vendors that are critical for your operations, you want to prioritize those vendors. However, you cannot neglect all the other vendors. You have to be fair with all your vendors across your portfolio, but if there are vendors that are definitely, you cannot operate with them. You’re gonna want to make sure that that relationship is very clear, and you have some expectations of payments, or maybe deferring payments. Things like that, to make sure that your operations stay on hold.

Srishti Rajveer: Absolutely. And that’s extremely helpful. What strategies can companies employ to negotiate flexible payment terms with vendors during cash tranches?

Claudia Mejia: Well, there are different types of strategies. For example, you want to extend the payment deadlines, and maybe the terms are 30 days, and you can negotiate to go to 45, 60 days, or even longer, depending on the relationship that you have with your vendors. and you can defer payments for a certain amount of time, and you can also see discounts and settlements. So very well. If I pay you this amount here, would you give me a discount as I said? Vendors are usually very willing to work with you if they know the situation and how they can be part of the solution and not be part of the problem. So it’s just a matter of good communication, and that creates actual trust for a longer relationship.

Srishti Rajveer: Understood, and that completely makes sense. How effective are partial payments or structured payment plans in making and maintaining these vendor relationships during financial constraints?

Claudia Mejia: So these partial payments or structured payments are very important because they provide goodwill. It shows the commitment that the company wants to fulfill its obligations. So, despite the situation that can be temporary, if you can make partial payments that offer some stability to the vendors and get a long-term relationship, that maintains the trust. and also it can reduce the accumulation of penalties. Right? If you have in your terms that you have penalties. If you don’t pay, let’s say, within 45 days. Then you’re going to accumulate penalties. Some vendors might just say, If you pay us within this time, I can extend you to 60 days. However, if you pay us within that time. I forgo the penalties. So that’s why it’s very important to make sure that you have a clear payment plan of how you’re gonna go about it.

Srishti Rajveer: That’s extremely helpful.

Claudia Mejia: Yeah.

Srishti Rajveer: Can you shed some light? In what ways can maintaining strong relationships and trust with vendors, benefit a company during financial constraints?

Claudia Mejia: So when you have a strong relationship with your vendors, they are more willing to be flexible. Obviously that also depends on the situation of the vendor. If the situation. If the vendor is also going through a financial crunch, then those relationships can become a little strained. But it’s a matter of. If you can, for example, go to partial payments, you help each other out through those situations. This type of conversation will be very important for the long-term relationship and for the stability and growth of both companies in the future.

Srishti Rajveer: That absolutely makes sense. So how does leveraging technology and financial tools, such as hyperbots, payment, and AI copilot, assist in managing vendor relationships during cash crunches?

Claudia Mejia: So a copilot like hyperbots will be able to automate the tracking of the payments, and it will provide insights into the better, or optimal, payment schedules. So when you have those types of insights in real-time to optimize your cash flow, that is basically very insightful and very great to have. I will say that by helping identify the risk or having delays or something, knowing it before time, then you’ll be able to proactively have a plan going forward. So that’s the beauty of these tools. These tools can give you insights that you will probably be a little bit late. To react here. You have the recommendations earlier in time to put together a more thoughtful action plan to communicate and put together with your vendors. So it’s about supporting strategic decision-making during any financial constraints that you may have.

Srishti Rajveer: That is extremely helpful, Claudia. Thank you so much for sharing those concerns. And with that, we come to an end for today’s discussion. So thank you so much for joining us and sharing your input here also. Big thanks to our viewers. I will see you around. Goodbye and have a very good day.

Claudia Mejia: Thank you.