Top six qualities of a good sourcing agent

A sourcing agent is essential for a company to locate sources for products and supplies at lesser prices which enables them to save a great deal of money on production. But there are still many companies who may advise you to avoid hiring sourcing agent.

As your business will progress, you will realize why have a sourcing agent in a target market can be so important. But there are few things that we need to consider before hiring a good sourcing agent. You need to spend some time in order to find a good sourcing agent to get better results. Here are six qualities that you must look into a sourcing agent.

1.     Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is the first and foremost quality you must look into a sourcing agent. Working with a dishonest agent can be detrimental to your business. You will never be aware how that agent is negatively impacting your business by secretly asking suppliers for concealed commissions. Professional sourcing agents do not hide any information regarding the supplier such as number of employees, market reputation, product’s original price and the scale of business. Working with a trustworthy agent would supplement your business in innumerable ways.

2.     Quality-oriented

A good sourcing agent always look for the best choices available and provides it to you. They will carry out sufficient and cautious research about the registration details, type of business, year of establishment, capacity of production, engineering capabilities and industry standards to ensure that the products are made with top-notch quality. Once buyer chooses a supplier, sourcing agent must take out time and check the assembly lines in factory, quality control regulations and provide enough information so that the buyer can analyze and make better decisions.

3.     Accountability

Every good sourcing agent is an accountable personality. The mission doesn’t end after the transfer is made. They are competent enough to take responsibility about production and shipment of goods and coordinate with suppliers so that the transaction is carried according to terms and conditions previously stipulated. This is a very important factor to take into account when buyer deals with incompetent traders. A good sourcing agent can act as a bridge between buyer and supplier and enhance their communication level. This way buyers can maintain their reputation is home market and dedicate themselves to their core operations.

4.     Protect secrets of the buyer

In the course of business, there are number of things that you don’t want others to know. Maybe because other can take the benefit of it before you. When you are dealing with sourcing agents, there is a lot of information regarding product, design, technology and price that is exposed to them. A good sourcing agent knows how to keep such information a secret. This would allow companies to remain competitive in the market and avoid frequent plan alterations.

5.     Buyer’s colleague

A good sourcing agent is buyer’s true colleague. He is supposed to represent the buyer’s interest and operations completely. There are no exceptions with this aspect. The agent is supposed to find information in course of technical communication and business negotiation. It is their job to look for any information that supplier is wishing to hide from the buyer. They need to report it to their client on time so that further decisions can be made. A competent sourcing agent never makes any decision without knowledge and consent of the buyer. In fact, the decision making power is still with the buyer.

6.     Supplier’s friend

Business is all about how you maintain relationships and connections with your contacts. Some businesses tend to provide better offers to those who are closely tied with them. For this reason, sourcing agent must have the capability to maintain good relations with the supplier through which buyers are benefited the most. This would ultimately result into better revenues which every buyers aims for.

Conclusion

Here were the top six qualities every sourcing agent must possess, however this is not an exhaustive list. There are several characteristics that one business may prefer over other traits. In the end, it depends on your personal preferences and your inclination towards several factors. Nevertheless, as a general point of view, these six qualities can determine who a good sourcing agent is.