Paul Crow, MD of bathroom retail franchise Ripples, explains why suppliers saying “yes” isn’t always positive for a retailer’s business

I don’t think suppliers say “no” enough. It’s an inconvenient word – one that can shut down a conversation in an instant.

As my mother used to say, “no means no”, and nothing I could do would ever turn it into a yes.

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But if “no” is to be absolute, then “yes” must hold the same weight.

The problem is, suppliers say yes far too often and no far too rarely. So why should we want suppliers to say “no” more?

For me, the measure of a strong supplier partnership is their ability to support our objectives.

We want to sell products that are well-made, designed with both form and function in mind and delivered when promised.

We need suppliers who provide the same level of care and expertise in supporting their products as they do in making them.

That means order acknowledgements in minutes, not days (or worse, never).

It means proactive communication about order changes and access to accurate, meaningful product information across our systems, websites and support materials.

We want to understand the products as well as they do, feel valued and know that their commitment to success matches ours.

“Yes” isn’t necessarily positive

What we don’t want is a supplier who says “yes” to everything.

We want them to say no to the dealer down the road who isn’t committed to maintaining the same high standards in promoting their products.

We need them to say no when an order realistically takes three weeks, rather than falsely promising two.

And we certainly don’t want to hear “yes” when we ask if an urgent product will arrive on Monday – only to find out it won’t be here until after Wednesday.

When a supplier says “no,” it shows they have a clear understanding of what a real “yes” looks like.

It means they know their processes, their timelines and who they want representing their brand.

They establish the training that’s essential for success and commit to supporting those who invest in their products.

Too often, the word “partnership” gets thrown around loosely – mainly when one side feels the other isn’t playing fair.

We see it all the time: a retailer airing grievances on LinkedIn, while the supplier privately dismisses them as a difficult, low-volume seller. Yet, they still call it a partnership.

To me, that sounds less like a partnership and more like a dysfunctional relationship – one that suppliers need to start saying no to.