During the first session of Fair360, formerly DiversityInc’s Oct. 15 virtual event, “Supplier Diversity: New Trends, Innovative Solutions,” panelists discussed tips on how businesses can become diverse suppliers to Fortune 500 companies. Jalayna Bolden, director of supplier diversity at AT&T (Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Hall of Fame company); Erica Stephens-Lynch, director of supplier diversity at Dow (No. 22 on The Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2020); and Erika Gibson, director of supplier diversity and corporate procurement at Hilton (No. 2 in 2020) offered advice to diverse and minority-owned businesses on how to approach and become suppliers to these large corporations.
The panelists first discussed the importance of prospective suppliers doing their research on companies before approaching them and gaining related experience.
“Understand what categories the company is looking for,” Gibson said. “And one of the greatest things that I’d really recommend is getting experience. And I think that’s really easy, especially in the hotel industry, because you can start on a local level.”
Gibson said businesses can gain experience being suppliers for individual locations and management companies on the local level to gain experience before approaching a larger international organization like Hilton.
“When you’re ready to take on the full supply chain, then you can approach an organization like Hilton Supply Management, which does all the procurement for Hilton. And you’re able to really come in there with competence with that experience,” she said.
In addition to gaining related experience, the panelists also recommended understanding what the company’s needs are in order to pitch services that offer unique solutions. Instead of inquiring about what opportunities the company can provide to small businesses, offer information on what your small business can provide the company.
“If you’re approaching a major corporation, understand what that company does and where they’re working in,” Bolden said. “Then look at, ‘How do my products and services align with a particular challenge or provide a new technology or solution?’ … I think a lot of suppliers make the mistake of coming to the table in a capabilities review and saying, ‘What do you have? Where are your opportunities?’ Well, I think that the innovative supplier will create those opportunities because you’re going to come with us with an innovative product or solution, or you’re going to save me money in some kind of way.”
Because of their size, Fortune 500 companies also require businesses to ensure they’ll be able to deliver on their contracts. Bolden said that for a Fortune 10 company like AT&T, contracts with suppliers are quite demanding. She said prospective suppliers should make sure they have the capacity, financing, resources and insurance to deliver on contracts with large companies.
Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that fostering relationships with large corporations is about building relationships over time — not just making quick sales.
“You want to build that relationship so that people understand your capabilitie