SRM: A Simple Operating Model That Scales
SRM works when segmentation, cadence, and accountability are explicit, not when it’s a slide deck.
Start with segmentation
- • Strategic suppliers: joint roadmap + executive sponsorship + QBR
- • Critical suppliers: risk controls + operational cadence + escalation paths
- • Transactional suppliers: automation + standard controls + low-touch monitoring
Define the cadence and artifacts
- • QBR template that forces decisions (not just updates)
- • Scorecard definitions + data sources (and what happens when it’s red)
- • Escalation playbook: who/when/how + response expectations
- • Change log: what changed in the supplier relationship and why
The SRM trap to avoid
- • Too many “strategic suppliers” (everyone becomes tier 1, then no one is)
- • Meetings without decisions (no owners, no actions, no follow-through)
- • Scorecards no one trusts (data quality isn’t someone’s job)
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