Whoever Owns the Customer Owns the Deal.

There are always more suppliers. If one trade lets you down, you find another by Thursday. But the customer - the person with the money and the recurring need - that is the scarce, precious thing. Whoever owns that relationship owns the deal and every deal after it. Everything else is just plumbing.

So pour your effort into owning the customer, not pleasing the supplier. The supplier needs you more than you need any single one of them, because you hold the thing they all want: demand. Build your business so that the customer thinks of you, trusts you, and calls you - and the suppliers will always be lining up out back.