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As you can see, you can take several approaches to handle each type of response (acceptance, avoidance, and pushback) to a request for line‐item detail. However, there are also things you can do when making the initial request to ensure more suppliers comply with your request and fewer counter it with pushback.

First, you should never make an initial request for line‐item detail via e‐mail. An e‐mail request is often perceived as informal and therefore not as important as requests made face‐to‐face or over the phone. This will be the first of many requests you make of your suppliers over the course of the project. Kicking it off in an informal manner sets a tone that will not be acceptable later on.

Even if an e‐mailed request is given the appropriate amount of attention, it is much easier to avoid: Oh, I must not have gotten that e‐mail. Or it is often simply forwarded to IT, with little thought given to the data being requested or a timeline for getting the information back to you.

Making a request either over the phone or face‐to‐face is the preferred method for the request and gets a better result than an e‐mail. It takes a partnering approach and gives both parties the ability to communicate and understand the broader context of the request. As a best practice, requesting the information as part of an overall account review (rather than as a one‐off request) can get a supplier not just to comply with your request, but also to see it as a positive step in the relationship. The account review can also be a good platform for the next step in the Data Collection phase, the supplier interview.