Supplier Questionnaire: Questions That Ask for Evidence, Not Yes
- Updated
"They tend to tell you whatever you want to hear." That's an automotive buyer describing Indian suppliers on a procurement forum in 2026 (r/procurement, 2026 (opens in a new tab)), and an India-based sourcing agent said much the same from the other side: "Vendors here will rarely say 'no' directly" (r/Importing, 2026 (opens in a new tab)). In the same thread another buyer sourced steel and aluminium parts from India after a visit and "never had any issues". So this isn't a verdict on a country. It's a lesson about questions.
Ask "Can you do this?" and almost every supplier anywhere says yes, because yes keeps the conversation going. Ask "Send the last test report for this material" and you get a document, an honest "we haven't done one", or silence. All three are useful. This questionnaire is built that way. Nearly every question asks for something that can be checked, so the replies feed straight into your supplier verification checklist instead of sitting in your inbox as promises.
How To Use It
Send it once you've shortlisted a supplier and before you ask for samples, either with your RFQ or just after it. A serious supplier can answer most of it in an hour or two, though it may take a day to gather documents. Tell them up front that "not yet" is an acceptable answer. You'll get more honesty, and a small maker who hasn't done something before isn't a worse maker for saying so.
Cut the sections that don't apply. A spice buyer doesn't need questions about stitching, and a furniture buyer doesn't need allergen declarations. Keep the sections that do, and don't add questions you won't read the answers to.
The Questionnaire
Copy everything in the box and send it as it is.
How To Read The Answers
The questions do the asking. The replies need reading, and the tone of a reply matters less than whether the evidence turns up. Here's what we look for, and why each block is in the list.
| Block | A good sign | Worth a question | Why it's here |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. The business | Names match across every document | Bank account in a different legal name (ask before anything else) | Money follows the legal name. A mismatch is the one finding that should pause everything |
| B. Who makes it | A named unit, named partners, a recent line photo | "We make everything in-house" for a process that usually needs a partner | Small orders often move to partner units. Knowing that in advance is fine. Finding out after a failure isn't |
| C. Materials and origin | Inputs listed by country, with origin proof issued before | No answer on imported inputs, or "we've never done that certificate" | An imported input can break the origin rule and remove the duty rate you planned on |
| D. Quality | A real report, a lot-failure example with a fix | Only a certificate, no report | A certificate covers a system at a site. A report covers a product on a date |
| E. Export | Documents, and a straight answer on past holds | Client logos with no paper | A client list costs nothing to type. Shipping papers come from customs and banks |
| F. Working together | A named quality decision-maker, a video slot offered | Every slot is "next week" | The person who decides on quality is the one you'll need when something goes wrong |
A few patterns are worth knowing. A supplier who answers every question with "yes, no problem" and attaches nothing is giving you the reply the automotive buyer warned about. Go back with one specific request, like the B6 photo, and see what comes. A supplier who says "not yet" to C9 or E17 isn't out. It just means you'll be the first, so budget time for it, or pick a supplier who has done it.
C8 matters more than it looks. A UK importer warned in 2026 that some Indian makers use Chinese cotton (r/smallbusinessuk, 2026 (opens in a new tab)), and that can change your origin claim, your duty and, in some markets, your tariff exposure. Our certificate of origin guide shows which proof each agreement needs.
D14 is the question we like best. Every supplier says it inspects. Only one that really does can tell you about a lot it failed last month and what it did next. An Indian supplier put the wider problem honestly: "India's issue isn't skill, it's inconsistency across too many small players" (r/manufacturing, 2025 (opens in a new tab)). D14 is how you find the ones that manage consistency.
Sending It To India: The Module To Add
For an Indian supplier, A1 has specific answers (GSTIN, IEC, RCMC with its council and type, CIN or LLPIN, Udyam), E16 has specific documents (a current-year LUT, the AD code and e-BRCs), and C9 means the ECTA certificate for Australia, the NZ certificate or declaration, or the UK origin declaration. The India version of this list, ready to send, sits with the explanation of each record on how to verify Indian suppliers, so it's kept in one place and stays current.
One India-specific question is worth adding in your own words: will the shipment go out on the supplier's own IEC, or through a merchant exporter? Both are normal. You just need to know whose name is on the export paperwork before you pay.
If you'd rather have the answers checked by people who can visit the unit in B4, SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) sends the questionnaire, chases the documents and verifies the replies on the ground.