If You Could Solve These Common Challenges in Procurement

If you could solve some or all these common procurement challenges how much better would life be for you and your team?

  • Lack of visibility
  • Complicated onboarding or purchase processes that “motivates” rogue spend
  • Solutions that are sitting on the shelf because they are so difficult and inefficient to use – your staff prefers using Excel because they understand it…even if it takes a lot longer
  • Lack of real-time and historical data because your team is using offline systems based on spreadsheets, PDFs and email
  • Data errors caused by fatigue and systems without proper controls
  • Systems that don’t speak to each other and providers that aren’t interested in working with you to bridge the technology gap
  • Outdated technology supporting any part of the supply chain
  • Staff reductions that have increased the workload and might have caused staff turnover
  • Margin pressure that increased the focus on short-term gains instead of long-term strategy
  • Finding new suppliers in countries that have more favorable tariffs

I can count on one hand the number of procurement leaders that have told me that they aren’t dealing with any of these challenges.

Each of these challenges impact competitive advantage and can turn your team into “buyers” instead of “strategic partners supporting our businesses.”

Despite the challenges there will always be opportunities that should help you find the budget to upgrade one or more systems.

Here are some to consider that should produce outstanding results:

  • What are the largest spend categories that are not critical to the production of goods or the delivery of services? Noncritical categories that can be sourced from multiple suppliers offer the opportunity to be more aggressive.
  • Are there categories that haven’t been worked in the last 3 years? Inviting new suppliers to bid on the business is likely to motivate the incumbent to sharpen their pencil at a minimum.
  • What contracts are coming up for automatic renewal? The longer a contract has been in place the greater the chance that there are savings available.
  • What categories have a dominant supplier? Perhaps your secondary supplier will be motivated to offer concessions for a bigger share of the business.

There is one more thing to consider.

Get agreement from your boss or the board that if you can deliver a specific amount of savings that you can use part to fund system enhancements.

Be sure to detail the additional savings that the proposed system will deliver.

If your company wants to dramatically enhance the efficiency of their procurement efforts, perhaps it is time for a chat.

In my experience, every organization has many opportunities that haven’t been investigated.

Ask better questions, make changes and 2020 will be your best year ever.

Action Step: If you are uncertain where to start the process of change, a procurement professional like myself can provide guidance and expertise to help your organization achieve the results you want.

If you want to go explore this topic in greater detail, please contact me. I invite you to request 30-minute discovery conversation. In my experience the next step will be apparent at the end of the call. I never assume that what I have to offer will be right for everyone, so don’t expect a sales pitch. You can reach me at 973-936-9672.

If you would like to know more ways to reduce costs without changing the way you do business, simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact information and the best time to reach you.

You Won’t Drift to Success©

Commit to taking the next step.

Until Next Time, I Wish You Great Success in Your Business and in Your Life

Mike Jeffries