Why Saving Time Should Be At the Top of Every Sourcing Professionals Daily Goal List I understand that achieving realized savings and being able to prove it will always be a top goal or the top goal. In many organizations time is the biggest hurdle to achieving this goal. Frequently the sourcing process is rushed […]
A Simple Question on Controllable Spend – Will Worrying Help? I was at a presentation last week and the speaker asked the audience this question: “Will worrying help you achieve your stated goals?” CFOs and CPOs have plenty of things to worry about when it comes to controllable spend. Unfortunately worrying about a problem never […]
RFPs – Do Your eSourcing Tools Help You to Easily Calculate Total Cost of Ownership? I am sure you have heard those commercials where they promise “low prices”. Some even claim to have the lowest prices. Unless you do your homework you could find that the low price you paid wasn’t the best deal. Determining […]
RFPs – How to Get Full Vendor Participation and the Best Price/Value If you have been in procurement for any length of time you realize that full vendor participation is required to obtain the best combination of price/value. The RFP process can be frustrating to execute for the procurement team. Too often procurement professionals deal […]
Stakeholder Participation – Can You Get the Level You Want and Need? How often are you frustrated by a lack of stakeholder participation in your sourcing events? Based on my experience, full participation is the exception rather than the rule and less than full participation is the norm. Rather than write about incomplete specs, changing […]
Strategic Sourcing – Is it the Same for Large and Small Companies? Is strategic sourcing the same for large and small companies? This is an interesting question based on my experience. I would suggest that it is the same fundamentally even if the tools that are available aren’t always designed for both markets. Larger companies […]
Safe Choice or Better Choice in the Procurement Process? CFOs and CPOs often have the choice of going with the name company (safe choice) or the entrepreneurial company (better choice). In procurement, there is risk in choosing the upstart if they don’t live up to the expectations. It takes courage to go with a lesser-known […]
Chaos or Efficiency in the Procurement Process? How much is this Hurting Your Bottom Line? Entrepreneurs can operate in chaos and many thrive in it. As a business grows systems are developed to manage key parts of the operations. Procurement is often the last area to be addressed. Based on my experience many businesses even […]
Knowing Controllable Spend Is Fundamental to Producing Verified Savings The very first question that I will ask a prospective client is: What is your controllable spend? The second question is: What is the total of the verified savings your group achieved in the past 12 months? The answers that I receive are indicative of the […]
Sourcing 101 – How Will a Strategic Contract Management System Help Your Bottom Line and Control Risk? It is quite surprising to learn how many organizations don’t have a strategic contract management system in place. Without a system these organizations are creating unnecessary risk and potentially jeopardizing their future. Conceptually these systems are a “no […]