The Point

As I look at my weekend ahead, and the one behind, my family has 3 significant wedding anniversaries being celebrated. Brace yourself - 29 years, 50 years and wait for it.... 68 years. Incredible!! Those couples entered into a contract all those years ago and clearly had an evergreen clause to keep renewing year after year. I know it was not without work and making adjustments as needed. Quite similar to what is required with suppliers that you would work with as a procurement professional.

Many organizations have difficulty with contracts in two ways. First is getting it through the contract cycle in the first place to finish the sourcing initiative. The longer that takes, the longer it is until the new pricing, service or program is in place. In Jason Busch's 10 Ways to Drive Procurement Influence, Number 2 is moving sourcing into contracts.

Earlier this week, we discussed the Many Hats a procurement professional wears. With that comes the many skills that are needed. I know the breadth of it can seem daunting. You need to be a good analyst, negotiator, influencer, presenter, and communicator. How does anyone fit all those talents into the same resource? And how do you begin to try to train existing staff as they want to develop in their career?

When I read this blog, I found a lot of correlation to raising children. Don't promise if you can't deliver and don't threaten if you won't carry through. I know my son was a fussy eater. One day he was given a choice to either eat the supper or go to bed. It was only 5PM and he choose to go to bed. Needless to say, we would have been the losers in that battle so out came the peanut butter.

As procurement professionals, we are in constant negotiation. These tactics from sales associates often include various types of strong arming.

We spoke a few days ago about What is today in 100 years? The theme was about sustainability and adopting that strategy and practices into your procurement organization. Buyers Meeting Point has a motto of Learn, Share, Grow. Certainly as we do that with sustainability practices, we move as a whole faster to a better environment.

Whenever you do business in a culture different from your own, there is so much to learn. There are many nuances that can make or break the deal. This blog from Smart China Sourcing outlines some of the common mistakes.

Most organizations do not have the time or resources to work directly with the manufacturers in China so they must rely on a third party to be their 'eyes and ears on the street'. Because of that, the process of selecting that agent becomes a serious selection process that requires serious attention.

I always think "indirect spend" is an interesting term. One company's indirect is another's direct. Similar to one person's trash is another's treasure? For example, most companies buy laptops and IT equipment as tools to run their business. Yet IBM and Dell think of it as their "direct" spend to their customers.

Managing the indirect spend and controlling costs make such a huge impact to the bottom line. Technology is changing so quickly, it is getting more and more difficult to manage this area of procurement. By the time a rollout is underway, there is another version or an upgrade available. 

Last night I was on the phone with my favorite daughter (only one as well!) and she was talking about Pinterest which I had never heard of. Then Voila – it seems to be everywhere I look. My first reaction was oh no, not another social media website. I am on overload as it is and can't keep up with Twitter, Facebook, blogs, email, websites. I am sure many people feel the same way. Information overload - how do you know which way to turn? 

Those who are optimists see the glass half full and those who aren't see it as half empty. There is also a saying : Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to participate in development of a business continuity plan. My first instinct was that this was going to be a waste of time. Nothing is ever going to happen so why talk about it. As we went through it, there were so many considerations. The first of which was to know the locations of all the associates and did we have emergency contact information easily accessible for their families. We failed miserably on that simple one never mind any of the more complicated ones.

We have all had the persistent sales account manager who is contacting us multiple times weekly or even daily. That can be incredibly annoying. There is also the time that you answer the phone late in the day and wish you hadn't as someone goes into their sales pitch. Been there, done that!!

So what is it that opens the door for the sales person and the procurement professional is welcoming and thankful they did? How do they get that first appointment? 

Everyone loves the path of least resistance. How can we get to that restaurant easier, without crowds or lines?  Is it possible to get my 2-year old to bed at a reasonable hour with or without a bath? Can I publish this RFP today - but it is Friday and I want to start my weekend. 

If any of these are too difficult, we will avoid them all together. Stay home, order pizza to be delivered, delay the baby's bedtime routine and wait until Monday for the RFP. So why does this week's blog pick help you out?   

The auction tool is something that is used quite frequently in procurement. There are many different strategies and approaches. The blog this week is from Market Dojo and discusses their new feature, Japanese auctions.

Years ago I was on a project to identify the workflow and determine the value of implementing an eprocurement solution. What I found was an intricate web of approvals and duplicated efforts. At times it seemed like I was in a maze and could not get myself out!

In the midst of the project, we shifted gears and moved towards esourcing, auctions and contracts. That was quite an undertaking as well. In my reading this week, I was revisiting the process of the 'req to check' technologies.  

We have all been in stores when the sales clerk comes up and asks if they can help you. What is our standard response? "No thanks, I am just looking." 

As a procurement professional, we use different terms but the message to the sales teams is the same. I am not parting with any funds until I am good and ready!! With the Sales Guy interview last week, I thought it would be good to look at sales blogs for some basics on how they get beyond our "No thanks, just looking" excuses. 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is taken very seriously by many organizations. I know retail food companies that contribute to local food banks, schools and community organizations. This blog by Aberdeen really hit the mark and discusses how BMW has implemented CSR and made it a key differentiator.

I was on a recent trip to San Francisco and was amazed by the amount of cargo traffic into the harbor. There was a new ship full of containers entering the port every 10 minutes. I personally do not have much experience coordinating logistics and wanted to do some reading about it. 

I found this article on Freight Forwarding Insights about the 5 common mistakes. Interestingly enough, the first one is not doing enough homework before selecting your carrier. Sounds like taking time to do the research is critical. 

Thanks to the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, one of today’s largest procurement/sales challenges is easy to put into words. We talk about the need for partnerships and collaboration, but how often do we successfully take the effort beyond talk so that it includes open and productive conversation with our reps and supplier account managers?

Many organizations offer bonuses at the end of the calendar year or shortly after their fiscal year end occurs. This is often based on specific growth metrics and savings targets for procurement organizations. I liked this blog as it makes you think about the motivation for high performers and how to retain your staff.

Companies seem to be shifting away from year end bonuses. A few years ago, 73% of companies gave bonuses and now it is down to 57%. Obviously, the economic situation has something to do with that. Many companies that do have minimal amount , more of a token. Where it matters is when it really is based on performance and becomes part of the total compensation package. 

What does your company do? 

Are you a morning person? I happen to be someone who requires very little sleep so I am a morning, noon and night person. Lucky for my family right? They have benefitted from it since I have more hours to get things done or to plan our next adventure! However, there have been some frustrations as I make too much noise while everyone else is trying to sleep in on a Saturday morning!!

One of the events this week that you might have attended was Gartner's webinar about the search for talented leaders to take sourcing and procurement to the next level. Well that is YOU regardless if you are leading one project, a small team or an entire organization.

So what does all that have to do whether you are a morning person or not?

 

We went out to dinner last night as a celebration of our daughter's recent promotion. The restaurant was chosen specifically because they feature locally grown items on their menu. We had an interesting conversation about the virtues of that approach for the environment. Then the flip side was discussed about how many jobs are created by having food choices from other parts of the globe.