Do your buyers ever consider what type of auctions they need to run or the features they should use within each e- negotiation session?

June 16th, 2011

More than likely, they just do the same old thing over and over again. And it can be costing your company a lot of money in the form of lost savings

Today’s strategic sourcing platforms have incorporated many features within their overall offerings that are there to drive behavior in your favor. Most companies don’t use many of them.

Can your supply chain leaders tell you what a blind auction is? How about an RFQ or a turbo auction?  What about a Dutch auction? Can they tell you what a reserve price is? What about the difference between and RFI and an RFP. How about when to use and RFI,RFP or RFQ?

Today’s reality is that many supply chain professionals can not give you a clean definition of the many types of auctions or the tools used to enhance participation within the auctions. This is really too bad because most of the terminology has been adapted from traditional procurement practices and negotiation strategies. Understanding these terms and where they play in the negotiation framework can help procurement professionals whether they are negotiating with on line tools or in person.

If you are already using on line negotiation or e-procurement tools, your solution provider should have a checklist they go over with you for each e-negotiation sessiont. This checklist should cover all of the options available to you and your provider should be able to discuss the strategy behind the use of these features.

Don’t be blind to the opportunity to drive maximum savings by not discussing strategy with your solution provider on every session you run. If you are doing everything yourself  i.e. self service, it might be time for a one day work session from a leading provider in order to make sure that you have all your bases covered.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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