What type of buyer do your personality, circumstances, and experience make you for your organization?
Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President and COO at SafeSourcing.
We are looking at behaviors of how we purchase items both as individuals and as businesses this week to discover the connections between what we want to do and what we actually do when it comes to buying. Today we will look at the next type of buyer:
The Casual Saver
Dave is the casual saver. Dave and his family are living just past “paycheck to paycheck”, with a little bit of savings but enough to pay all of the bills and still have some money left over. Dave’s income covers all of the expenses of his family’s lifestyle while being able to improve its quality slowly over time. When Dave shops he won’t turn away savings if a discount is offered but Dave does not actively seek savings out. He has enough to get by and is better than average about creating a cushion for his family if things get rough but is not prepared for something major to happen. He is comfortable.
Quick decisions – Businesses that take Dave’s approach to sourcing frequently put contracts into effect quickly. These companies will never refuse a better deal from their incumbents and are not apt to change suppliers easily because it would require “fixing something that ain’t broke” and may create a situation where the product or service is not as good and money is wasted. Like Dave, these companies may not actively pursue savings, but they don’t like wasting money. When the product or service is not mission critical, companies are likely to try new offerings if they are cheaper and come with a history of similar quality in the industry.
Missed Opportunities – When companies stay with the status quo and do not actively search for something better in the way of service, quality or pricing they miss opportunities for their company to get a better product or price. For Example, Dave needs landscaping services and has the current company he has used for years fit into his monthly budget. When he throws away the flyer for a new landscaping company in town he does not know that this company is already doing better work for his neighbors at 2/3 the cost. Dave has a budget and the incumbent fits in that budget and does good work. How many companies everyday have incumbents that don’t even get considered for change because they fit the budget and do “good enough” work?
False Sense of Security – The Casual Saver companies approach to sourcing is precariously balanced on one very fallible position; the revenue won’t decrease and the expenses won’t increase. Everything about the Casual Saver works as long as the revenue stays ahead of expenses even if at a slightly higher rate. This creates a false sense of security because most businesses will eventually run into a decrease in revenue or outgrow a building that requires increased expenses or a capital investment. When a company misses opportunities to save extra cash they are creating a situation where they most become the Discount Shopper and possibly have to cut resources that no company ever wants to.
Casual Savers miss opportunities that are readily available because they are fooled into a false sense of security created by a situation that could change at any time. By investing just a bit more time pressing their incumbents or seeking new product/service alternatives they could get returns of that investment of more than 10X. For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team achieve a 10X investment ROI on their time to be an “Active Saver” or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.
We look forward to your comments.
