Defeat the Decline......
Today’s post is by Robert Rice, Account Manager at SafeSourcing.
Defeating the decline is something most of us have had to deal with. It typically starts early in life. The girl you have been waiting all year to ask to the dance, says no. The time you asked your dad to co-sign on your first car, nope! Or the college you had your heart set on, “sorry to inform you but you were not selected”, blah blah blah. It’s a part of life and you will have to deal with declines constantly. But the key is HOW you will deal with the declines.
At SafeSourcing we offer an e-procurement tool that allows our clients to get better value without the hassle of hiring additional staff or devoting countless hours doing what we do in a fraction of the time. See, we deal with declines every day. In fact, we are sort of experts at it.
Declines are basically the starting point. Declines start a dialogue or a fact finding venture, where as an Account Manager, I can become better informed on the product or service I am selling. Through the engagement of the vendor, I am able to find out the real reason for “the decline” through direct questions or just being a good listener. In many cases, after speaking with the vendor regarding the decline, we both find out that they could still participate and bring value.
Some keys things to remember are:
- When you receive a decline, IMMEDIATELY follow up with a phone call and find out why? There are definitely legitimate reasons a supplier cannot participate – logistics, they no longer provide that item; but before you hang up, ask, “Whom do you recommend?” More times than not, they will give you a company and a contact person.
- Ask good questions why the decline, “I can only bid on some of the items.” Great, we still want their participation. This can generate better savings for the items they are able to bid on.
- “We don’t do this this.” Great. What do you do? We might have another event they would be perfect for.
Basically, it is our job to make a decline into an opportunity, be it new leads, becoming better educated, or engaging the supplier and then finding a better event for them to join. Robert or any member of the experienced team at SafeSourcing would be happy to discuss how SafeSourcing can help you with your eProcurement planning. For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.
We look forward to your comments.
