When Life Gives Us Lemons…

November 19th, 2021

Are procurement professionals prepared to make more lemonade?

 

 

Today’s post is by Dave Wenig, Senior Vice President of Sales and Services at  SafeSourcing.

Depending on who you talk to, most executives responsible for procurement will tell you the road ahead for procurement is either going to be difficult for a while longer or a whole lot longer. The reality is there are a bevy of challenges putting pressure on the markets for nearly all goods and services and it will take a while for enough of that pressure to be relieved to see a measurable improvement. If you are in the procurement space, that sure sounds like life giving you lemons.

It has been this way for a while though, so there is no sense on dwelling on the challenges. It is better to face the challenges head on. The best procurement teams and most savvy executives will – like always – find a way to make lemonade.

Much has been said already about the constant price increases we are all seeing. You cannot read the news or watch TV without seeing or hearing about the prices of everything going up. But it is not all about price. Sure, price is an important piece of procurement, but price is not everything. Price is merely a symptom. Right now, what is more important is ensuring that you will be able to receive the products or services you need on time or even at all.

Not too long ago, this was a given. You order products and the products arrive. You contract for services and the services are rendered.

With this shift of importance, the ability for a strong procurement team to source what they need becomes a competitive advantage. The construction company that cannot source their windows is one who cannot open a new office building. The ever-growing importance of a robust database of qualified vendors and the ability to source and negotiate well in times like this can be the difference between failure and success. Sourcing activities now require even more attention and resources to complete. More complex negotiations are commonplace just to achieve normal results. The stakes are much higher for procurement than the cost reduction goals of the past.

Yes, you have been handed lemons. Make sure your team realizes that now is exactly the right time to make lemonade and that this can be done well.

You have the ability to do this too. Do not keep accepting cost increases and wishing you could create cost reductions. Contact SafeSourcing with your procurement needs and we can help.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help your procurement efforts, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service RepresentativeWe have an entire team ready to assist you today.

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