Pride.....
Today’s post is written by Heather Powell, Manager of the COE Department & Project Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.
Pride – Being too self-satisfied; quality or state of being proud – inordinate self-esteem.
- Pride is thinking you’re better than you are. Better at what doesn’t matter. It’s not just misguided overconfidence. It’s thinking you’re better than God and thus that you’re invincible. This isn’t bad in small things like your jump shot. It is bad when you cannot accept your limitations and live within them.
In e-procurement pride can be defined as- thinking that loyalty means something.
Sadly, the opposite often applies with complacency setting in with suppliers where contracts have been in place for many years. If your contract with your supplier is really delivering good value, then they won’t have any concerns about you ‘testing the market’ as this will surely prove it. Benchmarking longstanding contracts is a ‘no lose’ strategy for customers as it will either prove value, result in your supplier ‘sharpening their pencil’ or enable you to change to a supplier that is offering better value.
How to avoid this:
- Make it standard practice to regularly benchmark all of your suppliers, even those who you are happy with. It ensures that your suppliers are always ‘on their toes’ with respect to your pricing and service as they know that at any time you are likely to test the market.
Will you recognize any of these sins in your business practices today?
For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist you in exploring your procurement solutions for your business 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.
