2018 July (2) : SafeSourcing Blog

Archive for July, 2018

The Importance of Supplier Communities!

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

Today’s post is our SafeSourcing Archives

Suppliers offer a great value to sourcing events. Typically you can use the suppliers’ knowledge on their industry. Without having a knowledgeable supplier base, your sourcing events will not be successful.

By leveraging a Request for Proposal, a company can ask the vendors the best plan for their needs, thereby receiving a broad range of solutions to the problem. Much like technology, the supplier communities are constantly evolving, and typically if you run an RFQ in 2012, there will be major industry changes by 2015.

When you leverage the supplier community, you can find the best way to run an RFQ to match the industry. When you match the quoting process to the industry standard, you will receive apples to apples quotes.

SafeSourcing can help leverage the supplier community within any industry. For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs 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.

Posted in E-supply Chain

Cold calling is a necessary part of all businesses, not just sales.

Tuesday, July 10th, 2018

Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archives

I come from a history of cold calling. When my mom was in junior high (circa 1955), my grandmother started her own catering business. A hard working Hungarian immigrant, she would sit at their kitchen table every Sunday afternoon after church and call the family of every single young woman listed in the engagement announcements to ask if they had decided on a caterer. My dad is a mechanical engineer, turned salesman, who spent the bulk of his career in the tool and dye industry selling everything from diamond grinding wheels to linear ball bearings.

I guess you could say that I was born into it. Although I resisted for the first several years of my career, once I finally gave in to the sales call, I never looked back. One of my favorite parts of the sales cycle is the cold call. It’s the first introduction of the product or service that you have to offer to a person or business that may have a need for it. I see cold calls as a challenge, each one a fresh opportunity. Apparently not everyone feels the same way. Here are a few suggestions that might help your cold calls be a little less frightening and a little more fun… like mine!

Be Confident. Go into each call with confidence and optimism. You are a business professional providing a viable product or service to someone whose company might very well have a need for it.
Listen. You’re prepared. You have a good understanding of your value proposition and basic understanding of the businesses that you’re calling on. Now have a conversation, paying close attention to what’s being communicated verbally and otherwise.
Be Yourself. Believe it or not, discomfort is easily perceived over the phone. You do not have to be unnaturally pushy or super aggressive to make sales calls. Using your own assets and unique personality to create a genuine rapport can be much more effective.
Speak at a Normal Speed. Or even slightly slower than normal, and enunciate. You want to do everything you can to help your potential customers hear what you’re saying. There is nothing worse than struggling to understand someone who is speaking too quickly or mumbling.
Be Succinct. Get to the point quickly, keeping in mind of course that if your potential customer feels like engaging in a little small talk to feel more comfortable, you’ll be happy to oblige.
Know Who To Ask For. When making sales calls, do your best to understand who the decision maker is for your particular product or service. For some clients, it might be VP of Marketing, for others it could be the head of Human Resources. Learn who makes the final decision before picking up the phone, so you’re not wasting their time or your own.

Would you like to learn how SafeSourcing could help your company run more efficiently? Interested in a risk free trial? Please don’t hesitate to contact SafeSourcing. Our team is ready and available to assist you!

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Posted in Strategic Sourcing

eProcurement Time to Value

Thursday, July 5th, 2018

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

In eProcurement, one important, yet often overlooked measure of success is time to value. Of course, one of the primary goals of any eProcurement strategy is to reduce spend for the goods and services that an organization requires.

For the sake of this post, I am defining time to value as the time between when you determine that you would like to host an eProcurement event, such as a live Request for Quote (RFQ), to the time that you can begin ordering with the newly negotiating pricing from that eProcurement event. I tend to see that we focus heavily on the savings result, but far less on the amount of time that was required to complete that project. The reality is that those two goals are both important and actually complement each other. The sooner you conclude your eProcurement event, the sooner you are able to realize the savings.

There are several key reasons why an organization needs to monitor time to value closely. A contract expiration date is one factor that creates pressure to attain results quickly. When a contract is set to expire or to automatically renew, it is important to negotiate quickly to avoid any unfavorable outcomes. Another factor is seasonality. For certain products and services, the negotiation must be done in advance of a particular season. For example, in northern climates, snow removal contracts should be in place well before the possibility of snow.

Every organization will set its own time to value success criteria. I always advise that projects should typically range from four to six weeks and that clients should expect to see significant savings that can be achieved and realized in the current quarter.

Dave Wenig is a Regional Sales Manager at SafeSourcing. Dave, or any member of the experienced team at SafeSourcing, would be happy to discuss how SafeSourcing can help you achieve faster time to value in your eProcurement efforts. For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.

We look forward to your comments.

Posted in E-procurement

Telephone Skills 101

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018

Today’s post is by Gayl Southard, Administrative Consultant, SafeSourcing.

The world has gotten smaller with technology. You can be connected around the globe in seconds by computers and telephones. Businesses can reach people in seconds that were entirely inaccessible years ago. The phone may be best tool available. That being said, why are we so bad at it. Here are some techniques to consider when making a call.

When your call is answered, ask if this is a good time to talk. Get the name of the person that answers the call. Use their name when speaking with them.
You want to answer the call on the second or third ring. Speak slowly and articulate what you are saying. If you switch to speakerphone, make sure your connection is still acceptable. Focus on the caller, do not interrupt. Make sure your cell phone ringer is off.
Make sure you are not eating or chewing gum. Do not shuffle papers.
Your voice should be pleasant when answering a call. Some people recommend smiling when you answer a call. You want to make sure your customers feel they are important.
Try to start all calls with good news, even if you have bad news to report.
Have an agenda that you wish to accomplish.
Start early in your career to keep track of 100-300 most important people in your network. Keeping track of people’s birthdays can really help a sales person. People like to be acknowledged and remembered.
Call ahead to make sure your customer is there before making a cold call.
When leaving a message start with your name, day, date, and time and guarantee you will call back in 24 hours. Set aside a specific time to return calls each day.

Resources———————————————————

Harvey MacKay, AZCentral, 4/9/2018

For more information on SafeSourcing, or on our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you.

Posted in Business Sourcing