Todays post is from our SafeSourcing Inc Archives

Every day thousands of National companies with offices all over the country are in various stages of determining what type of product to purchase for their company and from whom they are buying it from.

Part of this decision making process involves deciding on whether they are going to deal only with other National companies or whether they will include regional companies as well.  Today we will be looking at some of the reasons why inviting regional companies to compete for you business is a good idea.

Multi-Award for Geography – While there are frequently several National companies that can handle the needs of a large National customer, there are certain services and products that can be best serviced with companies who specialize in certain regions of the country.  In these cases it adds great value when the companies that know those geographical regions the best are included in the mix of those competing directly for that portion of your company’s business.

Secondary Supplier – Many companies in today’s market have introduced Board-Level directives requiring a level of division of the company’s business so that no one vendor has the entire share for any one product or service; especially those services critical to the mission of the company.  There are different trains of thought on the effectiveness of this philosophy, but where it applies, introducing regional players, especially ones that can handle a large portion of your spend, can help meet those requirements and provide competitive savings in certain products backing up your primary supplier.

Expanding the selection pool – Often there will be products or services that by focusing only on National suppliers, will limit the field from which you have to choose.  Expanding the field of vision from which to choose to include regional players provides you, as the customer, an opportunity to see more of what is out there and allow for a more competitive landscape from which to choose.  These companies may not always be selected but in following this approach they have an opportunity for access into an account they may never had had before while providing you with a strong field from which to choose from.

These are just a few of the reasons why expanding the pool of companies allowed to win your company’s business to include regional vendors can be a good idea for you.  For more reasons or for assistance in finding regional companies who can compete for your business, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. 

We look forward to your comments.