Today?s post is by Dennis Nicoletti: Manager at SafeSourcing.

It wasn?t until I began working at SafeSourcing that I realized the absolute value and benefits of having a professional do the sourcing (aka) the ?heavy lifting?, no matter what or size of the project.? I recently moved into a pre-owned home that needed some home improvements some of which I could do myself. Other projects required professionals.?? My wife and I prioritized the projects and developed a cursory budget and that?s was the easy part.?

Contractor/supplier research – not only did I have to call friends, family and neighbors but I also spent an inordinate amount of time (evenings and weekends) calling, qualifying, getting estimates over the phone and in my home.? BTW – the in-home estimates were painful and exhausting after a work day.

Bid comparisons– Once all the above was completed (or should I say all I could handle) I compared best bids, services and warranties, then began the elimination period of the process. That was time consuming as well (more evenings and weekend shot).? By now I was thinking; ?do I really need to do this project??

Summary – Once I had decided on the best overall bid, I still did more leg work to be sure I understood all aspects of what was going to be provided by the contractor/supplier as well as doing my best to minimize my costs.? Again, more time and energy.

Result ? In the end I got what I wanted and was happy with the cost.? However, the one thing I could never get back was my evening and weekend time usually spent with family.? That?s when it hit me?what we do at SafeSourcing keeps our customers focused on their day to day business while we do all the heavy lifting, utilizing our vast supplier data base, expertise and professional project teams that will save you money…EVERY TIME.

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.

As always, we look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is by Dennis Nicoletti: Manager at SafeSourcing.

It wasn’t until I began working at SafeSourcing that I realized the absolute value and benefits of having a professional do the sourcing (aka) the “heavy lifting”, no matter what or size of the project.  I recently moved into a pre-owned home that needed some home improvements some of which I could do myself. Other projects required professionals.   My wife and I prioritized the projects and developed a cursory budget and that’s was the easy part. 

Contractor/supplier research – not only did I have to call friends, family and neighbors but I also spent an inordinate amount of time (evenings and weekends) calling, qualifying, getting estimates over the phone and in my home.  BTW – the in-home estimates were painful and exhausting after a work day.

Bid comparisons– Once all the above was completed (or should I say all I could handle) I compared best bids, services and warranties, then began the elimination period of the process. That was time consuming as well (more evenings and weekend shot).  By now I was thinking; “do I really need to do this project”?

Summary – Once I had decided on the best overall bid, I still did more leg work to be sure I understood all aspects of what was going to be provided by the contractor/supplier as well as doing my best to minimize my costs.  Again, more time and energy.

Result – In the end I got what I wanted and was happy with the cost.  However, the one thing I could never get back was my evening and weekend time usually spent with family.  That’s when it hit me…what we do at SafeSourcing keeps our customers focused on their day to day business while we do all the heavy lifting, utilizing our vast supplier data base, expertise and professional project teams that will save you money…EVERY TIME.

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.

As always, we look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is from Shelly Hayre an Account Manager at Safesourcing

These cold temperatures across the nation had me rushing at all hours to prepare for the cold. I, along with many others, hit the grocery store, filled up my gas tank, and gathered all the necessary supplies to be able to still operate my vehicle and keep my dog warm (yes I bought him a silly sweater). In doing so, I never looked and compared pricing, and with my late preparation, the grocery store was out of water.

We have not had these cold temperatures in twenty years and I was not prepared! I am usually always prepared for most emergencies, but this was rare. Wait.. aren’t all emergencies, at least most of them, rare? How prepared is your company for a ‘rare’ emergency?

• IT Disaster Recovery– How are your documents being protected from damage at your company?
• Generators– Production and work cannot be stopped in most cases. If you lost power tomorrow, would your company be prepared for a power outage?
• Contingent Labor– What about the workers? Is your company prepared for a strike?
• Disaster Recovery– Time is of the essence with disasters, such as fire, water damage, and no heating. How will you call to clean up the disaster or make sure your assets are protected?
• Emergency Guards– If one of your company’s locations was damaged or broken into, who will management call to monitor the location afterhours or monitor sub-contractors, and are you getting the best price?

There are many other services and products your company will need to be prepared for in case of an emergency. SafeSourcing has the experience and a wide range of suppliers who can provide all the emergency services/products above and more. Call SafeSourcing today to get prepared for whatever emergency may strike.

We enjoy bringing this blog to you every week and hope you find value in it.   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.

Today’s post is by Sarah Kouse; Project Manager at SafeSourcing

What if you were told that you could be getting the same services for less? They said to you, you could potentially save thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars, for the same service, just by switching to a third-party business partner of the company you are currently receiving your services from? Would this intrigue you and make you want to know more?

Many times, a company will make it seem like they have proprietary services that they cannot get anywhere else for their products. Many times, that isn’t the case because they also have third-party business partners that are authorized to provide the same service or sometimes even more services while paying less for them. These business partners usually have an authorized ranking of expertise of Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, etc. Typically the higher the ranking, the more features and services can be offered, and their level of expertise is greater.

So for example, the current provider may threaten and say, “If you switch from us, you will lose the capabilities to receive firmware updates to all your devices.” If you were told that, would you just believe them and leave it at that? Or would you want to take it a step further and really see for yourself if that is the case? Many of times, you will find that in instances like this, it is untrue. Not only would you still receive the same firmware updates from a third-party business partner, but you will also receive services and firmware updates to legacy/end of life products that the current provider would no longer service.

In result, SafeSourcing could help you take it a step further, saving you time and money. 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.

Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President and COO at SafeSourcing.

Yesterday we began looking at some of things that frequently get overlooked when preparing a Request for Information or Proposal for an IT Value Added Reseller sourcing project.  Collecting the individual pricing on items you frequently purchase, understanding the different category discount options and the value of collecting rebate program information were covered as important initial items to collect and today we will look at a few more areas to make sure to include when determining who the best IT VAR is for your company.

Incentives – Yesterday we mentioned two areas often overlooked by customers when negotiating IT VAR contracts, the first being rebate programs and the second being conversion incentives.   These are cash incentives suppliers will pay back to the customer merely for changing over their business from another company.  For the incumbent supplier this would be the amount of cash they would pay to keep the customer and possibly lock in a longer term contract.  This concept is not as frequently gathered as rebate program information but it is an area many suppliers are actively participating in to try and get/keep business.

Account Support – IT peripheral spend, like office supplies and MRO can be difficult to manage and ensure savings are being recorded once the agreement has been completed.  The IT VAR you should select should play an active role in helping you manage that spend.   Understanding what a supplier is going to provide for regular spend reporting, which includes getting samples from each supplier, as well as whether you can count on quarterly or monthly onsite account reviews to discuss the current spend and new technologies is critical to picking an IT VAR that can be a partner rather than just taking your orders.

Service Rates – A final area of information you should be collecting from your IT peripheral suppliers centers around the rates they charge to perform special value added services like installation, configuration, staging, warehousing, etc.  While many companies have internal staff and possibly existing 3rd party relationships already in place to manage these tasks, it is always good to understand where vendors in one area can cross over and provide back-up or even primary support in some other area than the they were initially contacted for.  For some items it may be less of a liability and cheaper in the long run to have your IT VAR handle the furnishing, configuring and installing, freeing up your team for other projects.

IT peripheral equipment spends for many companies can be hard to manage especially if they are being managed by a non-technical procurement staff, but taking some of these items into consideration will help you find a “partner” who can help you manage the items and ensure that your staff is staying compliant with the agreement.  For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist with helping find an IT VAR that fits your situation 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.

Today’s post is by Steve Schwerin, Account Manager at SafeSourcing. 

Your procurement solution provider professionals may not have funky offices in San Francisco, London or New York to their credit-a picture painted by another author to describe another industry-but they may have what it takes to help your company address what was described as, “The Great Deceleration” in The Economist on July 27, 2013 as well as at economist.com.  I have to believe that we are going to see more and more written about how slower growth rates in emerging economies will affect the world at large.

Economies like those of China and India are slowing down.  This might not be something to dread as emerging markets like these have experienced extended periods of double-digit growth over the past decade.  Now that they are bigger economies, smaller growth numbers don’t necessarily mean fewer goods and services produced.  They do, however, mean that there may be fewer low-hanging fruit to pick in a company’s search for cost savings through off-shoring and importing.

Where to turn in times like these?  Procurement might hold some of the answers, specifically eProcurement.  I think there are two things to consider here.  First, you may not be able to drive savings by merely looking off shore.  Second, as emerging economies slow, some prices in older markets are likely to become more competitive.  Rising prices in emerging markets are certainly one cause of this, but competition driven process improvements in older economies is another.  As you look around for options, your eProcurement solution provider professionals are in the perfect position to help you source the best products at the best price as these changes take effect.  Focusing on “The Great Deceleration,” if there is one, will not help you grow your business.  Contacting your eProcurement solution provider professional, however, IS a step that can do just that.     

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help you with your eProcurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative at 888-261-9070.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President and COO at SafeSourcing

Shopping carts and baskets seem like such a basic thing to source and yet because so many retailers have not changed their supplier in years, looking at new sources can be more complex than thought.  All of the details below will eventually come up and be addressed, but getting in front of them at the beginning can make the difference for the level of success achieved from the event and in having the proper information to decide whether to stay with an incumbent vendor or go with someone new.   Today we will look at a few of things to have prepared when starting a sourcing project for shopping carts.

Have the Art Handy – The first thing we run into when helping our customers run an event for carts or plastic bags or marketing material is that finding the original artwork that was provided to the incumbent vendors becomes a much bigger task than it should be.  Many times because of the long-standing relationships built with incumbents, details like the original artwork get held by the incumbent and forgotten by the customer.  This gets especially tricky if the original sourcing resource is no longer with the company.  Finding it in-house or requesting it from your incumbent is the first place to start.  Every other supplier will want to review the file and if a change is made it will be required for the work to be done.  Make sure that new artwork setup fees are either waived for a transfer of business by the new vendor or at least accounted for in a decision to switch vendors.

Stop the Thief – Shopping carts and baskets are coming with more and more options.  Anti-theft bars, drink holders, and improved child seats are all options which will need to be considered when the sourcing project begins.  Changes in business and culture may demand that you begin considering options like anti-theft bars that can be attached to the cart or specially made wheels that lock up when outside the range of the store.  Even if your company has no intention of changing anything about the current specification, now is the time when the suppliers are engaged for the opportunity for the business to understand wheat new options are available.  Many times they can provide migration paths for credit on your old carts while new carts come in to replace them.  This allows companies to upgrade their carts without absorbing the entire loss of the existing fleet.

Include the fees – New contracts and agreements are always great times to go back and investigate the past invoices and agreements that have been put in place and if necessary request that your incumbent provide you a detailed itemized breakdown of the fees they are charging you that are usually lumped into one line item on an invoice that read “Shopping Cart A – Qty-50 – Price $X,XXXXX”.   The longer the relationship has been in place the more important it is to see how that details behind that price are put together.  By understanding these extra fees you can begin to lay out a project that collects them from all suppliers in the same way and also provides you the leverage to have some of those fees eliminated or reduced in order to gain or keep the business.

Whether you are sourcing shopping carts for the first time or for the dozenth, being prepared with details about your current landscape and where you want to head are very important to establish early.  For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist with structuring one of these projects 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.

Today’s post is by Sarah Kouse; Customer Services Manager at SafeSourcing.

Below I will discuss some challenges that can take place with your client, the vendor/supplier, and also providing your client with overall results, as well as ways to overcome those challenges when they approach you.

Client – Challenges in all stages of the process can take place with your client. In the early stages, maybe the data provided does not contain the information needed or pieces of the data are missing. In the late stages of the process, maybe one of the vendors/suppliers is requesting information that you have to clear with the client. For example, if the vendor/supplier is requesting to meet with the client before they will accept to participate in the event.

Vendor/Suppliers – As I stated above, there may be a situation where a vendor or supplier refuses to participate in an event unless they can meet with the client. You may also have challenges with the way items are laid out in an event to submit pricing. Some vendors may price a little differently than most of the other vendors and they have a hard time developing their pricing for the event.

Overall – Challenges can take place in all stages of the procurement process and can be especially difficult when they apply to analyzing and creating the results of a project.  These challenges can come from many different sources but most have basic elements of planning, communication breakdown or incorrect expectations to begin with.

The best way to overcome these challenges is first of all; stay calm and maintain a clear head. If you get frustrated or flustered, it can cause you to not think clearly and sometimes make it difficult to make the best decision. Secondly, communication is the most important key to everything. If the communication is poor, without question, there will definitely be challenges. Lastly, know that there’s always a solution for everything. Sometimes the solution is not exactly what you would like, but with a clear head and quality communications, you can feel confident that the solution will be the right decision.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help make sure your eProcurement event run more smoothly and produces great results or for information 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 and appreciate your comments.