Archive for the ‘E-procurement Solutions’ Category

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What does SafeSourcing do in order to bring value to your company’s sourcing projects?

Wednesday, July 10th, 2013

Today’s post is by Ryan Melowic; Assistant Vice President of COE at SafeSourcing.  

Currently, I am preparing for a presentation with a potential customer who runs multiple restaurants and a commissary.  I want them to thoroughly understand the value that SafeSourcing could bring them during the process.  Therefore I’m going to break it down for everyone below.

First and foremost SafeSourcing brings deep and broad based category knowledge.  Whether we engage with the potential customer on restaurant supplies, food they use to create their menu or negotiating the way they buy power.  SafeSourcing has knowledge in typically all categories because our team knows the industry.

Second, SafeSourcing knows who the key vendors are in the industry.  We work to constantly update our database which has over 430,000 vetted suppliers.  In the database we track safety certifications, key company details, product offering detail and contact detail based on region.   Our clients value SafeSourcing for the vendors we provide for their eProcurment events that they might not otherwise engage.

Third, our specifications are extremely detailed and believe are second to n0 one.  We work with our host companies to properly spec out the items that will be involved with an eProcurment event.  Since we are familiar with the key requirements needed to properly build the specification in a large variety of industries, we understand the questions that need to be answered by the host in order to create a complete but user friendly specification.   Additionally, we work to understand how the host currently procures their products so we can duplicate it electronically but in most cases improve upon it.

Finally, our process works!  We have many years of successful eProcurement experience in a wide variety of expense, capital, and services and for resale types of events to support our claims.  Just the fact that the typically return on investment in our services is greater than 18X speaks volumes as to our processes.

I can’t wait to meet with this new potential client as I can’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t give us a chance to show them what we can do. And we guarantee that they will be cost neutral in the process

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.

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Shopping Scam or ?Good? Marketing Tactic?

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

Today?s post is by Shelly Hayre; Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

As I was watching the news this morning, they were discussing large retail stores being deceitful with their sales. The stores will mark up the retail price and market the product on sale at the suggested retail price. So in reality it is not really on sale. This shocked me, not because of what the retail stores are doing, but that so many people were shocked by this strategy.

The large retail stores now have a class action lawsuit filed against them. I see this as a marketing strategy and do not see an issue with this strategy. It targets impulse buyers, who are not familiar with the market value for particular items.

I can name about five large retail stores that use this marketing strategy. Sometimes research will help you overcome this ?scam?, as some call it, but how do you research the price of a shirt? This is when experienced shopping and knowing when it truly is a good deal and on sale comes into play.

When your company begins a new service or product, how do you know it is a good deal? I have worked for many companies in the past who feel they are getting a good deal from XYZ Company because they get a ?15% business discount?, but there was never research completed on the individual products being ordered. This ?on sale? marketing strategy is being used in the corporate world too, but with different language. So, is your company really getting a good discount or are the products being discounted marked at a higher price?

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 service team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

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Shopping Scam or “Good” Marketing Tactic?

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

Today’s post is by Shelly Hayre; Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

As I was watching the news this morning, they were discussing large retail stores being deceitful with their sales. The stores will mark up the retail price and market the product on sale at the suggested retail price. So in reality it is not really on sale. This shocked me, not because of what the retail stores are doing, but that so many people were shocked by this strategy.

The large retail stores now have a class action lawsuit filed against them. I see this as a marketing strategy and do not see an issue with this strategy. It targets impulse buyers, who are not familiar with the market value for particular items.

I can name about five large retail stores that use this marketing strategy. Sometimes research will help you overcome this “scam”, as some call it, but how do you research the price of a shirt? This is when experienced shopping and knowing when it truly is a good deal and on sale comes into play.

When your company begins a new service or product, how do you know it is a good deal? I have worked for many companies in the past who feel they are getting a good deal from XYZ Company because they get a “15% business discount”, but there was never research completed on the individual products being ordered. This “on sale” marketing strategy is being used in the corporate world too, but with different language. So, is your company really getting a good discount or are the products being discounted marked at a higher price?

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 service team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

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What differentiates SafeSourcing from other Solution Providers?

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Today?s post is by Ron Southard, CEO at Safesourcing.

I was speaking with a prospect today that has a great deal of experience in the procurement space, in particular the e-procurement space.? I was discussing the process that we use in order to source a category at a high level which follows six well defined steps.? Although we believe adhering to this process allows us to run high quality eRFX events, our prospect offered that these are pretty standard steps adhered to by most solutions providers in this space.? So what else makes you different was the follow up question. I could have bragged about our SafeSourceIt? Supplier Database or some of the unique features included in our SafeSourceIt? tool set. I might have event mentioned the? other members of the SafeSourcing? Procure to Pay product family like SafeSurvey?,? SafeDashboard?, SafeDocuments?,SafeContract?, SafePO? or SafeCatalog?. However that?s not the answer I gave. In fact I answered the question almost immediately. The answer was and is our People. Our people are simply the best.? Our team is made
up of project managers that come from a variety of industries, and they are supported by a Procurement Center of Expertise or CEO that have specific category expertise in Retail, Healthcare, Distribution, Logistics, Manufacturing, Energy, Agriculture and a variety of other areas necessary to insure that our strategies and execution are spot on.

At the end of the day, a lot of people can swim but not everyone is Michael Phelps. Lots of people can play basketball but not everyone is Michael Jordon. Millions of people play golf, but there is only one Tiger Woods. People make a difference. Or better yet people make the difference. I?ll put ours up against any solution provider. That?s why our customers and suppliers have had the following to say.

1.??No one else will do the things that you do to help us.?
2.??We would not be where we are with our Indirect Spend if it were not for SafeSourcing.?
3.??The entire experience was very well planned and the tool was easy to use.?
4.??SafeSourcing is a great business partner with terrific customer service and software.?

We?ll impress this customer as well.

If you?d like to learn more about us, please contact a Safesourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

 

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SafeSourcing is great at eRFX execution, but what else do you do?

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

Our SafeSourceIt™  family of products and services is extensive and includes the following

SafeSurvey™ –  An easy to use survey tool for internal and external data gathering

SafeDashboard™ –   A customized snapshot for your projects, reports and KPIs

SafeDocuments™ –  A repository of all documents related to sourcing events. Share large files with stakeholders at multiple locations

SafeContract™ –   A repository for all contracts with detailed search capabilities. Issues reminder emails for renewal dates, price reviews, etc.

SafePO™ –   A complete Purchase Order system

SafeCatalog™ –   A customizable online ordering catalog

All of the above provide their own unique and very attractive ROI that help companies to drive new or retain existing savings associated with their eRFX implementation. They can be purchased individually or as an integrated suite and are offered in the form of cloud based SaaS solutions.

If you’d like to learn more about any of our SafeSourceIt™ family of solutions, please contact a Safesourcing customer services account manager.

Check back tomorrow to learn about some more of our cost cutting initiatives.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

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Purchase orders. Who needs them?

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

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

Have you thought about managing your purchase orders through an online Purchase Order tool in the past?  Have you acted on that thought?  Maybe this year should be the year.  I know.  You have a way of doing things.  Don’t we all.  Hasn’t the internet challenged almost every one of your standard ways of doing things?  It has mine.   Still, hasn’t it improved timeliness and precision on most of these things despite our reluctance to change?  Why should it be any different with purchase orders?

In a conversation that I had with a purchasing manager over a company with four warehouses recently in which he noted that there just didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to complete all of the tasks he needed to get done.  I bet this goes for many of us on all sides of the procurement industry.  Ideally, we would spend as little time as possible bogged down with routine tasks let alone having to worry about slippage or rogue buying for parts even remotely routine to our company’s spends.  Not that this purchasing manager’s day is spent reviewing purchase order after purchase order, but some of it is.

Wouldn’t a predefined, third party solution save time and maybe even let some of us sleep a little better at night knowing that the terms and conditions, pricing and authorizations have been gone over by three sets of eyes for spends that have been negotiated as lowest price offerings ahead of time?

Then why not spend some of your time inquiring about our SafePO™ service?  I have heard it said that business is never bad; people are just bad at business.  Much of this phrase, dare I say 99%, refers to routine tasks such as follow up and thoroughness.  There are new tools available in the last few years to help with such tasks.  Not that an online Purchase Order Management system is a silver bullet, but does it not leverage the power of computing and the availability of electronic devices for your benefit as well as your business partners?  It actually makes both of you more competitive.  If it saved you and your customers a few hours per month and gave you both peace of mind would it not be worth it?

Bring everyone up with you; let us know how we can help to make you and your associates more efficient, accurate and competitive.   Contact your SafeSourcing customer service representative at 513-360-8440 to find out how.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments

 

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What are your e-procurement goals for the 2013?

Monday, December 31st, 2012

As your organization enters another year what are your procurement goals and or resolutions for 2013. Below are some high level thoughts that you might use as a source of inspiration.

1.?Drive lower costs.
2.?Drive improved quality.
3.?Insure that products are guaranteed safe.
4.?Build and maintain and update high quality product specifications.
5.?Find a source for vetting of unlimited new sources of supply.
6.?Collaborate internally and aggregate your purchases.
7.?Look at ways to use newer low cost cloud based solutions.
8.?Make procurement education and training a priority.
9.?Review all of your existing suppliers.
10.?Collaborate with other businesses to increase savings.

Writing is a psycho, muscular, neurological process. So remember that simple goals written down are the most achievable.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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No matter what our current government leaders say, the economy is still terrible.

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

This author still can not believe how many companies, buyers and category managers do not advocate for the use of modern e-procurement tools.

The use of these tools preserves and creates jobs as well as generating many other benefits that your business is not receiving today.

The lack of use can really only be one or two reasons at this point. First is that you or your procurement team just go to work and do your job and don’t really care one way or the other. Second is that you do not stay up to date in your trade and have very little influence within your company. If this is not true, why are you still writing your own RFI’s and RFP’s for a small group of suppliers?

Maybe now there is a final chance to step up and try or recommend using e-procurement tools including reverse auctions? Who knows, maybe you’ll save enough money to save someone’s job, hire someone new or insure that your job will still be there when next years planning is complete.

Although they may not impact your job directly, the reduction of cost of goods, expenses and preservation of capital are all immediately achievable if you’ll just take a look.

A customer recently told me that they would not be adding any new jobs to their procurement department next year. In fact they have already more than doubled the size of their departments staff to drive  down costs through the use  of the SafeSourceIt™ family of procure to pay tools. This customer went on to say that others in other departments will in fact be able to keep their jobs as a result of the work we’ve done together. So in the worst economy since many of us have been alive, this customer has added jobs, protected jobs, saved significant money, improved quality with the use of SafeSourcing products. Another benefit is that we also continue to add jobs to support our customers during this same time.
In addition to all of the benefits listed above, here are some additional quotes from a CEO and his team that watched their first reverse auction.
1. “This was pretty simple to do”
2. “If we hired someone we could do these ourselves with you guys”
3. “This is fun”
4. “You mean the reports are already available”
5. “I love the sports concept”
6. “It was easy to follow the marquis and what was going on from one screen”
7. “The multiple color schemes were great”
8. “I can’t believe how fast you guys set this up”
9. “We saved that much money and only have to pay what we discussed”
10. “Can we do another one today”
11. “I may get a promotion out of this”
12. “I love that calculator at the end of the bid process”
13. “I like all of the supplier data that was accessible during the auction”
14. “Now I know how the big guys get the pricing they do”

It’s too bad our current political combatants for the highest office in our land can not be this detailed during their debates.

Why not join others that have come a little late to the party. You can still benefit because today’s tools are easier to use, more interactive, maintain your attention during an auction, integrate gaming technology to keep it fun and are lower cost than their predecessors. If you happen to have already been doing this for years, why not find an easier way or do it less expensively.

If you would like to have fun, save money and do it quickly, please visit us at www.safesoucing.com.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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What’s’ your pitch?

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

If you are, tell your vendors, friends, links and other’s in your connected network to use their noodle and come up with something more interesting. Something that will show their creativity and ensure that you will continue to be interested in their company, offerings and creative approach into the future..

An elevator pitch according to Wikipedia is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. I can remember this subject coming up at my new man training school at a major corporation over 30 years ago. It was fun to play around with different approaches and compare how well one could define themselves and their company. The problem is, once a company has settled on something they tend to forget about it and it just becomes blah, blah blah and as such does not evolve as the company does. Much the same story exists for companies brand strategies. But that’s another story or post.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. I worked for a Loss Prevention Company at one point. When the owner was asked what they do, he very succinctly stated, “We analyze transaction data to detect patterns of employee theft”. This certainly fits the model of less than 30 seconds and begs a question on the part of the person asking the question. The questions could be myriad, but would have the desired effect of beginning a conversation.

When we launched SafeSourcing, we tried to come up with an elevator statement or speech that would do the same thing. “We are an e-procurement company” didn’t really work. Neither did “We are a procure to pay company”, because at the time we were not. We thought about “We are a strategic sourcing company”, but that did not quite cut it either. To often believe it or not the question would be what’s procurement or just Oh.

Today our current elevator statement is a little long winded and goes like this “We are an e-procurement company offering a complete procure-to-pay suite of applications. The heart of our family of products is our popular reverse auction technology. We help you reduce cost, improve efficiency and extend the reach of your procurement group with an historic ROI greater than 10X”. This statement is true, but as stated is a little to long winded and not overly creative. The good news is we continue to try and work on this all of the time. Does your provider?

Today I tried to come up with a few more that might peak an executives interest around subjects that are important to them and might get them to say “Tell me more”.

So, here you go.

   1. “We help company’s find new sources of business that they did not know existed”!
   2. “We help our customers justify not having to reduce headcount”.
   3. “We help our customers create funding to support internal job growth”.
   4. “We improve our customer’s profitability in the current accounting period”.
   5. “We are a job creation company”.

The trick here is to be creative and honest while being able to be equally succinct in your follow up answers.

If you’d like to learn how we can apply any of the above statements to your company, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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Private Label the story continues.

Friday, September 14th, 2012

Here is an old post from a couple of years ago that continues the theme of the last two days titled What type of savings should we see when we source Private Label items Part I and Part II.  The information is a little more basic but does supply some reinforcement for the last two posts and links to where you can learn more. Enjoy!

If you already have a private label program maybe it’s time to grow your offering or increase your mix of private label products.

According to Wikipedia Private Label goods and services are available in a wide range of industries from food to cosmetics.

Historically these products or store brands were positioned as low cost alternatives to major national and international brands. Today if you read the labeling many of the products are virtually identical and in some cases companies are positioning their brands as better or premium to the large brands.

A great source if education is The Private Label Manufacturer’s Association or PLMA. Their website is www.plma.com. PLMA sponsors an annual show which this year is being held in Chicago the 14th-16th of November. This show is full of great workshops as well as manufacturers that would be glad to compete for you business.

According to GfK Roper, 57% of all shoppers now say that they purchase store brands which represents a 21% increase from ten years ago and an impressive 38% growth rate.

E-procurement tools typically assigned to the e-RFX suite are an ideal way to source these products and will help to drive your costs even lower. Start with an RFI to select the companies or manufacturers you are interested in partnering with and then invite the best few to bid for your business.

Contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative in order to learn how we can help you optimize your Private Label program.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

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