Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archive.

Communication with employees, business partners, customers and vendors is not a new concept and the growing popularity of electronic communication channels are familiar to most people that use the internet.  What has become a valuable tool and channel of communication are eNewsletters sent via email and companies that specialize in this service can expand the value you can get from them beyond just the lower cost to create them.

In today’s blog we will explore a few of those other qualities that can be leveraged with an eNewsletter program whether run internally or externally with a 3rd party vendor.

Data Validation – One of the most important features of any marketing project is to obtain and maintain quality contact information.  Unlike other forms of communication, email provides instant feedback on what data is valid and what is not.  A good eNewsletter company will provide the services not only to design and distribute your content but also to manage the quality of the contact information you are using in that distribution; updating it when necessary to keep it valuable.

Immediate Interaction – eNewsletters provide a clear path to interactivity between you and the users you are trying to connect with.  Embedded links, videos, surveys and feedback forms when managed by your eNewsletter team, offer a fresh and impactful way to establish loyalty and relationships with your customers, employees and vendors.

Direct Ties and Monitoring to Marketing Programs – 3rd party providers that can handle your eNewsletter needs will tell you that the greatest way to increase the effectiveness of what you send out is to tie it directly into your other Marketing programs.  They will help you tie discount and loyalty programs into the use and readership of your eNewsletter in ways that will make both pieces stronger.

User Specific content – Unlike the historic printed newsletter that had “one-size-fits-all” content, eNewsletters can be distributed with slightly different versions depending on whether they are going to your employees, employees of your partners, your current customers or potential customers.  Having a good marketing focused team to help with this content will allow the message to feel personal and will increase the ways each of these groups uses the content.

For more information on how we can help you find tools or partners to begin your company’s eNewsletter campaign, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative or download our most current eNewsLetter.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is our SafeSourcing Archives

Temporary staff has long filled gaps within the departments of companies all over the world and no place is this truer than in today’s IT departments where highly skilled technical staff are needed but generally not required on a continued basis.  Companies are beginning to realize that it is more cost effective to supplement their technical staffs with experienced temporary employees; reducing the long-term commitment but getting projects moving quickly.

This contingent labor force, which includes both independent contractors and temporary employees hired mostly through Temporary Labor agencies, is typically managed by a department head or by Human Resources directly.  In some cases, as with large companies, having a more organized model to manage this process becomes a necessity.  Today’s blog will touch on three of these.

Option  I – Internally managed

In this approach, the company manages the entire process of working with the different temporary agencies; including tracking their progress and the processes they are following for supplementing your workforce.  This approach is the most widely used for mid to smaller sized companies or for companies whose need for a contingent labor force is small.  The drawback to this approach is the lack of scalability as the company and the temporary labor force grows. 

Option II – Master Vendor

The Master Vendor model is popular for businesses because it allows the primary temporary labor agency to handle all of the details for the client.  The tracking, the screening, the hiring, the placement, the metrics of the Service Level Agreement are all items that the client lets the vendor handle so that the client can focus on running the business.  Generally any technology/software use is on the vendor side only and the client has little to no visibility into the day-to-day management of the placement process.  This works for many companies as a first step to begin leveraging the focus of their vendor to help them manage the process, but is lacking in the level of insight provided to the client.

Option III – Master Service Provider – Vendor Management System

The third, and increasingly popular, option is to employ technology in the way of a Vendor Management System (VMS) to help provide the visibility and control that many companies are wanting in this process without having to management every little detail of the placement process. 

VMS Software can either be obtained independently by the client or can be included in the contract with a Master Service Provider.  In either case, the Vendor Management System tool can help track requisitions, research candidates (whether from agency or independent contractor), monitor the status of placement as well as other day-to-day metrics, and manage the invoicing and payment.  The advantages of a quality VMS Tool is that it allows the flexibility to work with more than one contingent labor source while at the same time establishing a compliance to process across all of those sources.  With increased implementation, the efficiency will increase and costs will go down; making it a very popular choice of managing a temporary labor workforce

For more information about how begin to develop a contingent IT labor force model for your organization, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Project Manager.  

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is from our archive at SafeSourcing.

Last week we covered the key components in setting up and running a pilot event for a new procurement process or with a 3rd party strategic sourcing partner.  Once you have completed your pilot and moved forward into a roll-out or contract situation the next key step is to develop a Standard Operating Procedure document and strategy so that events can begin with a similar structure each time and adjusted from there.  Today we will be taking a look at some of the pieces that you should consider when creating this document.

Process Overview – The foundation of the SOP document begins with an explanation of the process and why the company has chosen to make the changes supporting this document.  Frequently this will include some language form the executive team showing their support of the process.  In the overview you will want to define the main groups that will be involved and the level of sponsorship and management to be included in each project for its success.  Research, communication, project management and a subject matter expert will all be key pieces to consider.

Project checklist – The project checklist will be the basis from which the expectations of the projects will be tracked.  Key components need to include a detailed breakdown of each stage of the project.  Associated with each activity will be an owner of the step, an estimated duration for completion, and a begin and end date for the item.  Many companies will use a project planning software package to assist with this process or at least a spreadsheet which will track and project the timeline milestones.  The project checklist also provides departments new to the process a view of what they will be expected to be responsible for.  This allows them to budget their time and prevents tasks from slipping through the cracks.

Template Documents – When new processes get introduced to the rest of the company it is very important as stated above to provide departments with as much detail about the process upfront as possible.  While the event checklist will help, one of the other key components of this package is to provide the stakeholders with some template documents to start with.  These documents include suggested notifications to internal resources and external suppliers, RFx templates for goods, services and software, suggested scorecard templates and supplier presentation template agendas and scorecards if that step is one included in the project.  These documents provide value to your internal stakeholders because it does not require them to start from scratch and can shorten project timelines.

Whether you are just starting a new process or improving a procurement you have had in place for years, developing a Standard Operating Procedure package that can be shared with other departments can ensure success for future projects and increase the confidence they have with your procurement team.  For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist with structuring standard operating procedures for 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 an excerpt from a White Paper titled RFX Strategies for Success  SafeSourcing.

The world of procurement is continually changing, and this includes the world of e-procurement when it comes to the requirement for information, a proposal, or a quote.  The differences between the three requests, what expectations are when receiving the requests back, and how to make a sound business decision with what has been presented are what separate each stage in giving procurement professionals a blueprint on where to start in the process.

The Request for Information (RFI)

A request for information (RFI) is a request made typically during the project planning phase where a buyer cannot clearly identify product requirements, specifications, and purchase options. RFIs clearly indicate that award of a contract will not automatically follow.1

An example for a use of a RFI would be if a company acquired a used warehouse that need to be turned into a distribution center. It has some racking installed but needs more.  There has not been a defined idea of what  layout will be needed to improve the warehouse for DC use, nor what types of rack are needed, how much material is needed, nor how long it will take to install the racking. The existing racking is in adequate shape but it is unknown whether it is safe, placed appropriately, outdated, or even needed. This situation often is a good time to rely on experts to provide feedback as to these needs.  The best practice is to get at minimum of  three (3) but I’d recommended getting 4 to 6, submissions from your requests for information from racking manufactures, distributor, and/or installers.

The higher supplier count, in an area where you have no knowledge, provides the data to begin to make more decisions from multiple perspectives. With at least 3 it begins to become more clear to see if there are major differences between suppliers and how they operate.  Lead time, outsourcing, geographical coverage are all very important pieces of information to gather from the suppliers at this stage.

The application of an RFI can be used on new goods for use, re-sale, packaging design, any and all services, software, hardware, equipment of any kind, actually it is limitless as to what you can utilize a RFI for in business.

If you’d like more information as to how to use the three unique steps of the eRFX process at your company, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services representative.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.