Buying Wisely For Your employer

ARE YOU UNDER PRESSURE TO LOWER YOUR RUNNING COSTS,

BUT DON’T HAVE THE TIME?

Managing Staff, Filing Accounts, Running Sales Reports, Chasing Payments, Interviewing People, Manage the Training schedule, participate in meetings Oh and with all these Job requirements you have to Maintain Quality and keep the Costs under control.

Sound Familiar?

Balancing your Time and Priorities is not easy, especially when management change them at the drop of a hat. Putting the pressure on to achieve the same results at a lower cost is becoming all too familiar in today’s climate.

Here are some tips on how to get the best out of your purchasing requirements.

• SET YOUR BUDGETS for the year and stick to your guns. No matter what you are buying the Sales Rep will always try to up sell you, that’s fine once you stick to the budget. Filter out time wasters at your earliest convenience. They want that meeting for one reason, Up Sell.

• GET CONTRACT PRICING. Never buy off contract if you are buying regularly off a supplier, Why? Because you will be charged list price. That is a sure fire way of blowing your budgets.

• If you need to get something on a once off purchase i.e. Your Network Printer has packed in. YOU HAVE TO COMPARE the market, it’s no use only going back to the supplier you got the last one off. That may have been 3-4 years ago, there are New suppliers now on the market that are doing things smarter and need less Margins.

• Keep tabs on what is happening in the market place for your big spending requirements. What is out there? What is happening? Who is coming into the market? We are not talking about your core materials here but the dreaded overheads. Phones, Mobiles, IT Support, Stationery, Print, Marketing Materials, Couriers, Insurance, Signage, Waste are all requirements that need to be ASSESSED FREQUENTLY because they are constantly changing.

• This one can be annoying and a HR issue but it is a big factor in your spend. WATCH YOUR WASTAGE. Companies Always have too many mobile phones, Always have Too Many Print cartridges, Always Print too much, Always get too much Marketing Material. Always leave the lights on. Be careful on this one as you have to have a comfortable place to work.

You may have read those tips and realised that all of the above takes time, which you don’t have! Catch 22.

Maybe not..............

Mr Mouse Finger, he is here to help and he does as he is told.