Today's Tips

Obtaining Necessary Knowledge - 07/01/2024
The book Poor Charlie’s Almanack is about the life and beliefs of Charles T. Munger, who was once reported richest man in the world. He died in November of last year at the age of ninety-nine and had a net worth of 2.6 billion dollars. He w...

Plan Supplier Meetings for Better Results - 10/01/2023
It doesn’t matter if your meeting is with a new supplier or one that you have been using, you achieve more and avoid problems later if you plan the meeting ahead of time. Planning the meeting involves establishing the time and place for the ...

Be Aware of Flattery to Influence Purchases - 07/01/2023
Don’t be led down the primrose path. Good buyers are skeptics. That is, they don’t always accept what salespeople say without questioning it. The statements must be evaluated objectively because most salespeople have a tendency to make fa...

Copy Costs Higher Than You Think - 05/01/2023
Today many, if not most companies, no longer make copies and file the information rather than send it electronically. But others still make copies for their business. It is easy to ignore the cost of making copies, but large companies that spend hund...

Be Prepared For a Price Increase - 04/12/2023
It is wise to prepare for a price increase announcement, especially during an inflationary period. There are a number of things you can do. One is going out into the marketplace and obtaining competitive quotes on what others are charging. Even thoug...

Buy the Most Appropriate Product - 01/01/2023
Employees from various departments send requisitions to the purchasing function asking for the products or services they need. Often, there is a brand name mentioned or a description of the product needed. Sometimes the description is incomplete. ...

Obtain Separate Cost Figures - 10/01/2022
It is more difficult to reduce the cost of products or services when all you know is the total price of the product or the services offered. Suppliers realize this and consequently tend to bury the detailed cost in a total charge. Some details are so...

Influence Alternative Specifications - 06/01/2022
The requester’s description of the product or service wanted may not be the best choice. Specifications may come from the engineering department or any employee authorized to request what is needed to do the job. The requesters may obtain the i...

Influence Alternative Specifications - 06/01/2022
The requester’s description of the product or service wanted may not be the best choice. Specifications may come from the engineering department or any employee authorized to request what is needed to do the job. The requesters may obtain the i...

When to Accept Supplier Mistakes - 04/01/2022
Everybody, as well as every organization, sooner or later makes a mistake. A good buyer needs to tell suppliers about their mistakes so they can be corrected and avoided in the future, but the buyer should not always punish suppliers for every instan...

Continue to Learn About Many Topics - 03/01/2022
There are a number of reasons why buyers, managers, and executives need to continue to learn throughout there working lives. One important reason is that things change. Over time they change a lot in many respects. If you don’t learn new things...

Be Careful How You Ask for Price Forecasts - 01/01/2022
We noticed one buyer asking a supplier how much prices would increase at the beginning of the new year. Asking that question is worse than simply asking for a forecast without indicating any direction of up or down. It would have been better to ask h...

Make Your Presentations Sparkle - 11/01/2021
Buyers and purchasing managers are called upon to make a presentation at a meeting for various purposes. It may be to report on the progress of a project, or about a supply problem, or about other business activity. How you make your presentation can...

Use a List for All Necessary Duties - 10/01/2021
It is easy to forget to handle certain necessary tasks, especially if they are only required infrequently. For example, one of the tasks that is often neglected is updating the boilerplate on purchase order forms. Failing to do so may overlook change...

How to Handle the Requester's Budgets - 09/01/2021
Companies establish and control budgets in different ways. General management usually sets a company budget. Individual department budgets may be assigned in part by the department manager with the accounting function’s input. Accounting may es...

Don't Keep Everything on Your Desk - 07/01/2021
One of our favorite sayings is "A cluttered desk top indicates a cluttered mind, but an empty desk top indicates an empty mind". Those with a cluttered desk may believe that when the boss sees such a desk he believes that the employee has a...

Wait Long Enough for a Better Response - 06/01/2021
Buyers are frequently under pressure to place orders for material or services. It is usually from the requester who wants to make sure the order is received. But the pressure may also be self-inflicted. As long as you are sure you can obtain the n...

Proper Use of Petty Cash - 05/01/2021
The purpose of petty cash is to provide funds for salespeople, maintenance workers, and other employees to obtain low cost items, services, emergencies, avoid costly paperwork, or administrative expenses. The petty cash system is frequently abused by...

Getting It Done - 04/01/2021
Many of us procrastinate when we need to start a new or challenging project. The problem is that it doesn’t get any easier as time passes. In fact, if you delay too long, you may not have sufficient time to do a good job. From experience, we...

Making Difficult Tasks Easy - 03/01/2021
We tend to put off doing jobs we don’t like, that are difficult, or that will take a long time to complete. That makes those duties even harder. Most of us worry about those jobs we need to do. The longer we wait, the harder it gets to start di...