Today's Tips

Help Other Departments & Get Them to Help Yours - 01/01/2021
For various reasons, sometimes a buyer needs to tell an employee that it is impossible to obtain a product or service that he requested. Perhaps the supplier is unable to deliver quickly. Any refusal to do what the requester wants must be handled ver...

Ask for Cost Reductions Now - 07/15/2019
A buyer may only look for lower cost when shopping for a new product or when considering a different supplier. Some buyers only negotiate with a supplier when placing a repeat order. There are other favorable times to negotiate and now is one of t...

Look At the Details, Too - 04/01/2019
You need to look at the details as well as the big picture to know what is really going on in your purchasing operation. The grand totals will frequently tell you where there is a problem and what you need to work on, but the details will often revea...

Salespeople Provide Market Information - 03/01/2019
Purchasing managers and buyers frequently obtain valuable market information from salespeople. Even when the salespeople don’t volunteer any information, they offer clues about the market, and the industry they represent in addition to informat...

New Year's Resolutions for Improvement - 01/01/2019
People make personal resolutions to change their ways or  to improve their behavior. All of the resoltuions are usually good, but some are much more beneficial than others. Most are about their personal activities, but they can just as well be a...

Allocate Your Available Time Appropriately - 11/01/2018
We all have limited time, especially if our workload is more than we can handle or more than we would like. Therefore, it is essential to use your time wisely - to manage it in order to do the most important things first without completely ignoring t...

How to Obtain Quicker RFQ Responses - 10/01/2018
Request for Quotes (RFQs) may be sent out for any type of product or service. The promptness of the suppliers’ replies varies by the ways the RFQs have been prepared, by the type of products described, by the value of the business expected, and...

Criticize With Tact and Diplomacy - 08/23/2018
It is easy to find fault in others. Most of us can criticize the way other departments are run or the way other employees behave. But be very careful how you do so unless you enjoy making enemies. Even helpful suggestions can be misinterpreted and ca...

Supervise Buyer-Owned, Supplier-Held Inventory - 06/01/2018
Suppliers will often hold inventory that either the seller believes will be purchased by a particular buyer, or has already been purchased. This has a number of advantages for the buying organization providing the terms of the arrangement have been n...

Facility Visits Generate Ideas - 04/04/2018
Visits to your office, warehouse, or plant by your suppliers often help them give suggestions to improve your operation. Suppliers’ suggestions may or may not involve purchasing the product or service they provide. Their ideas may reduce the am...

Your Questions Answered, Buying Problems Solved - 01/01/2018
If you have not already looked at the list of articles on the American Purchasing Society website, you will be amazed to see the amount of very valuable and useful information given for anyone who buys for business or who manages a purchasing departm...

How Much Can Suppliers Reduce The Price? - 11/01/2017
Once you have checked all the competition and learn that your suppliers’ prices are reasonable, you may still be able to obtain savings if the suppliers are willing to reduce the amount of their profit. However, you usually don’t know wha...

Personal Job Descriptions Are Important - 09/01/2017
It is valuable to have a well thought out written job description for yourself as well as your employees. It avoids any misunderstanding about what the person is responsible for and what is not part of the normal duties required by the job. A good...

Buyers Are Well-Suited To Lead Business Teams - 07/01/2017
The Steve Jobs quote at the bottom of this page is worth paying close attention to. Expanding on that thought is the fact that teams need a leader to set objectives, get everybody to work together amiably, and set the agenda. Buyers and purchasing ma...

How To Obtain More Supplier Suggestions - 06/01/2017
Buyers frequently ask suppliers to recommend a product or a method that will help the buyer’s company. Alternatively, they tell the supplier what they want and may give him formal or informal specifications. The latter method should be used mor...

Show Your Suppliers What You Do - 05/01/2017
Do you ever have suppliers call on you and discover that they have no idea what your company does? Do you ever have suppliers try to sell you a product or service that is completely unrelated to your business? Purchasing managers are surprised how...

Make Sure Supplier Samples Are Tested Fairly - 04/01/2017
Buyers often need to obtain competitive product evaluations before selecting a supplier. The choice of the best supplier includes factors in addition to determining the best product. For example, the time for delivery, the price of the product, the s...

Check Your Department's Efficiency - 03/01/2017
It is easy to assume your operation is efficient if you are encountering few serious problems. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make life easier by improving the way you conduct business from day to day. In fact, being complacent could res...

Share Advertising Costs With Suppliers - 10/01/2016
Company advertisements frequently show consumer customers using their product. Notice also, companies where their advertisement show their product or service being used by one of their business customers. Such ads can improve the image and sales of b...

Don't Wait For A Better Offer - 06/01/2016
Most purchasing professionals wait to receive a bid or a better offer for items they are already buying. Unless there is a time limit on an RFQ or RFP, they have a very long wait. It is infrequent for companies to suddenly come in with a lower price ...