“Outbuying” Your Internal Customers, Part II<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div>PurchTips edition #265<\/p>\n<\/div>
What Do Procurement Departments Do Better?<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div>In\u00a0PurchTips Edition #264<\/a>, I discussed how internal customers often ignore procurement directives because they feel that they do a better job of procurement than the procurement department. To combat this perception, a procurement department needs to do a better job of procurement than \u2013 or “outbuy” \u2013 their internal customers. I listed three activities that represent “outbuying” in that edition. Here are four more:<\/p>\n\n- Complying with ethical standards.\u00a0<\/b>An internal customer may promise business to a relative or share a supplier’s price with a competitor without even realizing how ethically wrong those actions are. Good procurement departments know how to comply with ethical standards and keep their organizations out of ethical trouble.<\/li>\n
- Complying with policies and laws.<\/b>\u00a0Because procurement departments buy goods and services daily, they are well aware of the many internal policies and even external laws that restrict how purchasing is to be done. Internal customers were likely never trained on these policies or laws, so they are poorly positioned to ensure compliance.<\/li>\n
- Quantifying total cost and value.\u00a0<\/b>Understanding how costs of acquisition, transportation, storage, usage, maintenance and disposal factor into a cost comparison between products, services or suppliers isn’t easy even for procurement professionals who calculate such things routinely. However, good procurement departments should be much better at performing total cost calculations than their internal customers who rarely do this type of analysis.<\/li>\n
- Leveraging spend, volume and supplier relationships.<\/b>\u00a0If each department had the right to purchase independently of one another, the organization would spread its purchases among a much wider pool of suppliers. This has disadvantages such as: too little volume with individual suppliers to get larger discounts, too many suppliers to manage effectively, and too little importance with suppliers in order to get above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty service in times of crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Do You Want a More Rewarding Procurement Career?<\/h5><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/12\/spsm_verify.jpg\" "\\"spsm_verify\\"")
<\/span><\/div>Are you tired of not getting enough opportunities, respect, and money out of your procurement career? Well, guess what? Nothing will change unless you take action towards becoming a world-class procurement professional.<\/p>\n
Earning your SPSM Certification is the action to take if you want to bring the most modern procurement practices into your organization and achieve your career potential. Download the SPSM Certification Guide today to learn how to get started on your journey to a more rewarding procurement career!<\/p>\n<\/div>
Download<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>Need Better Performance From Your Procurement Team?<\/h5><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/12\/services.jpg\" "\\"services\\"")
<\/span><\/div>Are you a procurement leader whose team isn\u2019t achieving the results you know are possible? Maybe it\u2019s not enough cost savings. Or frustrating performance from the supply base. Or dissatisfied internal customers.<\/p>\n
You need a performance improvement plan that\u2019s easy to implement and quick to produce results. The NLPA can help.<\/p>\n
Download our whitepaper \u201cThe Procurement Leader\u2019s Guide To A More Successful Team.\u201d You\u2019ll learn the 7 steps for transforming your staff into a results-producing, world-class procurement team.<\/p>\n<\/div>
PurchTips edition #265<\/p>\n<\/div>
What Do Procurement Departments Do Better?<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div>In\u00a0PurchTips Edition #264<\/a>, I discussed how internal customers often ignore procurement directives because they feel that they do a better job of procurement than the procurement department. To combat this perception, a procurement department needs to do a better job of procurement than \u2013 or “outbuy” \u2013 their internal customers. I listed three activities that represent “outbuying” in that edition. Here are four more:<\/p>\n\n- Complying with ethical standards.\u00a0<\/b>An internal customer may promise business to a relative or share a supplier’s price with a competitor without even realizing how ethically wrong those actions are. Good procurement departments know how to comply with ethical standards and keep their organizations out of ethical trouble.<\/li>\n
- Complying with policies and laws.<\/b>\u00a0Because procurement departments buy goods and services daily, they are well aware of the many internal policies and even external laws that restrict how purchasing is to be done. Internal customers were likely never trained on these policies or laws, so they are poorly positioned to ensure compliance.<\/li>\n
- Quantifying total cost and value.\u00a0<\/b>Understanding how costs of acquisition, transportation, storage, usage, maintenance and disposal factor into a cost comparison between products, services or suppliers isn’t easy even for procurement professionals who calculate such things routinely. However, good procurement departments should be much better at performing total cost calculations than their internal customers who rarely do this type of analysis.<\/li>\n
- Leveraging spend, volume and supplier relationships.<\/b>\u00a0If each department had the right to purchase independently of one another, the organization would spread its purchases among a much wider pool of suppliers. This has disadvantages such as: too little volume with individual suppliers to get larger discounts, too many suppliers to manage effectively, and too little importance with suppliers in order to get above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty service in times of crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Do You Want a More Rewarding Procurement Career?<\/h5><\/div><\/span><\/div>Are you tired of not getting enough opportunities, respect, and money out of your procurement career? Well, guess what? Nothing will change unless you take action towards becoming a world-class procurement professional.<\/p>\n
Earning your SPSM Certification is the action to take if you want to bring the most modern procurement practices into your organization and achieve your career potential. Download the SPSM Certification Guide today to learn how to get started on your journey to a more rewarding procurement career!<\/p>\n<\/div>
Download<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>Need Better Performance From Your Procurement Team?<\/h5><\/div><\/span><\/div>Are you a procurement leader whose team isn\u2019t achieving the results you know are possible? Maybe it\u2019s not enough cost savings. Or frustrating performance from the supply base. Or dissatisfied internal customers.<\/p>\n
You need a performance improvement plan that\u2019s easy to implement and quick to produce results. The NLPA can help.<\/p>\n
Download our whitepaper \u201cThe Procurement Leader\u2019s Guide To A More Successful Team.\u201d You\u2019ll learn the 7 steps for transforming your staff into a results-producing, world-class procurement team.<\/p>\n<\/div>
In\u00a0PurchTips Edition #264<\/a>, I discussed how internal customers often ignore procurement directives because they feel that they do a better job of procurement than the procurement department. To combat this perception, a procurement department needs to do a better job of procurement than \u2013 or “outbuy” \u2013 their internal customers. I listed three activities that represent “outbuying” in that edition. Here are four more:<\/p>\n Are you tired of not getting enough opportunities, respect, and money out of your procurement career? Well, guess what? Nothing will change unless you take action towards becoming a world-class procurement professional.<\/p>\n Earning your SPSM Certification is the action to take if you want to bring the most modern procurement practices into your organization and achieve your career potential. Download the SPSM Certification Guide today to learn how to get started on your journey to a more rewarding procurement career!<\/p>\n<\/div> Are you a procurement leader whose team isn\u2019t achieving the results you know are possible? Maybe it\u2019s not enough cost savings. Or frustrating performance from the supply base. Or dissatisfied internal customers.<\/p>\n You need a performance improvement plan that\u2019s easy to implement and quick to produce results. The NLPA can help.<\/p>\n Download our whitepaper \u201cThe Procurement Leader\u2019s Guide To A More Successful Team.\u201d You\u2019ll learn the 7 steps for transforming your staff into a results-producing, world-class procurement team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Do You Want a More Rewarding Procurement Career?<\/h5><\/div>
<\/span><\/div>Need Better Performance From Your Procurement Team?<\/h5><\/div>
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![](\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/12\/services-contracting.jpg\" "\\"services-contracting\\"")
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