The Procurement Conundrum -a Day in the Life of a Buyer
For those of us old enough for our haircut to include an eyebrow trim, there’s an old C&W tune that croons, “Oh it’s crying time again you’re gonna leave me”…. Distributors sing it this way nowadays, “it’s Buying” time again you’re gonna leave me…
Welcome to the world of industrial “churn”.
As if it were a new idea, I’ve been hearing and reading repeatedly lately about these spectacular sales strategies designed to swoop sales wizards onto the plant floors at any cost.
Excuse me all of you and not to be rude but it’s taken Purchasing Departments over fifteen years to get sales people off the plant floor; I can’t see Buyers wanting them back on it in a hurry.
When Sales folk sell directly to the floor, the first thing they are doing is circumventing the Purchasing Department. This ultimately results in unauthorized purchases. It screws up every department from Warehouse/Receiving, Quality and Incoming Inspection to Accounting. And you don’t even want to imagine what it does to Purchasing. And don’t tell our Buyer that you had no intention of skirting the Procurement team. If you’re there without their blessing, you’ve already spit on their shoes.
But to be fair, it’s only half your fault. Frustrated mechanics have been known to invite you backstage with no intention to break company procedure but guess what? A little dazzle from your little silver tongue and they own a piece of Acme. They’ll authorize anything if you make it sound good … and you do make it sound good.
In the short term you’re a hero. But even if the product is the right product for the job, here are some of the problems you’ve created with this clandestine transaction.
Due to the Purchasing Department not being involved …
·Requisitions aren’t processed properly or not processed at all.
·New part numbers are not created or not in time to prevent chaos.
·Purchase orders aren’t created or are not provided in time
·Quality Assurance have not reviewed the product, specs or approved it for use.
·Accounting has not linked the product with the charge code.
·Receiving cannot receive the product.
·Incoming Inspection cannot inspect without a PO.
·Accounting cannot reconcile invoices or packing lists to non existent Purchase Orders.
·Shipping Bills cannot be reconciled or paid.
·New products shipped under old part numbers cannot be Received, Inspected or Paid for.
·Quality documentation cannot be processed.
And then you wonder why you are not paid Net 30?
This isn’t blarney. Ask any industrial Buyer who has been in the business over three years how many times one or more of these instances have been caused by someone selling directly to the shop floor or the Engineering Department.
Floor managers, mechanics or even the department supervisors, often have their own agendas. They want it and they want it now. No, that’s not your problem. It’s the customer’s problem. But since when isn’t the customer problem YOUR problem?
Buyers control who they purchase product from. Selling to Mike the Mechanic and causing procedural chaos is an old idea and a bad idea. Don’t lose your account over it! Do it once and your name is mud. You may have gained friends on the shop floor but to Purchasing, you’re a snake in the grass and you know how we like snakes.
And if you assume for one moment that the engineer you sold to have any more purchasing sense than a day old duck, you’ve got another think coming. Engineering heads are rarely attached to their engineering bodies. Their minds are off somewhere doing something; no-one knows what but it’s not following procedures that don’t involve drawings.
And I know you’re thinking this is an internal purchasing problem but guess what? How better can they solve the problem than by eliminating you?
Over and over again I hear it, if only you can sneak around the Buyer, the world would be your oyster and your streets would be paved with new orders and everything would be wonderful. Maybe your game is roulette … but you’re playing it Russian style.
Don’t get me wrong. Distributor and manufacturer technical sales reps are worth their weight in Loc-tite when their people aren’t on strike, but only when they’re invited.
See? It’s not always price.
Sometimes it’s something else.
END
For further insight on your Sales strategies, contact Malcolm Mills, author of: It’s a Tough World Out There - 25 Ways To Lose a Customer 25 Ways to Fix It. Or if you need a speaker to make your point?
For those of us old enough for our haircut to include an eyebrow trim, there’s an old C&W tune that croons, “Oh it’s crying time again you’re gonna leave me”…. Distributors sing it this way nowadays, “it’s Buying” time again you’re gonna leave me…
Welcome to the world of industrial “churn”.
As if it were a new idea, I’ve been hearing and reading repeatedly lately about these spectacular sales strategies designed to swoop sales wizards onto the plant floors at any cost.
Excuse me all of you and not to be rude but it’s taken Purchasing Departments over fifteen years to get sales people off the plant floor; I can’t see Buyers wanting them back on it in a hurry.
When Sales folk sell directly to the floor, the first thing they are doing is circumventing the Purchasing Department. This ultimately results in unauthorized purchases. It screws up every department from Warehouse/Receiving, Quality and Incoming Inspection to Accounting. And you don’t even want to imagine what it does to Purchasing. And don’t tell our Buyer that you had no intention of skirting the Procurement team. If you’re there without their blessing, you’ve already spit on their shoes.
But to be fair, it’s only half your fault. Frustrated mechanics have been known to invite you backstage with no intention to break company procedure but guess what? A little dazzle from your little silver tongue and they own a piece of Acme. They’ll authorize anything if you make it sound good … and you do make it sound good.
In the short term you’re a hero. But even if the product is the right product for the job, here are some of the problems you’ve created with this clandestine transaction.
Due to the Purchasing Department not being involved …
·Requisitions aren’t processed properly or not processed at all.
·New part numbers are not created or not in time to prevent chaos.
·Purchase orders aren’t created or are not provided in time
·Quality Assurance have not reviewed the product, specs or approved it for use.
·Accounting has not linked the product with the charge code.
·Receiving cannot receive the product.
·Incoming Inspection cannot inspect without a PO.
·Accounting cannot reconcile invoices or packing lists to non existent Purchase Orders.
·Shipping Bills cannot be reconciled or paid.
·New products shipped under old part numbers cannot be Received, Inspected or Paid for.
·Quality documentation cannot be processed.
And then you wonder why you are not paid Net 30?
This isn’t blarney. Ask any industrial Buyer who has been in the business over three years how many times one or more of these instances have been caused by someone selling directly to the shop floor or the Engineering Department.
Floor managers, mechanics or even the department supervisors, often have their own agendas. They want it and they want it now. No, that’s not your problem. It’s the customer’s problem. But since when isn’t the customer problem YOUR problem?
Buyers control who they purchase product from. Selling to Mike the Mechanic and causing procedural chaos is an old idea and a bad idea. Don’t lose your account over it! Do it once and your name is mud. You may have gained friends on the shop floor but to Purchasing, you’re a snake in the grass and you know how we like snakes.
And if you assume for one moment that the engineer you sold to have any more purchasing sense than a day old duck, you’ve got another think coming. Engineering heads are rarely attached to their engineering bodies. Their minds are off somewhere doing something; no-one knows what but it’s not following procedures that don’t involve drawings.
And I know you’re thinking this is an internal purchasing problem but guess what? How better can they solve the problem than by eliminating you?
Over and over again I hear it, if only you can sneak around the Buyer, the world would be your oyster and your streets would be paved with new orders and everything would be wonderful. Maybe your game is roulette … but you’re playing it Russian style.
Don’t get me wrong. Distributor and manufacturer technical sales reps are worth their weight in Loc-tite when their people aren’t on strike, but only when they’re invited.
See? It’s not always price.
Sometimes it’s something else.
END
For further insight on your Sales strategies, contact Malcolm Mills, author of: It’s a Tough World Out There - 25 Ways To Lose a Customer 25 Ways to Fix It. Or if you need a speaker to make your point?
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For information email: mc.mills@ns.sympatico.ca