These days buying is easy, but negotiating the purchase is a matter of organizing and anticipating the supplier, knowing what to ask for, how to order it and who to ask for it. In negotiating with suppliers, both know the terrain, the smart thing is to know how to prepare it.
First of all, we must see a supplier as an "ally of our company". The responsibilities that you have in our businesses is almost as important as a department of our company has, this because they are the ones who maintain the different tools that we use every day, such as paper, pencils, even computer equipment., or Internet services etc.
Taking the above into account, we can see the important aspects of a negotiation with suppliers.
As a first thing, it is important to start with us, in all businesses, as is well known, it is important to be clear about what one wants, with the provider it is the same, since he will try to sell you technologies, which although they are interesting and helpful They may not be what we need now; that is why clarity of our needs is important. It is our duty to guide him where we want him to go, this is clear in the first deals that are made, then he will know what we want and in what way we want it.
From the foregoing we rescue that from the rain of comings that the supplier can deliver to us in response to our needs, there are always many redeemable things that are worth analyzing, so it is good to take note.
One way to be a good guide for our supplier and to organize ourselves is to make a standard model for the delivery of the quotation (the quotation is also a part of the negotiation, it is in which the supplier has the first opportunity to present his company), which in the first instance, will give a guide to the supplier of what we want and, above all, how serious it is that they work with us and not for us.
Once we are clear about our role in the negotiation, let's look at the issue of suppliers.
It is important not to have a single supplier, if possible, since by having several, it gives us the opportunity of a greater range of prices, services and above all, added value to what we are requesting. It is important for this, to make the supplier understand, indirectly, that he is not the only one to whom we are quoting, but that we are interested in him being part of our contact agenda.
All information sent by suppliers must be tabulated, company information, granitas, added value, services, prices, etc., this will facilitate decision-making at the time. It can be done in an Excel spreadsheet or as it is used to be done, and to each item place a value, which indicates if it reaches what is expected or is below it.
Meetings with suppliers are of great importance and it is what strengthens the relationship between our company and them, we must always remember that “A supplier is not a solution to a single problem, it can be a solution to problems that we have not yet detected., or that we still do not think about solving ”. Before the meeting, it is always good to ask them to prepare a presentation of the company, in which the "Mission of the company" should always be present, this is a good tool to work with them.
Quotations should never be shown, let alone the prices of other providers, uncertainty is always a good tool to get more than what one expects; but it is good to give them a light of hope, indicating, more or less, how high they are or what they lack. You should always anticipate the supplier, knowing the average market values.
On many occasions, our suppliers have their own suppliers or wholesalers. For large projects, it is advisable to go to the wholesalers, have a meeting in which the needs, important aspects of the project are seen, respond to possible doubts by both parties, after this, request a quote (which allows us to know the base value of the project) and that they present the requirements to a maximum of 3 Resellers (final suppliers). With this we save time and we will not have to explain to each provider (Reseller) what we need.
It is always good and smart, to ask the supplier to permanently send us information about the prices and offers that concern our company, one of them can always be what we are looking for. This is telling them that we like to anticipate, because it is to be attentive to our company.
In summary
Negotiating with suppliers is a matter of:
- Be clear about our needs Know how to guide the supplier where we want him to go Understand and let him know that he works with us and not for us, and that if we lose he also loses Not having a single supplier, not a single wholesaler and know when to contact which one. Tabulate all the data, in order to make a good decision. Have a meeting with the suppliers, to bring them closer to our company and get to know the work area, and thus we know their way of working and their company.Keep them in the uncertainty, to obtain more and respect the other suppliers.Ask them to keep us at day of prices, offers and news, in this way, he can anticipate our needs and we will know that he is interested in negotiating
