Charles' Purchasing Certification Blog

Gauging A Supplier's Commitment To Partnership

2008-07-24T08:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I posted about two seemingly polar opposite approaches to supplier collaboration. I particularly pointed out one CPO's method of gauging suppliers' interest in partnering by including his quote from a recent Supply Management magazine article in which he said, "You have to see it in the way that people respond to your pushes, challenges, and demands."

I often say that the real relationship between a buyer and seller begins during the first negotiation. And you can often gauge a supplier's interest in partnership during that first negotiation as well, many times without "pushes, challenges, and demands."

When working with a new supplier and talking through decisions that need to be made, I always like to ask the question "What would you decide/do if you were me?"

Of course, I usually know at that time what decision I will make or what action I will take. But I love to see how the supplier responds.

Suppliers are rarely prepared for this question. So their responses are usually very revealing and unscripted.

If the supplier responds in a way that recommends a decision that is clearly and heavily skewed towards their best interests and doesn't consider your best interests, then you know that you're not speaking with someone committed to a partnership.

In most negotiation cases, showing how smart you are gives you leverage. However, using a question like this and "playing dumb" once in a while can really expose you to the inner workings of a supplier's mind.

A selfish response doesn't necessarily mean that I will walk away from that supplier. But I will know whether I am entering into a transactional relationship or a partnership.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Supplier Collaboration - Tales of Two Different Approaches

2008-07-23T08:51:00.002-05:00

Supply Management magazine recently ran a couple of stories that related to supplier collaboration. Each was based around a CPO's approach to supplier collaboration.

And these two CPO's seemed to have polar opposite approaches to supplier collaboration.

First, my attention was drawn to a headline on the cover of the July 3, 2008 edition that read "BT's message to suppliers." I thought that this could feature some fun-to-quote tough talk.

And I wasn't disappointed.

The article - which was entitled "BT to halt supplier 'gravy train'" (Membership required. Man, I love that title!) - begins by saying "BT will not renew contracts with long-standing suppliers that are not prepared to collaborate as the company overhauls its purchasing processes." Then, it quotes BT CPO Neil Rogers as saying:

"Some people in the past have got into BT and ridden the gravy train because we've not been joined up and have not been strong enough. I can see where those deals are and over time I'll break them. Some suppliers see their quarterly sales targets as being the way to behave, and it isn't, so we'll change that over time...They think we can't shift them - well, we will."

The article says that Rogers wants to dispose of "old-fashioned" procurement relationships and build partnerships with suppliers. But then, while discussing how he personally gauges supplier interest in partnering, Rogers says "You have to see it in the way that people respond to your pushes, challenges, and demands."

Let's contrast that with an article that was in the June 19, 2008 edition. This article, entitled "Changing Up A Gear," talked about how Chrysler was making changes to embrace greater supplier collaboration. Some quotes from Chrysler CPO John Campi seem to illuminate a different paradigm of supplier collaboration. He says:

"The first thing Chrysler needs to do is regain trust and engagement with the supply base. Over a number of years, we have lost the kind of relationship with key suppliers, the kind of partnership activity absolutely necessary to enable real growth for both organisations."

Will Campi want to see how his suppliers respond to "pushes" and "demands" the way that Rogers does? These words of his may shed some light:

"Any company that abuses a supplier is destined for failure, because it's only with those key suppliers that you're able to really make progress. It is extremely expensive to change a supplier; there's a tremendous amount of risk involved. I would much rather work with suppliers that we have a history with, and have a positive relationship with, than anyone else. It not only makes my job easier, but it makes our products better because our supply base understands what we are trying to do. Now if you destroy the trust in the supply base, which I believe has been done, then you have a contentious relationship and you can get to the point where each party is trying desperately to take advantage of their opponent, rather than looking at them as their partner."

He goes on to say that a savings sharing strategy (much like the one taught in the online class "Savings Strategy Development") is the basis for his philosophy and, in contrast to putting pressure on suppliers to reduce price, is "certainly a more appropriate demonstration of our desire to be collaborative."

My personal opinion is that a "win-win" disposition is at the heart of successful supplier collaboration. That requires a recognition of each party's interests and working together to help each other satisfy their interests.

If "quarterly sales targets" are of interest to a supplier, a CPO should ask the question "How can we help you achieve your quarterly sales targets while helping us achieve savings/better delivery/better quality/etc.?" I don't think that you can have true collaboration without acknowledging the importance of the other party's interests.

That's not to say that there isn't room for tough talk with suppliers - there is - just that maybe it shouldn't be called collaboration.

So what are your thoughts? Are these CPO's definitions of collaboration two sides of the same coin? Or is only one a true representation of collaboration?

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

3 New Tools For Purchasing Professionals

2008-07-22T07:23:00.002-05:00

I wanted to tell you about three exciting new tools to help you grow in your purchasing and supply management career. Two of the most important aspects of growing your career are networking and education.

Networking involves meeting and interacting with your purchasing peers. In the past, meeting your fellow purchasers has been difficult. But Next Level Purchasing has made this easier for you (and free) with Tool #1 and Tool #2.

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Tool #1 - SPSM Group on LinkedIn
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LinkedIn is an online network of more than 24 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former, current, and future colleagues.

Next Level Purchasing has set up the "SPSM Group" on LinkedIn. The SPSM Group is designed to facilitate networking between purchasing professionals who have earned the SPSM Certification from Next Level Purchasing. While it is designed primarily for SPSM's, anyone with an interest in the SPSM Certification or connecting with purchasing professionals who have earned the SPSM Certification is welcome to join.

To join this group, follow these instructions:

1. Go to http://www.linkedin.com/

2. If you haven't already joined LinkedIn, follow the on-screen prompts to join

3. Find the search area at the top right of the screen, which consists of a drop down box, a text box, and a Search button

4. Select "Groups" from the drop down box

5. Type "SPSM" in the text box

6. Click the search button

7. You will see "SPSM - Senior Professional in Supply Management Group" in the search results

8. Click on "Join this group" and follow the on-screen instructions to join this group

9. Check back on the group daily and see the new members that have joined the group. You may find someone who you wish to connect with.

Tip: If you have earned your SPSM Certification, be sure to modify your profile so that your last name is in a format such as "Lastname, SPSM" (e.g., mine would be "Dominick, SPSM").
This allows the SPSM credentials to appear after your name on LinkedIn, letting others know instantly that you have achieved this standard of excellence in the profession.

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Tool #2 - SPSM Group on Facebook
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Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who share their interests. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Next Level Purchasing has set up the "SPSM Group" on Facebook.
The SPSM Group is designed to facilitate networking between purchasing professionals who have earned the SPSM Certification from Next Level Purchasing. While it is designed primarily for SPSM's, anyone with an interest in the SPSM Certification or connecting with purchasing professionals who have earned the SPSM Certification is welcome to join.

To join this group, follow these instructions:

1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/

2. If you haven't already joined Facebook, follow the on-screen prompts to join

3. Find the search area at the top left of the screen

4. Type "SPSM" in the text box and press the Enter key on your keyboard

5. You will see "SPSM - Senior Professional in Supply Management Group" in the search results

6. Click on "Join Group" and follow the on-screen instructions to join this group

7. Check back on the group daily. Like LinkedIn, you will see the new members that have joined the group. There's also much more to do, such as interact on the message board, leave comments on our "Wall," upload videos, pictures, and links, and more!

Now, onto education with Tool #3...

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Tool #3 - New Online Class
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Next Level Purchasing has just launched a new online class "Executing A Global Sourcing Strategy." If you are - or are planning on - buying from suppliers from outside of your country, there are many mistakes that you must avoid. Executing A Global Sourcing Strategy will help you be successful in the complex activity of global sourcing.

Learn more about Executing A Global Sourcing Strategy at http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com/global-sourcing-strategy.html

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As you can see, we've been busy here at Next Level Purchasing trying to give you everything you need to succeed in purchasing and supply management. We hope that you can take advantage of at least one of these new tools as a way of achieving your goals.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Soliciting Donations From Suppliers - Your Thoughts?

2008-07-17T08:46:00.003-05:00

Last week, I received a request from one of our suppliers for a donation. It was for a good cause, so I obliged.

And that got me thinking...

I've seen a lot of instances where purchasing professionals solicit donations from their suppliers. Educational institutions asking for supplier donations to scholarship funds. Professional association members asking for supplier donations to their golf outings. Individual purchasers asking for supplier donations to their walk-a-thons.

I have opinions on this topic, but am interested to know what you think about the following questions:

Is supplier donation solicitation truly professional practice?
Is it a breach of courtesy or even ethics?
Does it put undue pressure on suppliers to part with their money?
Is there a covert "or else" implied when soliciting donations?
Can this lead to higher costs for goods and services for your organization if the supplier notices a pattern?

That comment link is right down there.

I'm waiting to hear from you...

And, oh, if you're in the vendor community, I'd like to hear from you, too, regarding how you feel about getting solicited for donations by buyers.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Green Procurement

2008-07-14T12:12:00.002-05:00

I hope that you have enjoyed the article "Green Procurement: Let's Get Started!" and the accompanying podcast.

One of the critical decisions to be made when launching green procurement in your organization is how to account for a green preference in your proposal analysis. Two common methods are weighted average scorecarding and total cost of ownership analysis.

Deciding between the two often depends on the market. If the market is one where green alternatives actually save costs over the life cycle of the purchased product or equipment, then total cost of ownership analysis is the proper method. Please see this Supply Excellence post about how Adobe is actually achieving ROI from its green procurements.

However, some green alternatives have higher prices without a cost-saving benefit associated with them. You pay a premium for the comfort of knowing that you did something environmentally responsible. In these cases, you should use weighted average scorecarding.

When using weighted average scorecarding, you need to decide how much weight should be given to environmental responsibility. Should it be 5%? 10%? 12%? More? Less?

Even with total cost of ownership analysis, you can apply similar logic to determine how much of a premium your company is willing to pay for a greener alternative. I found an interesting - albeit limited in its scope of research - article that reveals the percentage of people willing to pay a premium for a green alternative.

Top management should be involved in these decisions. It really is a decision that is based on the values of the company.

The article also reveals that fewer people are willing to pay a green premium (a "greenium" maybe?) this year compared to last. Not surprising given the economy and the rising prices of gasoline and other things.

In the podcast, I playfully asked our guest expert if green business was the new low carb diet in terms of hype. While I do feel that green business will (and should) always be a growing interest, I'm not sure it can sustain the media coverage it gets today. Could the statistics from the above linked article mean that the current economic challenges, if sustained, could be the death of green hype?

Regardless, green procurement is here to stay. So get on board and get started if you haven't already! I think that the article, podcast, and this post can help you get through the introductory steps successfully.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Bellwether Software Sponsors The Purchasing Certification Blog

2008-07-10T15:12:00.003-05:00

I am pleased to announce that Bellwether Software has signed on as a sponsor of the Purchasing Certification Blog for our three-month trial of sponsorships.

Since 1985, Bellwether Software has offered automated procurement/spend management solutions for all types and sizes of companies. It now offers a web-enabled version of its Purchasing Management software, called ePMX.

While its customers include household names like Avon Products, Inc. and Casual Male Retail Group, Bellwether also does well in the mid-sized company niche serving colleges, credit unions, hotels, and more similarly-sized organizations. Bellwether claims that one of its competitive advantages is its affordability and, based on their success among the non-Fortune 500, that's likely to be true.

You'll notice the Bellwether image up at the top right of this blog. Clicking on that will allow you to download their Purchasing Automation Evaluation Guide - something worth having in your educational files.

So please join me in welcoming Bellwether Software as a sponsor!

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Supply Excellence Is The Aerosmith Of Purchasing Blogs

2008-07-10T07:59:00.003-05:00

OK, OK. For those of you who don't know Aerosmith (Really? You don't know Aerosmith?), they were one of the most successful rock bands of the 1970's.

Then, once the 1980's rolled around, they sort of dropped out of the public eye due to member changes, other problems, and music that didn't quite compare favorably with their earlier material. Many observers thought Aerosmith was done.

But around came 1987 and, surprisingly, they became hugely successful again with a slightly different sound but great quality music that endures today.

What's that I hear? "I thought I was reading a purchasing blog. Did I type in the wrong URL?"

Well, there is a similar situation in our field.

Supply Excellence was always one of my favorite blogs from a few years ago. Penned by Tim Minahan, then of Procuri, Supply Excellence always featured easy-and-fun-to-read, insightful, and witty commentary on current issues in the profession.

Then Ariba bought Procuri.

The once daily blog posts came to a near standstill. Eventually, the blogging picked up, but rather than by Minahan, it was done by Ariba's category specialists. And they announced a blog editor - eeewwww, how corporate!

I admit it. I was ready to stick the proverbial fork in Supply Excellence.

But steadily, the blogging got more frequent. And better. Now, today, Supply Excellence has re-emerged as one of the best purchasing blogs out there.

Most of the posts are written by category experts and offer great category-specific advice. And Mr. Minahan even posts from time to time, giving us fans a welcome dose of his expertise and wit.

Believe it. Supply Excellence is back.

And they have a hit record in my book.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

One Technique, $2 Million In Savings?

2008-07-09T08:31:00.002-05:00

Yes, you read that right.

One of our recent graduates of the Senior Professional in Supply Management^® Program has reported that by applying just one technique that he learned in the process of earning his SPSM^® Certification, he was able to save his employer $2 million. Here's his video success story...

For more videos about SPSM's and their successes, please visit our SPSM^® Certification Success Stories page.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

The Purchasing Certification Blog Will Introduce A New Sponsor This Week

2008-07-07T14:31:00.004-05:00

Yes, you've read that right. We're going to be trying out sponsorships of this blog beyond just Next Level Purchasing.

I was hesitant about the idea at first, but the upcoming sponsor convinced me to at least give it a try for three months. Whether we continue to accept sponsorships will be determined in large part by you, the reader, and whether click-throughs to NextLevelPurchasing.com are affected.

During this three-month trial period, we will accept up to four new sponsors. If you provide products or services of interest to purchasing professionals and are interested in exploring a sponsorship during this period, please contact us for more information.

It is my hope that perhaps some of you will find a beneficial new vendor that you may not have heard of otherwise.

Let's see how it goes...

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM Certfication Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Podcast Series Heating Up!

2008-07-03T14:00:00.003-05:00

This week, we launched a new edition of the Purchasing & Supply Management Podcast Series called "Cost Savings: From Potential To Actual." I hope you like these podcasts because there are more to come!

I just recorded one today and have another recording scheduled for July 18. Watch PurchTips and this blog for the formal releases!

The Next Level Purchasing offices will be closed tomorrow, July 4, in honor of Independence Day - a USA holiday. I hope that all of you in the USA enjoy your day off.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Interests Rule In Negotiation

2008-07-02T15:22:00.003-05:00

I only have time for a quick post here, but it is worth doing while it is on my mind.

Today, I was shocked to hear that a recent star in the Pittsburgh Penguins' playoff run, Marian Hossa, signed with the Detroit Red Wings.

What's the shocking part?

It was a ONE-YEAR deal!

Most players in their prime, as Hossa is, try to get the longest term deal possible in addition to the most money. And, according to this article, the Penguins offered Hossa a 5-year deal...then a 6-year deal...then a 7-year deal, all for similar money, all to no avail.

This is a classic case of a negotiation failing because one party's true interests weren't addressed. Hossa's interests are best summed up by his quote in the aforementioned article: "I want to have a best chance to win the Stanley Cup. I feel like Detroit is the team."

I'm not saying that the Penguins failed to address these interests verbally...I don't know...perhaps Hossa had his mind made up about Detroit and doesn't feel bullish on the Pens' immediate future. But I wonder if the Penguins stressed in the negotiation their commitment to winning by having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin - arguably 2 of the 3 best players in the league, and not yet in their primes - signed to long-term deals as a way of persuading Hossa to stay.

Detroit knew Hossa's interests. So they got him for a lower price and terms more favorable to them.

Hossa's agent probably pushed for a longer term deal and more money. But I bet Detroit knew they had want Hossa wanted, held their ground, and ended up with a pretty good deal.

Who sees a parallel with purchasing?

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

SPSM Certification Celebrates 4th Anniversary

2008-07-01T13:35:00.002-05:00

Today was a special day here at Next Level Purchasing - the 4th anniversary of the SPSM^® Certification!

In four years, the SPSM^® Certification has reached heights we only dreamed of just a few years ago. As of today, employers from over 70 countries have enrolled their purchasing professionals in the Senior Professional in Supply Management^® Program.

The SPSM^® is truly the global standard for purchasing certifications. Imitated, but certainly not duplicated.

One of the ways that we are commemorating this occasion is today's launch of the new SPSM^® logo. Check it out in the top right of this blog.

Another way I'll commemorate this occasion is by following my tradition of using the first blog posting of the month to honor the countries that have seen their first SPSM's crowned in the previous month. In June, we awarded the first SPSM^® Certifications to purchasing professionals in Turkey and the Ukraine.

If you think we've accomplished a lot in four years, just wait...we have several big announcements for you later in 2008. I should stop now before I leak any more hints.

So, I'll close with a special thank you for all of our students and their employers throughout the world. Your trust in us has helped us grow tremendously to this point and put us on quite a trajectory for the foreseeable future.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Cost Savings Potential

2008-06-30T10:32:00.002-05:00

I hope that you have enjoyed the article "Cost Savings: From Potential To Actual."

In my years in the field, I've definitely seen an evolution of purchasing-driven cost savings. Cost savings are often recorded when a contract is signed and, as such, are only estimates. The evolution has followed this path:

1. Purchasing department doesn't achieve cost savings

2. Purchasing department implements a contract poised to produce cost savings, management is surprised, but nothing is formally recorded

3. Purchasing department implements a contract poised to produce cost savings and records cost savings, but definitions of cost savings are not formal or defensible

4. Purchasing department implements a contract poised to produce cost savings and tries to apply strict standards to the recording thereof

5. Purchasing department implements a contract poised to produce cost savings, applies strict standards to the recording thereof, and compares estimated cost savings with actual cost savings at the end of a period

6. Purchasing department implements a contract poised to produce cost savings, applies strict standards to the recording thereof, and tracks the actual vs. estimated cost savings often throughout the life of the contract

7. Purchasing department implements a contract poised to produce cost savings, applies strict standards to the recording thereof, tracks the actual vs. estimated cost savings often throughout the life of the contract, and takes all actions necessary to ensure that actual cost savings equal estimated cost savings.

This article and the accompanying podcast, featuring Paladin Associates' VP Barbara Ardell, provide strategies to enable you to reach this latest stage in the cost savings evolution. The profession needs you get there!

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

New SPSM Logo Launches on Tuesday!

2008-06-28T10:08:00.002-05:00

Tuesday is the four-year anniversary of the SPSM^® Certification. One of the ways that we'll be commemorating the occasion is by launching the new SPSM^® Certification logo.

The logo, which was just finished yesterday, is pretty darn sweet looking and was created to further increase the sense of pride that purchasing professionals can have by earning the SPSM^®. And, in procuring the design services, we applied many principles from our PurchTips articles as well as some purchasing principles that we have yet to share.

Needless to say, they worked perfectly.

Keep watching this blog for the official launch!

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Differences In Certifications

2008-06-27T13:14:00.003-05:00

When you put your certification credentials (e.g., SPSM) on your resume, an employer will likely make a judgement about what that means about you as a candidate.

Are you skilled? Or did you just simply pass a test? The employer's perception of the certification may influence how many points having that certification scores for you in his/her evaluation.

There are certifications where you must complete training and pass a test. These certifications should be more valuable than others that simply require passing a test.

If you've earned a certification requiring training, you should use this as a selling point in your interview. You should stress how that certification can give the employer the confidence that you have the skills to successfully deliver results, as opposed to simply the knowledge required to pass an exam (which you have as well).

Food for thought if you encounter an employer who isn't sure about the value of a certification...

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Tough Negotiating: What's The Worst That Can Happen?

2008-06-25T22:44:00.003-05:00

I've been going through some old notes on negotiation and came across some materials from a negotiation retreat that a former employer sent me and many of my co-workers to in the '90's.

At that time, I was working for an employer that had an alliance with a British company. So our Head of Purchasing and our top Purchasing Director were actually employees of the British company.

They liked to preach the "British style" of negotiating. And the culture dictated that Brits negotiate with a lot of emotion.

They sent us to the aforementioned negotiation retreat where the training was being conducted by a couple of British consultants. One of the acronyms that was introduced during this session was NIGYYSOB.

NIGYYSOB?

Yeah, they said it stood for "Now I've got you, you son of a b**ch." You gotta love the Brits, huh?

OK, I know, it's weird.

But the concept was that you should be careful not to have your supplier hate you too much when a negotiation concludes - along the same lines as the "be hard on the problem, not the person" and "help your counterpart save face" tactics mentioned in the book "Getting To Yes" (or was it "Getting Past No?" Anyway...). Inspiring too much hate, they posited, would manifest itself in some way of your counterpart getting back at you (either personally or in business dealings) when it's an opportune time.

They proceeded to tell a true story of how a buyer was always tough in a personal way with a certain supplier's salesperson over a period of years. Then, one day during a tough negotiation, the salesperson stands up and punches the buyer in the face, breaking his jaw.

As the buyer slouches in his chair with blood pouring from his mouth, the salesperson smiles and says "I've wanted to do that for 10 years." The salesperson then exited the building and retired that same day.

Fortunately, that's never happened to me. I did think it was going to happen to a boss of mine one time, though...

My boss had responsibility for some categories and the folks at my level had responsibility for others. One day, my boss (let's call him Rajeev) was complaining about there being a lot of maverick buying for one of his categories and said that he was going to ask our contracted supplier's president to remove the rep (let's call him Jody) from our account.

Jody had been working our account for something like 10 years. Rajeev told me that he thought that Jody "intimidated" the admins because he was a "big guy" and they didn't like him for that reason.

So Rajeev told Jody's company's president. I'm not sure what he told the president (probably not the "intimidating big guy" rationale), but Jody was not only removed from the account - he was fired completely (we were a pretty big customer)!

Jody was crushed and ended up being admitted into a mental institution due to his self-destructive devastation. I'm not sure if he became suicidal or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. Sadly, I don't think that Rajeev felt one bit of regret.

I kept fearing Jody coming into our offices and going postal or one day finding my boss in a nearby dumpster. There was an aura of wrongness in our department for some time after that.

There is a line in being a tough negotiator. When you cross that line, it's good for no one.

Ever heard the expression "It's nothing personal, it's just business?"

It's wrong.

It's all personal when someone's career and future can be affected by the outcome.

Just ask Jody or the broken-jawed buyer's salesperson.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Guest Blogging, Anyone?

2008-06-24T01:11:00.002-05:00

In my recent "LinkedIn-related" post, I offered a commenter the opportunity to submit a guest blog on a purchasing and supply management topic. And that got me thinking...

Maybe it would be a good thing to open up this forum to other voices in the field on occasion.

So, if you're interested, leave a comment below with an email address and a topic that you may have some insight on. To avoid your address being automatically harvested by spam, replace your @ with [at] and the . with [dot].

I'm looking forward to welcoming your voice to the Purchasing Certification Blog.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

The Spend Fool Unmasked? An Ulterior Motive Behind False Accusations?

2008-06-22T10:52:00.003-05:00

Watch this blog this week for more. That's all I'll say for now.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

LinkedIn Can Hurt Your Career, Too

2008-06-19T14:15:00.004-05:00

Maybe the title of this post is misleading. It's really the misuse of LinkedIn that can hurt your career, not LinkedIn itself.

Everyone is touting LinkedIn as the best professional thing since sliced bread. But there is a such thing as too much information. And LinkedIn can allow you to provide too much information.

Here's a real life situation...

A few months ago, I was recruiting for our Business Development Manager position here at Next Level Purchasing. After an excruciating round of phone interviews, I had narrowed it down to two top candidates and a dark horse candidate.

I conducted an in-person interview with one of the top two, who had previously provided me with a link to his LinkedIn profile. I was kind of impressed by his LinkedIn profile. He had a lot of information on there - including lots of recommendations - and his usage of it made me feel like he was technologically savvy which I liked being that our purchasing training is all technologically delivered.

He continued to impress me in his in-person interview. I was seriously considering him.

The next day - a day on which I had an interview scheduled with the other top candidate - the first candidate sent me a follow up email. In this email, he really tried to "close the deal."

He wrote: "I'd like to take a moment to point out that I have 34 professional references from clients, partners, colleagues and managers. Every client that I have landed in my current position has taken the time [on LinkedIn] to recommend doing business with me. That's something to be proud of."

"Wow," I thought. "That is something to be proud of."

Then, I thought, "Wait. I'm not so sure about that."

In my head, I pictured this guy working for Next Level Purchasing and harassing all of our customers for references that they don't really have time to write. I thought that this guy may use his job opportunities selfishly for personal gain.

Then, I interviewed the other top candidate. Yes, the guy impressed me on the phone previously. But in person, he blew me away!

So as this second candidate incredibly enhanced my perception of him, all I could think about the first guy was his addiction to LinkedIn and the potential of him making the acquisition of LinkedIn references a higher priority than actually doing his job. Linked In, LinkedIn, LinkedIn.

Who did I hire? Not "The LinkedIn Guy."

And it has worked out extremely well.

As I was writing this, I thought about going to The LinkedIn Guy's profile to see if he found a new job but then I remembered him telling me he knew when I was looking at his profile and how much time I spent on it. That's creepy.

No, I don't hate LinkedIn. I'm on there myself. But, like a lot of things, things can be used and things can be misused. The results will tell the story.

Use LinkedIn wisely, my friends.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

It's Never The Vendor's Fault

2008-06-18T14:33:00.003-05:00

Here's a piece of advice that, if followed, will make you a better purchasing professional: adopt the philosophy "If it's the vendor's fault, it's really my fault."

You pick your vendors. You manage your vendors. So you need to be responsible for your vendors.

It is a pet peeve of mine when companies blame their vendors when they fail to fulfill their obligations to their customers. As if they totally absolve themselves of responsibility.

In the last 10 days, I've had two experiences like this that I thought were interesting and/or funny enough to share.

First, I decided to take my kids to a Pittsburgh Pirates' baseball game. One of the factors in choosing the day that they went was their promotion for that day: a slick looking Freddy Sanchez jersey for kids 12 and under.

When we got to the game, a Pirates representative handed my kids a cheap looking Freddy Sanchez t-shirt along with this card:

Note the first line: "Due to a delay on the part of our vendor..." Finger-pointing at its finest. Or worst.

Then, today...I was planning on working through lunch. Walking distance from our office is a Unimart that serves surprisingly good pizza. So I decided to go there.

I walk up to the counter where their pizza display is and...no pizza. I ask if they have pizza and they tell me there will be no pizza today.

OK, I'll get one of their cheeseburgers instead. There are mustard packets but no ketchup. I'll ask about that later.

Then I go to their beverage coolers. Not a single bottle of water.

OK, Sprite will work.

So I go to check out. I ask about the ketchup. The cashier says that they have ketchup packets and excuses herself to go find them. She returns and says they have no ketchup.

I start a joking rant about them having nothing. The cashier interrupts me to say "We don't have any bags, is that OK?"

At this point, I am laughing quite hysterically. The manager comes out and says "We don't have anything, but it's not our fault." I ask what he means and he says "Such-and-Such Company (I don't recall the name) hasn't delivered in four weeks. I have their customer service number, do you want to call them?"

I said that that's his problem, not mine, but he may want to talk to the people across the street (Next Level Purchasing) about getting some training about how to manage their vendors...

Again, if it's the vendor's fault, it's really your fault.

Treat your work like this and your vendors will perform better. You will be inspired to defend your pride to yourself.

Don't take the "Unimart Manager" approach to vendor management.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Services Procurement

2008-06-16T09:55:00.002-05:00

I hope that you have enjoyed the article "Purchasing Services: The Pitfalls, Part II." If you haven't been a PurchTips subscriber for that long, you can find Part I (from 2006) here.

For many purchasers, buying services after a career of buying goods can be nervewracking. Maybe it's just me, but I've always found that managing a services procurement requires much deeper analysis to feel confident that your selected service provider will perform as needed.

So that's what these two articles are about: reducing risk and disappointments in service procurements.

As I alluded to in Part II, I recommend lenghty discussions between yourself and the service provider's top management before making your final decision. In addition to the questions included in Part II, I like to ask about how things are handled when things go off track to get management talking.

What will it be like if I don't hear from the key person by the time a deliverable is due?

Will I have to be the "squeaky wheel" to get things done?

After how many occurrences of late deliverables do you think that we should treat the engagement as having problems?

What type of situations would make you want to assign a new key person to our account?

Again, asking these types questions in person will go a long way towards truly understanding how much of a priority you will be to your new service provider. You can't distill this stuff onto a spreadsheet. But with experience, you will be able to identify red flags that can help you identify service providers that may pose more risk than their competitors.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

Purchasing Podcasts on Foneshow.com

2008-06-12T15:14:00.002-05:00

At Next Level Purchasing, one of our goals is to make it as easy as possible for purchasing professionals like you to learn. And I'd like to introduce our newest way of helping you learn easily...

You may know that we've been publishing free purchasing podcasts for about two years now. A podcast is a digital audio file that you can listen to on your computer, download to your iPod or MP3 player, or burn to a CD.

Those are convenient options for learning for many people. However, if you're not one of those people who it is convenient for, you don't have to miss out any more!

We now have our podcasts available on Foneshow.com. Foneshow allows you to:

Subscribe to a podcast series
Be notified by text message whenever there is a new podcast added to the series you've subscribed to
Dial in and listen to the podcast right from your cell phone!

So, if you don't have an iPod or MP3 player but you do have a cell phone with cheap/free text messaging and plenty of (long distance) minutes and your only available time is while you're on the go (e.g., waiting for your kid to be done with ballet lessons, baseball practice, etc.), then using Foneshow to listen to the Purchasing & Supply Management Podcast Series might be the right option for you!

Here's a link to the Purchasing & Supply Management Podcast Series on Foneshow. And here's a link to the series on our site.

Regardless of the method of delivery, I hope that you find value for your purchasing career in these podcasts.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

A Great Purchasing Question

2008-06-10T22:21:00.005-05:00

On his purchasing.com blog, Richard Weissman asked a question that was so simple and direct yet so thought provoking that I had to repost the question and my response here.

Richard writes "Imagine that you found a magic lamp and a genie appeared. Rather than Barbara Eden, it was a supply chain genie. (You can pick your own image at this point.) Anyway, this genie gives you one wish: 'If you could select the trait of the perfect supplier, what would it be?'"

I replied that "[t]here's so much we all expect from our suppliers that it is hard to distill it to one wish. So to overgeneralize, my response is... A commitment to keep its promises."

And, if you think about it, without broken supplier promises, purchasing jobs would be much easier. Because we can be skilled at gathering market intelligence, sourcing, qualifying suppliers, negotiating a great deal, writing an iron-clad contract, and measuring supplier performance but, if our suppliers fail to keep their promises, then we can still be pulling our hair out at the end of the day.

Yes, it's up to us to use our skills to identify and predict the suppliers most likely to keep their promises. But there's never truly 100% certainty that there won't be a hiccup.

When you think about how important the keeping of promises is, I think that our side (purchasing and supply management) needs to keep our promises as well. This may mean forgoing that reverse auction after the second year of a three-year contract.

Because if we can't keep our promises, we're going to have a harder time attracting a supply base that always will.

And, for the sake of both our blood pressure and the success of our companies, we need a supply base that keeps its promises!

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

SPSM Exam Sets New Integrity Standard

2008-06-09T21:00:00.002-05:00

Here at Next Level Purchasing today, we launched a new approach to administering the SPSM^® Exam that will serve to further strengthen the SPSM^® Certification's already strong reputation as a challenging measurement of purchasing proficiency.

Internationally, a standard practice for certification providers is to have multiple versions of certification exams in order to maintain the integrity of the testing process. Since Day 1 of the SPSM^® Exam, we had that.

But today we implemented some new programming that randomizes the order of the questions on each version of the SPSM^® Exam. Therefore, no two exams will realistically ever have the same combination of questions in the same order.

This is consistent with our founding philosophy with the SPSM^® Certification: to give employers the assurance that those who have earned the SPSM^® are truly the "cream of the crop" - professionals who have truly earned their certification without taking any shortcuts or receiving any special accommodations. Employers value SPSM's and SPSM's benefit from that fact.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com

SPSM Certification Reaches 3 New Countries

2008-06-06T09:15:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of each new month, I dedicate a post to updating you on the new countries where a purchasing professional has become the first in his/her country to earn the SPSM^® Certification. So here are the three new countries from May...

1. England
2. Colombia
3. Ecuador

One surprise is England. Though we have many purchasers from England enrolled in the Senior Professional in Supply Management^® Program, it has taken our friends from across the pond a little longer to get through the program and earn their SPSM's. Of course, the program is a self-paced one, so purchasing professionals are welcome to complete the requirements as quickly or as deliberately as they would like.

One item of note: I only started posting these updates recently. So you won't be able to find all countries where their are SPSM-certified purchasers on this blog. I'm saving that for a big milestone we have coming up...

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
Struggling To Have A Rewarding Purchasing Career?
Earn Your SPSM^® Certification Online At
http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com