The Chain Gang Lives ....

VPI the Chain … Part One

The world of buying and selling today is far more complex than it was a few years ago.

For one thing we now embrace the complete process as a “Supply Chain” which it literally is. In the past we tended to elevate the Buyer and Outside sales Reps as kingpins; essentially leaving Accounting, Shipping and Receiving, Logistics, Expediting and the Originator out of the loop.

Yet still, we tend to forget sometimes that our role in this buying/selling exchange really is a link chain structure. We may even fall victim to the mentality that WE are the chain … the only link that matters. Covid has humbled us all.

So allow me to disillusion you a little further as I offer a perspective others may be too timid to express. No matter who you are, you are a link … a cog in a machine and the sooner you realize­­ this, the sooner your sales and reputation will improve. You may be a top seller for your company and yet be loathed by your customer. It may have absolutely nothing to do with you personally. And the time will come when you are history with that client, a bad memory fading into oblivion. OEM or not, Buyers are tired of unacceptable service. And there are always alternatives.

If I sound jaded or cynical there is good reason. After spending 30+ years in the procurement realm in manufacturing and heavy industry I have seen a great deal of poor service and lost opportunity … in both the purchasing and the selling arenas.

Weak links are everywhere and technology is exposing these potentially fatal failures daily.

The Buyer is no longer the linchpin in maintaining control and identifying supplier performance weaknesses. The new kid in town rode in on a horse called “Software” saddlebags filled with data reporting tools called VPI’s and other deadly Performance targeting acronyms.

The sheriff is a computer but the gunslinger is the kid with fast draw who can pull a report on your failings so fast it will make your head spin. For you older sales gurus this analogy will make sense. To the new kids on the block I don’t have to tell you about how quickly and accurately software can analyze any field of company performance.

Neither is the Outside Sales Rep the critical juncture of a sale that leads to a long term relationship.

The point is this.

Buyers are purchasing tools to advise them how poorly their suppliers are performing. They must in today’s market. Poor performance by vendors cost their clients’ time and money with no end to headaches and stress.

And why shouldn’t they? They have paid for a product or a service because they had a direct and actual need.

Here are just a few areas the new VPI software may measure…

· Compliance Rate.

· Back Orders, Late Shipments, T&C variances…

· Available Alternative Suppliers.

· Purchase Order Cycle Time.

· Supplier Availability.

· Supplier Defect Rate.

· Lead Time.

· Cost of Purchase Order.

· Procurement Cost Reduction.

These are a few features on the VPI reports to be aware of. The point is, are you prepared to address this depth of scrutiny?

My job is to assist you with this. Yu may believe you know your customer. I can tell you that you probably don’t. Oh you know what the buyer tells you but this is usually only half of it. He/she deals with dozens of sales folk in a day. Delving into your company interdepartmental shortfalls isn’t even on their radar. It’s easier to purchase from your competitor who isn’t so problematic.

At Supply Chain Risk Management, they recognize your dilemma and know how to address the problem(s). You may not even know what they are. The company offers workshops designed to target the precise issues causing your customers grief by going to the source. Having received little feedback from your customer you may believe you are the model supplier. Don’t kid yourself. Your customer will rarely call you up and complain unless it is a plant down problem and by then your name is mud anyway. Get ready to become a churn statistic.

Contact us for more information if you are really serious about learning what your clients expect of you. You have a couple of options.

(1) We can act as a consultant on your behalf and work with your major clients to identify where they are experiencing problems related to your working relationship with them. (Lol. Believe me, they exist….)

For exclusive, direct intervention contact us at:

Performance@gmail.com

And

(2) you can attend or send your sales reps (inside and out) to any number of our Supply Chain Workshops. Obviously this is the least expensive (usually about $179./person) Locations will be posted on our website. www.supplychainperformance.ca