Help suppliers to help you

Taking part in the Job Swap (see page 24) was fascinating. Not only did it show the approach suppliers take with buyers, it also demonstrated the extent of mutual misunderstanding over roles, motives and processes between vendors and procurement professionals.

As you will see from the piece,

For the Reuters buyer, there was genuine surprise that submitted bids may actually be the lowest and there isn't always "wiggle room" on the figures.

And for the suppliers the message is: "If we understood your business more we can help you. Not just with the problems you have today, but by grasping your plans, we can help you deal with them in the future."

Of course, this may just be construed as code for "sell you more things". But on the assumption buyers will continue to need goods and services and that they don't purchase things they don't need, is that such a bad thing? Should buyers, to coin a phrase, "open the kimono" a bit, and help suppliers help them?

If this case is representative - and I believe it is - then suppliers are desperate to know what buyers are thinking and how they can improve their offering. There may be a concern that information buyers reveal could be used subsequently as a negotiating tool but, equally, vendors might be able to help you by applying knowledge acquired through existing relationships with other purchasers.

Plainly this won't apply to all suppliers and this kind of transformation can't be introduced overnight. And the extent of what can be revealed will depend on individual purchasing departments. But given all those caveats, isn't it at least worth trying? What's the worst that can happen?