In a recent article, I analysed how important the help of a business consultant is in the process of relaunching and improving the sales department of your company
Strengthening and supporting salespeople, developing the marketing and advertising network, collecting and using data and optimising the offer are just some of the activities mentioned for which the assistance of a consultant can really help.
Today, I want to look at another department that is just as important as sales, and just as relevant, when choosing where to direct the intervention of an external consultant: the purchasing department.
If it is essential to maximise the profits obtained from the sale of products and services offered, it is equally important to optimise the costs at which you buy raw materials, machinery and any other type of resource from your suppliers: in the end, saving money is not so different from earning money, is it?
As with many other aspects of your business that I have already covered in my previous articles, the key to success when it comes to purchasing is to be able to rely on the skills needed not only to solve specific problems in the short term, but to design a real long-term strategy that will drive your business to success. To do this, if you do not have the right skills within your team, the most cost-effective solution and at the same time the quickest possible return on investment is to hire an external consultant.
Your consultant will start with an initial analysis and study of the current state of your purchasing department: he will identify the most critical areas and will be able to prioritise those that require more immediate intervention. This analysis, which is a fundamental and indispensable starting point for any activity of improvement and transformation of a company branch, will involve you at 360 degrees, and will only be effective if you and the consultant you have turned to are able to work together, remaining open to accepting the other’s vision and taking it into account when implementing the strategies that seem most appropriate to you.
Once the first preliminary analysis has been completed, it is time to redesign the procurement process and department, in whole or in part, depending on the data collected, with the aim of maximising efficiency and stability. For example, the team members to be involved in the transformation project should be identified and given more responsibility, both during the consultancy and once it is over. Once the tasks and responsibilities of each member of the team involved in the procurement department have been established, the consultant will support you in coordinating and supervising the activities of each, monitoring the results obtained, assessing each time whether they are consistent with expectations and, if not, understanding where the problem lies and how to solve it.
After assessing and optimising your company’s internal resources, your consultant will be instrumental in carrying out the same type of process, but this time focusing on suppliers. Choosing the right suppliers is a fundamental aspect that often requires the right time and expertise to be optimised. Again, you will need to analyse all the options available to you and choose those that provide the best performance at the most cost-effective price.
Another aspect in which a business consultant will be able to help you improve your purchasing department is support in the definition of supply and purchase contracts and in the choice of the right software to support your team. Today, in a world that is moving more and more towards the digitalisation of businesses, there are numerous tools that can optimise the management of your supply chain, providing, in the most interesting cases, almost total automation of your raw material acquisition process. Depriving yourself of these tools could mean depriving yourself of many opportunities that a business consultant can help you to seize.
Finally, your consultant will also be able to support you personally in specific negotiations, especially those that are important and relevant to your business, using his or her expertise to help you get better deals, optimise costs and increase operating margins.
In this article, I wanted to give you an overview of how a business consultant can really help you to revolutionise your purchasing department, in the same way as I have already mentioned for the sales department. During the consultancy, if you work with the right professionals, you will be able to establish all the strategies that your business needs, reducing, even significantly, costs and maximising earnings, thus greatly increasing your economic power, which you can then devote to new investments to transform your business into the activity you have always dreamed of.