Shopping – love it or hate it – when you’re building something, there is often an awful lot of it to be done. With the average material spend on a job being around 46% of the cost, is your business making the most out of your purchasing decisions?
Making smart purchasing decisions results in financially positive outcomes: get a good deal on your materials and you can unlock further profits for your business. Or, if you are trying to secure the work, you can shop around for the best prices and increase the competitiveness of your quote and, in turn, the chances of winning the job.
And the positive effects don’t stop there, by having exactly what you need on site when you actually need it means you can stick to your schedule. It also ensures your labour force (that other big expense on a job!) is able to get on with their work. No more ‘nipping off’ to find a local merchant to pick up a pack of £10 nails that, after all the malarkey, can end up costing you in excess of £100 when you take into account fuel, vehicle wear and tear, the men left on site standing about waiting for them and the wages of the worker who ventured out… very expensive nails indeed! Too many episodes like that and you’re going to be pulling yours out along with your hair…
Shopping, buying, purchasing, sourcing, whatever you want to call it, can often end up at the bottom of the list or be arranged hastily – after all, in order to buy smart, you need that all-important luxury: time. Shopping around and pressing suppliers for the most competitive deal is the only way to ensure you get the best price. It prevents the price creeping up, which can happen if you always go to supplier X, and ensures that you are aware of what the best deal actually is. Doing it early before you need the goods will result in a smooth running, well organised job. The odds of something not going to plan on a building job are really stacked against you and there are many things that are beyond your control; your supply chain doesn’t need to be one of them.
This guide will enable you to make the most out of your purchasing decisions:
• Get organised – don’t leave things to the last minute, if you buy under pressure and need things yesterday your buying power will be reduced and your supplier will be calling the shots
• You need choice to make a smart decision – always get at least four, if not six, quotes for your materials
• Ensure that your suppliers are actually quoting on a like for like basis
• Negotiate, if your preferred merchant isn’t giving you the most competitive price get on the phone and tell them; they want your business and if they don’t or can’t compete you have the information that will enable you to go elsewhere
• Top tip: splitting the order over more than one merchant can save you a great deal of money
• Create purchase orders; if there is a problem on price or delivery these are essential for working out who is responsible for the mistake.
If you have read the above and thought “yes, I can see that makes sense but you are not living in the real world, how can I do all of that? I just don’t have the time…”
At Easy Price Pro, we have a program that has been designed to do all of the above and more, it’s called Easy Order Ultra and it could be the answer you or your purchasing department have been looking for. It will take the hassle out of shopping around and seriously reduce the amount of time you need to do it. With a few clicks you can email your material quote to as many merchants as you want, the quotes you receive will all look the same and be laid out in the same order so at a glance you can see if they are like for like.
Better still, with a few more clicks you can compare up to six quotes, instantly seeing the most cost-effective way to purchase. And, the cherry on the cake, ready-made purchase orders that can be printed off or emailed to your merchant straight from the program – so even if you split the order, you can ensure that nothing gets left out or forgotten.The Easy Order Ultra program works with our easy to use estimating programs so, if you are estimating with us, in just a few clicks you can bring the material list for your quote into Easy Order. All materials required for the entire job or just the selected stage will be there, ready to email to your merchants. To learn more or to see the program in action please call 0845 612 47 47 or visit our website www.easypricepro.com
