A “Three-Legged Stool” Approach to Optimizing Indirect Spend
As any procurement professional who’s managed indirect categories will tell you, the relative spend is not equal to the relative headaches. To optimally manage the most burdensome indirect categories—e.g., uniform rental, waste & recycling, pest control, security & guard services, and energy & utilities—an equally complex approach is required. [...]
Who’s Managing These Tail Spend Expenses, Anyway?
We’ve frequently discussed in recent years how leaned out procurement departments are increasingly vulnerable to attack by their indirect suppliers, on a range of fronts. Perhaps the most acute vulnerability facing these departments in 2023 is the inability to engage in any sort of actual expense management whatsoever, especially [...]
Contract Security Services, Part II: How can I fight back against rising costs and worsening service quality to get what I pay for?
Within contract security services, rising costs and lowering service quality are a curious contradiction to the established adage, You Get What You Pay For. In Part I of this two-part series, we examined the “why” behind the rising costs and lowering quality. Now let’s get into what you, as a customer of security services, can do about it. [...]
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Contract Security Services, Part I: Why are my costs rising so much while service quality is worsening?
As a consumer of contract security services, you may feel like the old adage, You Get What You Pay For, has been turned upside down. If your company is like many others around the country, the quality of service you’ve been receiving from your security vendor has been dramatically decreasing, while your costs have been increasing—probably significantly. [...]
Inflation or padded profits? As suppliers levy excessive price increases, defend your bottom line
It is unmistakably correct that indirect suppliers are viewing real inflation as a margin-grabbing opportunity. What, then, can vulnerable buyers do to defend their bottom lines in these times? [...]
The Emergence of Hostile Supplier Behaviors & What to Do About It
Growing imbalance in the supplier / customer relationship is creating critical vulnerabilities for procurement organizations [...]
Position Rate Variances: How Your Security Vendor’s Payroll System Can Impact Your P&L
Picture this: You are the category manager responsible for your organization’s contract security program and security cost reduction. Your current security contract is approaching the end of its three-year term, […]
Scary Supplier Practices
Supplier-driven events that negatively impact your cost-savings efforts in indirect categories—with a spooky twist. [...]
A New Security Contract is Not Enough: Changing Your Company’s Security Culture
Your security program is intended to protect your employees, facilities, property, data, operations, and business continuity. One component of that security program is your contracted relationship with your security vendor. […]
Expert Q&A: Why is Security Such a Maddening Expense?
We recently caught up with Bob Schreiner, Fine Tune’s Vice President of Security & Guard Services, on why security is such a challenging and maddening expense for procurement. Q: What makes […]