PURCHASING: LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTER

Most of my adult working life has been in sales of one form or another.  But there was a time I was officially a buyer.  Due to downsizing I was unemployed for awhile when Len, my brother in law had a maternity leave for an advertising media buyer.  I was grateful for the opportunity, but it required a bit of an adjustment--after all I would now be on the other side of the counter!

At first I was probably more sympathetic of sales people and listened to more of them for longer than my predecessor.  After awhile though I began to be annoyed.  There are only so many minutes in a work day and there are other chores for a buyer such as processing orders, reporting on them and listening to the requests of my superiors with lots of details to worry about.  Also I couldn't help but notice that they all claimed to be the best and implied that if I was really doing my job I would buy from them.  There is only so much money and always the buyer has a different perspective than the seller.

I did appreciate sales reps who actually pointed out things I didn't know or that expanded my awareness. Some were understanding of my situation, but most were a steady stream of why I should buy from them.

Needing help I enrolled in a night course for Purchasing at Mohawk College.  There I met the instructor Laura and anticipated a lot of how to beat the sales person rhetoric.  Wrong!  Sales people can provide useful information.  Sales people can troubleshoot.  You can negotiate with most good sales reps. Some of them are nice.

A more specific fear was that the goal of a buyer is to force down the prices.  Naturally sales people are hired to maximize profit and on the other hand buyers are hired to minimize expenses to maximize profits.  Laura pointed out a fair price is one that allows the seller to make enough profit that they can stay in business and provide support service.  If the seller feels they are not making enough profit they will stop negotiating.

The goal of purchasing is similar to that of selling.  To be more efficient and effective at doing a function that is important to a business.  Lots of details to do the job.  Purchasing is concerned about timeliness, value, storage, transportation, billing, credit.  Getting the right product and/or service to get the job done with the optimal profit.

Learned about the concept of just in time delivery, mastered by Walmart.  Cuts down on storage costs, interest paid and even labour expense.

As I have been told by some sales books the ideal is a win-win situation where both sides feel they got what they wanted.

 

Some blogs on my selling career:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/06/working-with-pet-retailers-part-1.html  

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/10/my-career-selling-office-supplies.html 

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/07/salemans-introspection-as-buyer.html

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/10/using-data-bases-for-selling-part-one.html 

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/03/applications-in-selling.html

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/01/my-most-unusual-way-to-make-money.html 

 

Some thoughts on Ayn Rand

The recent nomination of Paul Ryan as the Republican candidate for Vice President has reminded me of one of my youthful literary escapades.  In my twenties I bought a copy of Ayn Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness."

I read it a few times, underlining many passages.  I was quite struck by many of her arguments and have retained some respect even today.  Essentially she argues that if everyone pursues their selfish interests it is best for society.  For instance, my example, if enough people with enough money want to drive a car then there will be jobs for people making cars.  The system falls down when someone decides that we have too many cars and people should buy bicycles instead.  This causes unhappiness:  those making a living making cars lose their jobs and those who want to drive cars are frustrated.   I am reminded of a quote of Zig Ziglar:  " You can get whatever you want if you help enough people get what they want."

One point I still agree with whole heartedly is that to really follow your selfish interests it is best to take a long term view rather than a short term view.  To me this is one of the biggest issues of society today, impatience to get what we want.

The decision boils down to individualism vs. collectivism as how I read it recently.  Like many dichotomies there is merit to both sides, but there is also danger should either one dominate.

Balancing her contentions in some ways is Stephen R Covey.  In essence his book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is a guide to how an individual can be more effective, that is get more of what they want.  But the thinking is more all encompassing.  One of the habits is to understand deeply what the other person thinks and feels.  Another habit is to look for a win-win solution, very strongly stating that if only one side wins it is not the best solution.  Covey believes that society is inter-dependent and if you want to be effective (ie. succeed) you need to work within that framework.

Civilization did not get to where it is by constantly re-starting from scratch.  Isaac Newton said he stood on the shoulders of giants who came before him.  Over eons of time a lot of good ideas were gradually discovered by individuals and even more slowly accepted by others.  All individuals are totally dependent on the good will of others when born, but as they matured were able to contribute to the good of others.  As we mature our feeling of independence grows, but some of us never really realize we are always dependent on others.

Peer pressure is not always for the benefit of individuals or even of the group.  Most people, most of the time like to keep things the way they are and resist any change (including who makes different decisions for different concerns).  Change is how we progress.  Just as we want and need freedom to express ourselves and to contribute so do others.  We need to give them the room and the opportunity.

Implicit in these discussions are judgments on other people.  Ayn Rand contends they deserve what they get because they made a lot of decisions that put them there.  It is true that we are where we are not only because of decisions we made, but also because of decisions made by others.  If we are honest most of us have made bad decisions.  Sometimes we learned from them, sometimes we got locked in.  Sometimes we realized other people had been confronted by the same problem and learning how they handled it could be helpful.  Often someone else' decision created obstacles. It is true that some people are better than others at over coming obstacles, but it is also true that some people have more difficult obstacles to overcome.

Can we say all decisions are rational?  I would say too many decisions are emotional and that includes intellectuals.

As a society we will all suffer the consequences of poor decisions.  We all lose when the best person doesn't get the job, when talent gets wasted, when anyone suffers unjustly, when deserving people don't get a chance, when greed wins over justice.  Every individual in many ways got their power with the help of many other individuals and of circumstances.  How they exercise their power affects everyone.

Another set of thoughts that enter my thinking is from Bertrand Russell who wrote an essay, "In Praise of Idleness."  There are many people it seems to me who are quick to criticize those who apparently are not doing anything "useful" or who are not pursuing a normal path. They are just enjoying something.  We look down on such people, but we should respect what they want out of life as long as it doesn't hurt others.  If you cannot enjoy life what is the point?

Human nature should be the basis of how we organize ourselves.  We have many commendable traits, but unfortunately most look out for ourselves most of the time.  Some of us are talented at getting more than our share in relation to what we contribute.  A few are very adept at bending the rules for their own advantage.  When we get a little power we almost immediately try to figure out how we can increase our power and it is usually at the expense of someone else.  If this is just extrapolating my own nature I apologize, but believe there is some rational basis for my thoughts..

We need to find more effective ways to co-operate or we will all suffer, but at the same time we need to encourage individuals to fully use their talents and find their own solutions.  Problems like avoiding war, especially nuclear war, climate change, energy and food shortages, contagious disease, terrorism., etc require wide spread co-operation.   We cannot leave these decisions to powerful people with narrow interests.  There is merit in people speaking up for individualism, but there needs to be those advocating intelligent co-operation to help unleash individual talent.

Stephen R Covey pointed the way

I am not the best example of a Stephen R. Covey student, but he provided a good model.  I have read several of  his books and listened to many of his tapes many times.  I think a lot of people were similar to myself in that we wanted to follow his path, but just somehow didn't quite make it.  Still I know I am better off for the effort and haven't yet given up.   His death this past week has made me want to review what he had taught me.  He left a legacy to benefit anyone who cares to make an effort to understand.


"The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is one path to being more effective.  Based on studying the characteristics and habits of people who got things done.  Habits are the key.  We all have them, but they aren't necessarily the healthiest of habits.

Running down the seven habits helps focus on how we could all get more out of life.

The first habit is to be pro active.  Most of us react to whatever happens to us.  We blame others if things don't work out.  Covey feels you must make the decisions that affect you as much as possible and take responsibility for your actions.

The second habit is to begin with the end in mind.  What this boils down to is to have a purpose in life with goals that are important to you.  Most of us don't think about whether we have a mission in life or how we would like to be remembered.  Covey highly recommends you give a lot of thought to what you want to have accomplished by the end of your life.  That should be reflected in everything you do.

The third habit is an outgrowth of the second.  As much as possible you should always  be doing something towards what you have identified as important to you.  Instead we spend much of our time dealing with problems that demand immediate attention or on things that really don't matter.   Thinking this out (and I do try to do this each week)  you should work towards your goals and when you are not able to do anything towards the most important one think of your next most important goal or think of some small step towards your highest priorities.  I was surprised to realize that this doesn't require frantic activity 24 hours a day as Covey recognized that rest and regenerating yourself were just as critical as any task.  If a matter is really urgent you cannot ignore it, but if you carve out more and more time for the really important you will need to spend less time on the urgent and the trivial.

Moving to the fourth habit comes a recognition that to get things done we have to deal with other people who have their own set of priorities.  Whenever you feel you need to get something from another person you need to think what they could get out of helping you.  Win-win is the goal.   If one of you loses, even yourself the exchange is not in the long run successful.

The fifth habit is a very key one.  We all want to be understood, feeling that if the other person understood you they would give you what you want and deserve.  We are so wrapped up in this that we make little if any effort to understand their viewpoint.  Stephen urges, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."  Encourage the other person to express their concerns and don't interrupt except to express understanding or encourage them to continue.  When you understand them it makes it much easier to move forward.  It is important to be understood, but much easier for them when they feel they are understood.

The sixth habit is to synergize.  Working as a team we can accomplish a whole lot more than doing it ourselves.  The whole really is greater than the sum of its parts.

The seventh habit is to "sharpen the saw."  Stephen uses this metaphor to point out that we need to have balance in our lives and need to renew our skills.

One basic idea of being more effective is to realize we live in an interdependent world.  I have paraphrased his thought that when we are born we are totally dependent on others to survive.  As we grow we gradually become more and more independent.  Full growth occurs when we realize we have always been inter-dependent.

That idea seems very relevant with the political campaigns ranting about the issue.  There is a strong streak in America (and to a lesser extent elsewhere as well) that the strong self made man is the ideal, the model for the rest of us.  It is a self serving delusion of some successful people.  One candidate talks about unleashing business and that any restrictions are very harmful.

Another candidate seems to feel that we can get more done if we work together.  Many people feel that restrictions (ie. regulations) do more harm than good.  Some people feel that we shouldn't hold back the strong people in any way and that those who aren't strong should not be allowed to mooch off the successful.

I am from the school that believes nobody got to where they are by themselves.  Obviously it helps to have parents that passed on strong genes and healthy nurturing.  It helps that schools (formal learning facilities) allowed you to develop knowledge and skills and perhaps stirred your imagination to see new solutions to old problems.  It helps that many people combine their efforts to provide easy means for you to communicate and get around.  For most of us we live in a relatively safe environment that lets us grow stronger.  Today it can be helpful that we are much more conscious of and can take advantage of global interaction.  At bottom is the need for someone to buy what you are selling.  We are all selling something and many of are paid off with salaries, commissions, rents, etc.  Some of us are selling ideas and they need believers.

There will be many people praising the contributions of Stephen R Covey.  I just wanted to add that even a relatively unsuccessful blogger is better off for having read and listened to Stephen R Covey and  firmly believe the world would be better off if more people followed his teachings.