Mistakes to Avoid When Working with A Cooperative Purchasing Organization for Higher Education

More and more companies, as well as education institutions, are leveraging cooperative contracts to improve their procurement strategies. One of the main forces behind this trend is that cooperative purchasing reduces the administrative burden for the overworked procurement teams. It requires far less time and effort and also helps create efficiency and velocity throughout the process. So, if you plan to work with a coop purchasing for a higher education organization, here are some common mistakes to avoid to get a higher value and make the procurement process smoother.

 

Not Getting a Competitive Price

 

Cooperative purchasing allows buyers to get better pricing. But this does not mean that coop purchasing for higher education organization contracts offers the best pricing on every single purchase. Rates can be negotiated based on different purchasing volumes that your institute might need, and it is very likely that the supplier may not be willing to offer this price. 

 

Therefore, make sure you reach out to suppliers, especially if there are many available, and compare them against each other. A little competition never hurts and often results in you getting a better price from a supplier that is willing to give you the best deal.

 

Lack of Clarity Around Expectations

 

Remember that working with multiple partners in a cooperative contract can lead to different expectations held by each party. If the main driver behind the contact is different between agencies and is not communicated beforehand, it can lead to problems down the road. So, ensure that you outline your expectations ahead of time. 

 

Keep in mind that it is a give-and-take relationship and requires clarity to alleviate issues. Make sure you are vocal about your needs, but be willing to accept if the supplier cannot meet your expectations and the contract is not a viable option for your agency.

 

Communication Problems

 

Communication can quickly turn into a hurdle for many reasons, such as outdated technology and manual or legacy processes. Calling, emailing, and manual sharing of documents often create inefficiencies that can derail the process. To avoid this, use modern technology to improve communication in your cooperative purchasing process. 

 

Lack of Trust

 

Lack of trust has been a major obstacle since the start of cooperative contracts. Cooperative purchasing organizations are still relatively new. Hence, most procurement specialists, as well as their teams, are still learning about the intricacies of the cooperative purchasing process. It is just a lack of familiarity. 

 

But as these purchases are rising in popularity, vendors are signing on at local levels. There are also many platforms that help in such situations that give an equal opportunity for all agencies to respond and do business. This helps build trust and transparency among users.

 

Losing Flexibility and Control

 

Taking on a less active role in creating and negotiating a contract can free up your team's time. However, it also means giving up some control over the specifics. Hence, it is important that you maintain as much flexibility and control as possible while also staying compliant. For this, you need to plan and gain an understanding of the contract details as they relate to your needs. 

 

Things to be Aware of When Using Cooperative Purchasing

 

Become a Member Before Working with the Vendor

 

The first thing is to become a member of an organization before working with a vendor. You have to be an existing member of the cooperative purchasing organization in order to get the benefits. Make sure that you get your membership in advance so that you qualify for special racing right away. This means you do not have to wait to get approved by the cooperative purchasing organization. If not, the delivery time for your products may be slowed due to your impending membership status. 

 

Some Services Offered are not Available in Certain Products

 

The vendor you are using may not have certain negotiated contracts available. When a cooperative purchasing organization negotiates contracts with a vendor, it may not always include every product or service the vendor sells. 

 

Not all Vendors have Access to Negotiated Contracts

 

Though you may be a member of the cooperative purchasing organization, the vendor may not be able to use it as they are not represented by the organization you are a member of. So make sure your vendor has the contract you want and inform them about all the organizations you are a part of so that the vendor comes back with the best contract option from your memberships.

 

Some Additional Tips

 

Alleviating these common pitfalls and keeping the essentials in mind should be at the forefront of your product strategy. It can help increase value, savings, compliance, and transparency for your procurement strategies while also gaining powerful insights to make improvements. Also, make sure that you identify which cooperative contracts provide you with the most savings.