The Green Notebook
What is The Green Notebook?
The Green Notebook is a “what’s what“ check on your existing sourcing and vendor management process, with the primary goal of identifying where you excel at Sourcing and Vendor Management, and where you might need some help. Those results can then feed directly into creating a roadmap to implement a best practices Sourcing and Vendor Management methodology, from which you can immediately benefit.
After getting to know your process, interviewing a variety of personnel who either have involvement in your Sourcing and Vendor Management process, or should, and taking a look at existing documentation, Seprio will conduct an analysis that compares your current Sourcing and Vendor Management practices against best practices, and create a gap analysis and opportunity assessment that identifies areas of need.
Ideally, we’re getting our hands dirty by sourcing alongside you so we can better see the process in action. It’s invaluable to experience what and how you do things first-hand, though The Green Notebook is valuable as a standalone.
What’s the process?
1. Discovery + History Review
Seprio will first get a bird’s eye view of your current situation. Before any diagnosis or recommendations are given, it’s vital to understand where things currently stand. Seprio has identified six key areas that indicate if best practices for Sourcing and Vendor Management are in place and being utilized:
Oversight & Policy
Risk & Due Diligence
Sourcing & Solicitations
Contracts & Negotiation
Contract Management
Vendor Relationship Management
Seprio also looks at current vendor spend data to begin to identify where your money is going and where special attention should be directed.
Overall, the Green Notebook examines 321 data elements within those six different areas listed above.
2. Interrogation
Just kidding! Sort of…
The documents (processes, policies, SOPs) only tells so much of the story.
In fact, it’s usually what’s missing from the paper trail that’s often most important… The people.
Seprio will [kindly] interview personnel that play a part in Sourcing and Vendor Management, including the constituents of the Sourcing and Vendor Management program (i.e. the business) as well as legal, risk, finance, and any other areas who touch on, or benefit from, the process. Understanding not only what happens in the process, but also how that process is perceived by those who are required to use it, can contribute greatly in ensuring buy-in.
Once Seprio has the full story, it’s time to wrap it all up with a bowtie.
3. The Final Analysis
Once everything has been said and done, The Green Notebook is comprised of your:
Gap Analysis; showing gaps where best practices are needed and the impact that implementing best practices would have…
Opportunity Assessment; showing areas with cost saving opportunities based on vendor spend data…
It all comes together to create your roadmap to better Sourcing and Vendor Management through efficient and effective processes, which leads to great risk reduction, cost & time savings, and visibility.
Seprio will present The Green Notebook along with any other key findings to stakeholders, and provide guidance and clarification as needed as you make the decision about whether you want to go to the next level and not only understand what you can do better, but actually do better…
Signs this is for you:
Desire to implement industry best practices for sourcing and vendor management.
Inadequate contract management processes leading to missed deadlines or poor vendor performance.
Inconsistent communication and collaboration between departments involved in sourcing and vendor management.
Challenges with identifying and selecting the best vendors for a particular need.
Your team isn’t negotiating deals as well as they could be.
Need for more efficient and effective sourcing and vendor management processes to save time and reduce costs.
Struggling to measure and demonstrate the value of procurement to the wider organization
Difficulty tracking vendor performance and ensuring compliance with contracts.
Personnel hasn’t been trained on sourcing or vendor management.
Lots of people spending money, not sure they are doing it well.
No current sourcing or vendor management department, needing to build one.
Things move too slow in sourcing and vendor management.
There’s obvious room for improvement in the way things are done.
You’re already successfully sourcing and managing vendors, but want to validate it’s the best it can be.
Contract Management Case Studies
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Coming Soon!
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Coming Soon!
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Coming Soon!
The Seprio Promise
If you commit to the process, you will save more money than you pay Seprio, guaranteed.
You make all the decisions and sign off on the strategy before negotiations even begin.
We will not only support your relationships with your vendors, but we will also work hard to improve those relationships.
What can you expect from us?
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Visibility
You’ll get full visibility into everything we do together, as well as the nuances of your unique circumstances.
As a decision-maker, it’s impossible to guide your team in the right direction without knowing where you stand today.
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Process Consistency
Great companies do the right things, the same way, every time. Our job is to make your job easier.
We live and breathe sourcing and vendor management, so rest assured you’ll cross the finish line with a smile.
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Risk Reduction & Cost Savings
This is one of those situations where it’s easier to show than tell. Don’t make it harder than it has to be!
You’re better off checking out the testimonials than hearing me try to say money & risk reduction a different way.