Thursday 17 July 2014

Single Male Buyer Seeks Female Procurement Professional for Tender Related Activities

By Steven Low

I have just figured something out. We procurement professionals should be absolutely awesome at online dating. Yup, there should be no reason why there are any single buyers out there. Get online and work your amazing procurement skills and net yourself that perfect man or woman that you clearly deserve.

You are now thinking I am clearly a little mad but bear with me... I’m sure my theory is sound!

The dating profile – This is like your company introduction. That stuff you put at the front of a tender explaining your company’s background and expertise.

‘Looking for’ section – Your tender specification that explains clearly what you would like ‘suppliers’ (other single people in this case) to align to.

Then the ‘sourcing’ happens. These sites even send you potential matches which can save you a bit of time searching for ‘suppliers’ to maybe ‘contract’ with. Think of it as automatic ‘expressions of interest’. You can choose to accept one or two of those for further scrutiny or look to manually source by browsing through profiles for yourself. Just like the supplier world, there is usually a wide array of choice within categories you are interested in but it’s wise to take time and ensure the best fit for your organisation – in this case, you!

Emails/Messages – Your ‘negotiations’. Is this potential person a fit for you?  Are there any common interests? Do you get a good feeling about any potential tie-up?

Date(s) – The contract! You meet up and because you are an awesome procurement professional and have utilised all the skills in your armoury to great personal effect; love is on your horizon. Let’s hope it ends up being a long-term contract and no need to terminate or re-tender anytime soon.

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