Here are the key questions that a management team should consider as part of a focused cost reduction program:

– Have we set a target, and how do we know it is achievable?

– Do we require more transformational change?

– How quickly do we need to get the cost out? Next month? Next year?

– How can we align cost targets with organizational priorities?

– Can we dedicate the team to the project envisioned, or do we need help?

– What should our PMO look like (size, structure)?

– Have we considered what the necessary reporting and tracking looks like?

– Do we have a change management plan in place?

– Can we create a better cost culture going forward? How do we keep costs from creeping back in?

– Do we have the right team and leaders to get the job done?

That last question is one that management teams do not consider often enough. Most organizations have in-house resources that are very capable of managing day-to-day operations. Every organization has the potential to conduct audits of their billings, renegotiate their vendor contracts, and achieve some degree of significant savings. However, working with an outsourced service provider that brings a broader set of tools and experience to the team can often produce better results.

Outside experts have superior vendor management expertise, access to document management technology, and an understanding of benchmark analytics that vendor management staff would rarely be able to acquire on their own. Bottom-line: implement a strategy, challenge the status quo, and make sure you have the right resources in place to optimize your profits.”

Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA, saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our clients bottom-line. Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

Because at the end of the day it’s how profitable you run your business that truly makes the difference. Those individuals which understand that both top line revenue and bottom line profits are equally important in every business, truly separates great leaders from mediocre ones when it comes to running a profit driven organization.

Cost reduction is important in business because it directly impacts the bottom line at no cost to an organization. (Unlike sales, which has direct material, labor, facilities, marketing, commissions, management, and administrative costs). By reducing costs, a company can increase its profitability and improve its financial health. This is especially important in times of economic uncertainty or when facing increased competition. 

Additionally, cost reduction can help a company become more efficient and agile, allowing it to respond more quickly to changes in the market. While top line revenue is important for growth, it is not sustainable if costs are not managed effectively. To draw an analogy, simply put “why would you place water into a leaky bucket?”

Therefore, a true balance between revenue growth and cost reduction is necessary for increase valuation and long-term success. 

billingoptimization#, costreduction#, expensereduction#, 3rdpartyvendormanagement#

No business should have to feel they are “on the watch” for changes in their contracts and agreements.  This includes those special “1-year promos” that are deigned to take advantage of companies who get complacent and don’t audit their billing. So instead, the price rolls to the current market retail prices which is usually DOUBLE the promo rate!  Now the service provider should INFORM their customer more clearly of any changes going into effect, clearly state them and offer cost saving OPTIONS?Well, I think we can agree that this is is NEVER going to happen!

Example from frustrated Corporation Manager:

“They didn’t put us on any plan after the expiration, but after I contacted them they supposedly put us back on it and told me to only pay what we were paying prior. It was a big fiasco and has been. I was not under the impression it was only a year thing, but I will contact them and my director to see how they want to proceed if we want to stay or go with another company.”

“I did speak with them and it has taken 5 phone calls over the course of 6 months several disconnection notices that they claimed to me they were going to adjust our account. Again just the other day we received another disconnect notice and I called them on Friday and apparently they only issued us an adjustment from December forward for some reason not November when it had started, and they are saying whatever the promotion was parts are not available.” – P.C. Orinda, CA

Let’s be very clear about this:  This treatment is “vendor abuse”. Service providers have had the ability for MANY YEARS to take advantage of their Clients, and most often do. Unfortunately, that means the business has only 2 options:

1. They can have an internal staff spend hours trying to keep up with the renewals, inventory, billing changes, audits, inspections, expired warranties, agreement promos, 3rd party charges and all the other aspects of contracting with vendors.
2. They can entrust these services to a company that provides a fully managed vendor and supplier service which includes; proprietary software, monthly bill auditing, proactive contract management, document management, compliance notifications, increased efficiency, and maximized profits.

 The choice seems pretty darn simple, doesn’t it?

Imagine all the hours FREED up from resources not having to deal with the frustration of vendor management. Having an EXPERT auditor, contract negotiator and accounts manager creating your unique profile including analytics and visibility into all spend. Having the ability to access all documents, contracts, bills, renewals, compliances, and warranties from ONE CENTRAL LOCATION – 24/7.  That is right, even while key vendor management resources are on vacation or away from the office for any reason,  when an important contact, bill or document is needed it is easily accessible by anyone with credentials.

We understand and respect the services the efforts that internal vendor management resources provide.  But sometimes, they simply cannot dive deep into every bill or invoice and provide the most optimized approach to improving your bottom line.  Sometimes, the only way to do that is by working with cost reduction specialists who do it every single day.

Why are we trying to do everything in-house, and when do we start looking outside to experts who are better suited to improve our bottom line.

Here are some key considerations your company should be looking for as you determine if an outsourced managed service solution will create value for your company:

Does outsourcing align with our internal resource needs?

As you evaluate your internal staffing, resource roadmap, and internal processes, does a managed services solution allow you to unburden your staff so they can handle other business-critical activities?   Will a fully managed solution deliver the improvements better than we can internally?

Are their experts better than ours?

You need to ensure the VMS provider is designed and resourced by a team of subject matter experts that are focused on cost reduction and have the appropriate industry expertise to provide you with the required improvements to your organization.

Is our process proven to provide results?

Do you have a cost reduction strategy?  A proven process that begins with assessing the current state of your vendor agreements and contracts, resulting in demonstrated savings should be a prerequisite.  

Scalable and Reliable Service Level Performance

Can the provider meet your unexpected demands (higher number of new vendor diligence than you anticipated) and align with your growth plans to scale with your accordingly?

Are You Ready for Outsourcing?

If you are unclear if outsourcing makes sense for you, consider the following as objectives that outsourcing some or all of your Vendor Management Program is something you should be considering:

• Lowering Costs
• Streamlining Operations
• Implementing Best Practices 

In the end, outsourcing your Vendor Management function can make sense on many fronts.  It can send a message to your staff, executives, board members, and investors that your take seriously the responsibilities to mitigate third-party risk, optimize your operating costs, ensure regulatory compliance and strive for excellence.

Ask yourself these questions…

• Do you know how many assets your organization has and needs to track?
• How many users need to have access?
• Where are the assets located?
• Is the asset being used?

The benefits of asset management

Keeping track of the assets of the company is an important task that can save companies money and time. Asset management is the process of maximizing the assets of the company to provide the best returns to stakeholders. It can tell where the assets are located, how they are used, and when changes were made to them.

Here are a few examples

• Demonstrated compliance with the requirements and wishes of your stakeholders
• Better financial results because of better ROI and/or cost reduction
• Informed decisions from multiple angles, such as performance, profit and costs, risks and opportunities
• Risks managed when necessary and knowingly existent when acceptable
• Higher customer satisfaction
• Decisions also based on entire life cycle of assets (also when this exceeds the duration of other plans)
• Stability of the production in the long term
• Improved reputation towards your stakeholders
• Demonstrated compliance with regulation and legislation
• Traceability of decisions
• Improved knowledge management
• Increased attractiveness for shareholders

Vendor Management offers substantial assistance in the management of assets. Asset tracking lets organizations and individuals catalogue, track, organize, audit and manage information about assets of all types, from information technology assets to office equipment and company vehicles.

Added benefits of Asset Management 

• Good Business Practice
• More Meaningful Financial Reporting
• Improved Regulatory Compliance
• Improved Reliability
• Long Term System Integrity
• Cost Savings

Using a Vendor Management Solution to track assets

It is almost impossible to track assets properly without a vendor management solution that incorporates asset management into your cost reduction strategy. Systems like the one that is part of our flagship vendor management solution, VMS Platinum, are typically part of a fully managed service that enables businesses to not only cut costs but also: control expenses, drive service excellence and mitigate risks.  Our solution at Limitless Technology Cost Reduction Services also provides increased visibility and value from their vendors. We leverage our proprietary on-line software, giving you absolute visibility into your vendors and spend. No matter what the vendor or the services that our clients provide – they have a comprehensive view into their: services, contracts, rates, terms, conditions and spends through this sophisticated web-based solution.

Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms, we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our client’s bottom line.

Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

Vendor management is a core competence in successful business. In a competitive marketplace, businesses must look at creative ways to extract more value from providers, while reducing risk and upholding quality.

Simply beating suppliers down on price year after year is not a sustainable strategy!

Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms, we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our client’s bottom line.

Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

For Additional Information Contact us at 407.330.4466

The Vendor Management Process Defined

Reducing costs with lower price points and lower spend is no longer enough to give your vendor management team, and your entire organization, a serious competitive advantage. Effective development and maintenance of vendor relationships with your supply base is essential.

The vendor management process helps you achieve your organizational goals by:

• Evaluating supplier capabilities, including terms, pricing, and overall quality of your procured services
• Negotiation of contract terms and conditions
• Managing vendor relationships, and ongoing monitoring of invoices and performing regularly scheduled bill audits.

Why Vendor Management Matters

Vendor management is the system your company uses to interface with external suppliers. The capabilities, reliability, and affordability of each vendor can have a substantial impact on your company’s bottom line.

Vendor relationship management (VRM) is essentially risk management, and an essential business process for every organization. 

Vendor Performance Reviews

Whether they’ve been with you for years or are brand new to your company, vendors require regular performance reviews. The metrics established by your VRM team and your vendor contracts will provide you with the guidelines you need to determine how much value a particular supplier is providing.

A few metrics you might use as benchmarks when evaluating vendors include:

• Mutually-agreed-upon performance targets, e.g. volume of goods, server uptime, shipping delays, etc.
• Contract compliance
• In-house satisfaction, including vendor relationships with key team members
• Vendor risk based on company goals, market performance, and social and financial presence

Using these metrics, you can quickly and reliably identify your “problem children” among your vendors and address any unusual changes or ongoing problems. You’ll also have a jumping-off point for relationship improvement (as needed), and head off disasters before they can damage or even destroy a mutually beneficial relationship.

Continuous Improvement of Vendor Management Process

One important thing to remember about Vendor Management is that it is not static.  It is an ongoing process that can always be improved.  It is imperative that your company identify these opportunities for improvement and develop a strategic and tactical plan to implement them.  Some of the areas to focus on are:

• Cost Analysis & Metrics
• RFP Management
• Contract Review Procedures
• Bill Audit and Invoice Reviews

Who says relationships have to be hard? With the right team, a strong strategy, and a solid vendor management policy, you can reduce risk, streamline your supply chain, and provide powerful support to your company’s goals—today, and in the future.

Take control of your vendor management process, and build value along with strong relationships.

About Limitless Technology

Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our client’s bottom-line.

Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

For Additional Information Contact us at:

Phone:             407.330.4466

Website:          LimitlessTechnology.com

Business expansion and increasing regulatory scrutiny of vendor relationships are a few factors placing a heightened focus on vendor risk management within an organization. Not all vendor relationships are created equal. Using risk as a factor in your vendor management strategy requires a company to categorize their suppliers based on internal criteria, and then perform an appropriate level of ongoing oversight based on the determined level of risk. While the specific areas of concern may vary across companies, there are three types of risk that are common to almost all businesses.

Operational Risk
Operational risk is the risk that a company may experience if a major issue arises with your organization if a vendor’s process or system fails. This risk aligns directly with your reliance on a vendor, and is typically greater with vendors that provide services such as outsourcing, IT systems and data.

There are two good ways to mitigate operational risk: 1) perform periodic on-site audits and/or business reviews, and 2) create a back-up plan should you experience a failure with a high-risk vendor. These two risk-mitigation techniques are directly related, and should be implemented across the board, but especially for business-critical vendors.

Financial Risk
Financial risk is the risk that your organization is negatively impacted financially due to a vendor relationship.

Unmanaged costs tend to get the most attention. Most businesses have become focused on requesting competitive bids and negotiating terms. Often, those contracts were signed without knowledge of market conditions and rates (see our post about Optimizing Vendor Contracts).  Negotiating a good price has little to do with managing costs, which comes from enforcing contract compliance and performing periodic cost and contractual audits. It’s the work done after the vendor contract is signed that mitigates the risk of excessive unmanaged costs.

Regulatory Compliance Risk
Regulatory compliance risk is the risk that a supplier or vendor will violate a law or a regulation that your organization has placed on them as a prerequisit for doing business with you.

This is becoming an increasingly important issue.  For example, nonprofit organizations like health plans, healthcare systems and credit unions, are heavily regulated by Federal agencies. In many cases certain regulations pass through you to your vendors.

If you’re in this situation, you’ll want to ensure your risk management procedures enable you to analyze how well your vendors are complying with the required laws and regulations.  Regularly scheduling a review of their practices to determine whether your vendors are aware of both new and existing regulations, and they have policies and procedures in place to implement them. Data privacy is of specific interest to regulators making it important to ensure compliance with laws, regulations and best practices proposed by the regulatory bodies.

There’s no shortage of risks when it comes to your vendors.  The key is to carefully assess risk so you can properly categorize and manage your most important and riskiest vendors. The last thing any company needs is to be held responsible for something their vendor did, because they did not manage the risk effectively as part of their vendor management process.

About Limitless Technology
Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our client’s bottom-line.

Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

For Additional Information Contact us at:

Phone:             407.330.4466

Website:          LimitlessTechnology.com

Vendor Management organizations use a set of criteria to determine whether or not the spend with a particular supplier should be governed by a contract. Not all spend needs to be categorized this way.   In some cases, a purchase may be conducted outside the standard contracting process to save time.  In other cases, a contract may have not been designed to address a unique purchasing requirement.

Whether the intent was to address supplier growth, to meet a unique need, or to circumvent an established process, a significant portion of your indirect expenses may not be covered by a contract. Even if a contract existed, would you know? Could you find it? Procurement managers who can’t find missing contracts are at a significant disadvantage.

• When it comes time to renew agreements, they are in a weaker negotiating position.
• Purchases made outside of a contract can expose their company to risk.
• Bringing more spend under strategic management is impossible.

Making Spend Under Contract a key metric, presents a real opportunity for organizations to take control of their sourcing. Contract-centric sourcing is the new paradigm that enables vendor management organizations to both accelerate their buying processes, improve compliance, and reduce risk.  It also allows you to make contract compliance the third pillar by which vendors are evaluated alongside technical and commercial capabilities.   Introducing contracts at the very beginning of the sourcing process, businesses can better ensure compliance with buying standards, and accelerate sourcing evaluations.  Integrating the contracts with a document management system also provides visibility into past contract performance data. This in turn enables enterprises to create a category strategy that will deliver the most long-term benefits to the company.

The key to remember is that contracts are not bad to have, bad contracts are bad to have.

About Limitless Technology

Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our client’s bottom-line.

Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

For Additional Information Contact us at:

Phone:             407.330.4466

As a company that provides this type of service, our team at Limitless Technology hears a great variety of reasons.  All of them are rooted in a few key areas:

• Organizations believe they already have a team that is responsible for this function. 

• The support required by the organization in an audit is going to put a drain on our resources.

• The misperception that a contingency based audit means you get “something for nothing”. 

• Expectations that the cost to address areas of opportunity will exceed the benefit

The fact is that a contingency based, no risk audit is not a promotional offer.  It is a business model that can be mutually beneficial to both the auditing company and the client.  It is important, however, that you evaluate this type of relationship.  It is our belief that this type of audit is the foundation for building a partnership that will last well into the future.  

• Our team and your team work together

We respect that every company and organization has the potential to audit their billings, re-negotiate their own vendor contracts and get some form of respectable savings.  Our goal is to produce maximum results by applying superior vendor management expertise, document management technology and using benchmark analytics that most companies would rarely be able to acquire on their own.  We have been successfully negotiating for companies who could have chosen to do it themselves.  We employ former vendor service negotiators and high level professionals, which are experienced in working with some of the largest and most well-managed companies in the world

• We are an extension of your team, and we do the heavy lifting

After a few meetings, with your team providing the supporting documentation needed to perform the audit, We do our best to limit any disruption to your business work flows, as we will negotiate on your behalf, to allow your team to stay focused on day to day management of your operations. WE FIND, FIX, FOLLOW-UP, and FINISH the tasks to make sure that it gets done and is done right. This is AN ENORMOUS TIMESAVER for your organization. We literally become a virtual extension of your employee base at no cost, because we write our checks from the savings, we obtain for you.

• Lack of trust

Trust is earned.  Our company has nearly 40 years of experience, and more than over 15 years providing Vendor Management Solutions and Cost Reduction Services.  Our clients have realized millions of dollars in savings as a result of our ongoing partnerships.  

It is the savings over time that is our greatest asset.  The clients that have been with us for the longest time, have realized the most benefit to their bottom line. 

• Misperception of “Something for Nothing”.

A shared savings Bill Audit is not something for nothing.  It is no risk service, that yields lower risk, identifies areas for processes to be improved, and provides improvement to your bottom line.  We do ask for an upfront shared savings advance to start the process. However, we provide a 110% money back guaranteeagainst that deposit.  This upfront fee provides a small amount of operating revenue and allows us to invest the upfront time and effort necessary to fully database the critical details that are so often missed in vendor billings and contracts. to accurately. 

Our long term goal is to provide Vendor Management Solutions which further cuts costs and produces bottom-line savings in your largest areas of complex indirect expenses. For your peace of mind, we don’t look to change service providers unless it is in your absolute best interest, and you agree with our recommendations.  These recommendations are the foundation of the contingency based, no risk audit. 

• Concern of unknown expenditure

The shared savings advance that we request from our clients is based on our understanding of the effort required to review your company’s spend and processes, look at your contracts, and identify areas of opportunity.  We collect this advance because we have real costs with internal employees, associated with the level of expertise, work and due diligence placed into every bill audit we perform. 

The bottom line is that we must PROVE the savings to be paid and – our Clients RECIEVE the refund, credit, or go forward savings before we invoice for our services.

About Limitless Technology

Limitless Technology, LLC has been managing complex indirect spend and vendor documentation since 2006 for some of the largest companies in the USA saving them millions in costs.

Through our Billing Optimization and Vendor Management Solutions proprietary platforms we utilize technology, processes, expertise, time, and resources to improve our client’s bottom-line.

Limitless Technology manages your vendors, so you can manage and grow your business.

For Additional Information Contact us at:

Phone:             407.330.4466Website:          LimitlessTechnology.com