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There are professions, occupations or positions within companies that do not have the “fame”, prestige and importance given to others, as is the case with salespeople.
We’re talking about a professional that doesn’t even formally exist in many companies and that, in a way, plays a complementary role to that of selling – the professional buyer.
What is a professional buyer? What does he do and what are his responsibilities?
It is about these questions that we will address in our meeting with you today.
What is a professional buyer?
Especially for companies that don’t have one, the answer may seem a little obvious and that is usually defined as having the function of carrying out the company’s purchases at the lowest possible prices and thus increasing its profits. That is the common belief.
In fact, many of the companies that do not have a professional dedicated to purchasing believe that their need is only justifiable for those that buy a lot or perhaps work in the area of large retail, for example.
In fact, a supermarket chain, which is the most commonly remembered example, has not just one but different buyers for different classes of products and even a complete department.
But it doesn’t necessarily have to be like that and only under similar conditions.
This concept, often limited and governed by paradigms, is common.
There are even those who define the need or not to have a formal position in the organization chart, considering the possible employment costs, versus the possible savings made by buying cheaper.
In most cases, this occurs due to lack of knowledge of the possible roles played by the Purchasing professional and what he can add in terms of value to the business.
What is the role of the professional buyer?
Of course, it’s making the purchases that produce the greatest possible gains for the company, or if you prefer, profits.
That’s when the myths or ignorance of the function begin to fall apart, because as we mentioned, at first, most people associate it with paying less for something. But gain for the company is not restricted to the monetary amount that is not spent on buying anything.
And it’s not even related to paying less, after all, how many times and with which products / services do we only buy the cheapest ones?
Of course, whenever possible, we want the best product / service in terms of quality, paying the lowest practicable price.
Just as the seller tries to justify the price by the value associated with what he sells, the professional buyer must also look at the added value of what he buys.
But it doesn’t stop there.
In the case of a technical buyer, for example, whose responsibility includes buying raw materials for an industry, he needs to be aware of a series of minimum specifications required by the engineering / development area, ABNT specifications, Inmetro and other bodies that eventually regulate the sector.
When he buys inputs and resources for use by employees, such as furniture, office equipment, computing devices and software and everything else that is used in the performance of the company’s activities, he also needs to be aware of a list of variables that can be quite extensive and which may include ergonomics, safety, quality of life at work, durability / useful life, maintenance, technical assistance, etc.
In the provision of services that the company uses (telephony, internet, insurance, transport, events, food, etc.), the Purchasing professional, in addition to the characteristics offered by the competitors of each type of service, is in charge of observing the conditions of the terms of use or contracts, warranties, rights and obligations.
All of this above, as well as other purchases that are under your responsibility, still involve deadlines, payment methods, fees that eventually affect payments, taxes and duties, technical standards, specific legislation, to name just what is most common.
Imagine a product that will be launched and in which the company has invested a lot in its development and is preparing a major launch, but the buyer bought a raw material aiming only at the lowest price, but which does not meet the standards required by the technical area.
More than possible losses with recall, technical assistance, the image / reputation of the brand can be severely affected and produce many dissatisfied customers / detractors.
That is, at this point, those who still did not understand the scope of their work can already see that their function is not just to pay the minimum possible for what is best.
What are the professional buyer’s responsibilities?
The set of responsibilities of a professional buyer can vary enormously depending on the size of the company, its segment of activity and even the existence of a Purchasing department formally constituted or not.
Therefore, in the case of a large department, there may be people with the function of evaluating contracts, those responsible only for purchases intended for internal customers, finance, a manager and under him junior, full and senior buyers, assistants, analysts , in addition to other possible positions with their respective functions, just like other areas of the company.
However, in general and broadly speaking, a professional buyer may have the following situations under his/her responsibilities/attributions:
- Suppliers – constitute a portfolio of suppliers, as well as establish a relationship with these suppliers and that as a result of this relationship, some of the following situations are obtained;
- Contingency – it is always your role to have a contingency plan to resort to in cases of problems with regular suppliers and constituted in such a way that the production chain and the company’s operation are not affected by interruptions or any problems in the supply of any purchased item;
- Market opportunities – be aware of new suppliers that deliver raw materials, components and new resources, more modern and/or with new technologies, which represent an opportunity for innovation or simply more accessible and that can take the place of those already constituted. It is also suitable for not generating accommodation in those who have worked with the company for a long time;
- Resources – acquire resources and inputs for the use of employees and that are in accordance with the internal policies, the requirements of each area, aspects related to work safety, labor legislation and budget / cost center of the company and the respective areas;
- Regulation / legislation – make sure that what is purchased meets any existing legislation (eg legal software), regulatory / controlling / inspection bodies (eg Anvisa or SIF), that the raw materials or final products for resale / distribution, as in the case of a supermarket, comply with any existing legislation, as well as compliance with the Consumer Defense Code (CDC);
- ESG agenda – everything that is acquired by the company can, at some level, influence environmental (Environmental), social (Social) and governance actions (Governance) aspects and, therefore, must comply with the ESG agenda or agenda, whose importance is continually growing;
- Compliance – with some relation to the above responsibility and despite being a concept that is maturing in the country, compliance should be a concern of organizations, precisely because it involves transparency, ethical commitment to society, as well as guaranteeing anti-corruption mechanisms in the chain supply;
- Negotiation – calculate and evaluate commercial conditions (installments, deadlines, discounts, freight, consignment and cuts, debit-free shipments, etc.), which directly influence the price;
- Fiscal – knowledge and calculation of taxes/taxes that affect each product/service acquired, as they are also important in the final price, in addition to keeping the company in good fiscal standing;
- Legal – analysis of contracts, terms of use, responsibilities and guarantees and how their relationship with suppliers can impact the company’s products / services in the market, since depending on the case it can lead to joint liability or other legal consequences;
- Partnerships – build partnerships and strategic alliances with suppliers that can be essential for the areas of Marketing / Advertising and Sales;
- Planning – participation in the company’s strategic planning, especially in aspects related to vital purchases, inputs and raw materials, budget and essential services;
- Seasonality – a professional buyer needs to be aware of and be aware of seasonality, market variations (supply and demand), shortages, price variations and everything associated, so that he has alternative sources of supply and maintenance of inventory levels, to that the company does not suffer losses in these market movements and oscillations.
What is the importance of the professional buyer?
For most people, knowing in detail what a professional buyer is responsible for leads to an understanding of how important he can be in a company.
However, even so, it can be expendable, especially in very small businesses or in which the volume and frequency of purchases of any nature are low to such an extent that even assuming all the responsibilities listed above, it is often idle.
Based on everything we have seen, it is still essential that we ask some questions and, depending on the answers, decide whether this type of professional is important for the business:
- How much is your time? Frequently, the role of buyer is performed by partners and managers, people whose time commitment can be expensive. With that in mind, try to find out how much time these key people dedicate to activities that could be delegated to someone specialized;
- From the last word of the item above, there is another direct consequence. An experienced purchasing professional – therefore, skilled – tends to do it faster and with better results than those who have to split between responsibilities and “quick fixes”;
- Always consider more than the financial cost of the professional compared to the possible “savings” that he provides when buying better, because as we have seen, there are situations that can be very expensive for the company when the work done in the area is not effective;
- Although there are no graduate courses specifically designed to train them, professional buyers are usually administrators, engineers and other professionals in areas that can make other types of contribution to the business;
- Evaluate how much the contribution of work done in a professional manner in your area can mean synergy or potentialize other areas, or even make something possible that is not currently possible, such as acquiring things that were thought not to be possible, but now are, just because there is someone who is attentive to opportunities.
Conclusion
A professional buyer is much more than someone who buys what is needed “cheap”, being decisive even for the effective functioning of a company.
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