It is still difficult to find professionals with a true vocation as buyers in companies, largely because there is no specific profession that, through academic training, allows students to be directed, motivated or enamored with the exciting world of purchasing. There are many stories of people who came to the Purchasing area by mistake and have finally achieved a successful career plan in the world of supply and, in general, the business world.

There are certain characteristics that make a buyer a very attractive professional for the different company processes other than those in the Supply area. This makes it increasingly difficult to maintain stability in the teams and the Purchasing area has become a launch catapult to take advantage of extensive training and lead different processes with former buyers such as the commercial area, project management, budget planning, administrative, etc.

 Characteristics of a modern buyer

• Transparency

Regardless of the tool used, even if e-sourcing platforms that facilitate process transparency are used, it is inevitable to have those uncomfortable conversations with suppliers who confuse cordiality and respect with overconfidence and try to influence decisions through inappropriate offers or trying to obtain privileged information. For this there is no infallible control and in any case it clearly depends on the values ​​of the professional who is dealing with the situations presented .

• Management

It is key to understand the supply needs of different areas or projects, which have different priorities and are defined by inexact and highly changing multivariable formulas. In this scenario, the modern buyer is the one who must make the best decision about what to attend to first , which purchase requires greater technical knowledge, including delegating to a buyer with specific knowledge. Knowing when a negotiation requires escalation to different levels both within the organization and on the supplier’s side makes the buyer’s work a complex task.

• Organization

Having the information available, the folders segmented, classified, having the appropriate formats on hand, even the preparation of comparative tables with all the necessary and sufficient information for decision making is a very important and hidden task. Normally the presentations of the decision committees only see the final result and do not generate awareness of the entire process that is carried out to have all the possible and timely information.

• Analysis

The generation of various scenarios, through probabilities, sensitivity analysis of a negotiation, preparation of “negotiation scripts” with possible turns of the conversation, having the map of logistical difficulties and different maps of solutions, equalizing comparative tables (converting the proposals from different suppliers in comparable data), among many others, are day-to-day exercises of the modern buyer that are imperceptible, but generate a unique differentiator.

• Decision making

This is not only required in the selection of the best proposal , in the case of not having a decision committee, but also throughout the entire process to have an optimal result. Likewise, the need to make decisions is evident when assuming, budgeting indefinitions of the need or processes, granting licenses as an exceptional payment condition due to the urgency of the need, advance payments allowed, requirements for administrative issues in the face of purely technical requests. that do not contemplate the general rules of the company, the invitation of certain suppliers that, due to knowledge of the market, they consider may represent an optimal alternative for the organization, the linking of a specific contact of the supplier that allows having a specific relationship of a quote, among others.

Without a doubt, their role, characteristics, skills and responsibilities make the modern buyer a business genius.