As a practice manager you have a budget to maintain, and being able to negotiate with suppliers is an extremely powerful tool in saving funds. Negotiation needn’t be time-consuming or a chore, though. Stick to these top tips and you’ll save both precious time and money.

Communicate

Building a good relationship with your supplier is a key tool in making sure you get a good price from them. If you’re easy to do business with and cause them little extra admin, they’ll be all the more willing to discount your goods and do other things to secure your repeat custom with them. Be clear in your communications with them, and be contactable for when they need to follow up with you. Suppliers don’t do good deals with difficult customers, let alone faceless customers who lack in charm. So keep one person in charge of orders for consistency, and get to work on that long-standing, mutually-beneficial relationship.

Research Prices

Your bargaining chips are reduced to nothing if you haven’t done your research first. So call around for quotes and make it clear with every supplier that you’re doing this. You’re more likely to get a competitive quote first time this way, and it opens the door for you to come back to your favourite supplier and see whether they can match someone else’s price. Don’t sound too keen to deal with any one supplier, either. Potential customers who seem the least convinced will often get the best price. Also remember the lowest price does not always mean the best service… “You pay peanuts you get monkeys”.

Help Them Out

Get an idea of your suppliers’ range and see whether you can order more from them for a better overall price. They may be more familiar with pitching to customers, but you can pitch to them too if you have an idea for a deal that would benefit both sides. In essence, do their job for them. If you can prove that you’re a reliable customer likely to order exclusively from them for the foreseeable future, then tell them so.

Ask For References

Ask suppliers for customer references you can contact before making any deals with them. Not only can these people vouch for the service and the product, but you can poll them on prices too. Your supplier will want to supply references but should then be obliged to offer you a similar deal to the ones you’ve heard about. Or check them out on the UK’s largest GP Practice supplier directory of course!

Offer a Deposit

With larger deals, being able to front a large deposit, say 50 – 70%, will give you decent leverage for an overall discount. Be aware that most suppliers are most concerned with getting paid fully and on time, so a large sum up front can often lead to good percentage discounts on the work or product you’re ordering.

What are your top tips for getting a good deal with suppliers? Drop us a comment below!