MAKING SMARTER PURCHASES: HOW-TO-BUY

Making the right purchase for your learning program is often a roll of the dice. Any major purchase will have some risk associated with it, but research and diligence can go a long way to making a better purchase.

Saul Carliner (saul.carliner@sympatico.ca ), helped answer some questions on how to be a better learning buyer.

OLNR: How do you begin to find reputable vendors or products or services you might need?

SC: Unfortunately, there's no secret formula to becoming a knowledgeable consumer. To find a reputable vendor, you need to do good, old-fashioned information gathering by following these six steps:

(1) First and foremost, learn about the product or service that you want to purchase. Get a basic background and read the trade press to find out what's going on in the field.

(2) Get support from inside your organization. For instance, if you're purchasing information technology, work with your I/T group. They know the technology and can provide you with some private tutoring. They can also tell you what will and won't work with your organization's networks.

(3) Stay connected to the professional community because one of the best ways to whittle down the endless list of vendors is to get the inside scoop from people whom you know and trust. On a local level, go to meetings of local chapters of groups like ASTD and ISPI. To build up your network of contacts, volunteer for committees.
Leverage this network when you need a vendor. Find out who used a vendor for a similar purpose and see what their experience was. People are usually guarded with people whom they do not know, but are often more candid with their impressions with trusted friends.

(4) On a broader level, go to industry conferences and events. Don't just attend technical sessions -- participate in the social events and build your network. Keep up the contact after the event.

(5) After you find a vendor, ask them to provide references. In addition, use your network to find other people who worked with the vendor and ask their impression, too.

Conducting a reference check often ferrets out problems, but the overwhelming majority of organizations fail to do a reference check (only about 10 percent of organizations do so).

(6) Last, if you think you're over your head, don't be afraid to hire a consultant to act as a "tutor" and help you make a purchase. The consultant should be one who does not sell the types of services or products that you're purchasing or, at the least, should be prevented from bidding on this contract, to ensure that they remain
impartial with you.

ONLR: Are there major differences in making a purchase for services (design, delivery etc.) vs. a major product or system purchase?

SC: Definitely. Purchasing technology is like purchasing an appliance for your home -- ultimately, you can see and touch the possible choices to determine which one is best suited for you.

Purchasing services is like choosing an interior designer or therapist -- you cannot really touch or feel the service, so you have to determine which vendor is most likely to provide you with trustworthy advice and with training and design services that best reflect your needs and approaches.

OLNR: How do you make the business case for a major purchase? What are the key factors to consider?

SC: For starters, don't just assume that executives (a) see the needs you have identified and (b) agree with them.

So formally prepare a business case. In it, describe the problem that is driving the need for the purchase. Provide several options, including one that involves doing nothing. For each option, provide a brief description of what it is and its pros and cons. Provide a list of criteria for choosing a solution and consider the risks of
each option. Based on this, determine which option most closely meets the needs without providing undue risks.

Even if you're a small company, develop a business case and provide several options. In this way, when the company invests in the service, they know what they're investing in, how it benefits the organization, and the commitment that the executives are expected to provide to make this investment a success. This may seem like overkill in small organizations where people usually conduct business on a handshake. But in many of these organizations, training is also seen as a support service whose budget can be slashed when funding is tight. By going through the exercise of a business case, you not only increase the likelihood that funding
remains intact if economic problems arise, but subtly build the impression that the training group is indeed a professional one, and one that has strong business practices.