María Díaz del Moral, head of the Procurement Department, was the guest of our weekly coffee talk. Part of the company’s general management structure, she lives in constant contact with bills and suppliers. But how the latter are exactly chosen? María reveals some of these questions in the interview below.
What is the place given to the Procurement Department within the business structure of beon. Worldwide?
Our department is part of the General Services, as we provide coverage to all brands within the group, managing requirements or providing services necessary for our correct daily functioning.
What are the major criteria when choosing a supplier?
There are several elements to take into account but it is very important to collect information about the price of the product or service, quality, transport, experience, reputation within the market, economic situation … Any information is useful to be able to value it.
Obviously, prices are decisive but also the quality, speed of service or delivery times. This type of details are crucial in the sector in which we operate.
What aspects do you think are key towards a successful negotiation?
During a negotiation, there are three basic elements to consider:
– What are our goals?
– Who are we negotiating with?
– What we need and what we offer in return.
Has the way of interacting with your suppliers change along time?
Nowadays we have a much closer relationship with our suppliers, establishing a direct, constant contact that allows faster and more effective negotiations. Also, we can negotiate long-term business agreements.
This context favors alliances with strategic suppliers, which are a guarantee of success for any event.
Having good suppliers not only means having quality products or services, but also the possibility of having low costs plus the security of always having the same products whenever they are required and in the shortest time scope possible.
I believe that the suppliers that a company owns will determine, largely, its success.
Which role has your department within the events industry?
Not all companies have their own Procurement department, as account managers are usually in charge of this type of duties. In our case, the department centralizes and controls everything acquired within the Group.
Events industry is constantly hiring all types of suppliers, which allows us to compare different options, expand our database, and to be able to give our clients faster responses with more competitive prices and offers.
