Here are five steps that you can take — none of which require cutting jobs — to make 2010 a banner year:

1. Benchmark spending.  Conduct an audit of all expenditures to find out where you’re overpaying and underutilizing. Not sure if you have the resources to do this internally? Consult with an experienced third-party vendor.

2. Get involved. Stay connected to your company’s spend environment, and know who your vendors are. Be aware of contract renewals and deadlines to avoid any additional costs.

3. Use your calendar. Since companies are driven by quarterly and year-end results, the best time to negotiate is at the end of quarters, when list price is usually meaningless.

4. Negotiate. Now is the best time to pursue deals with vendors, especially those in transportation/shipping and IT. Vendors may make claims that sound non-negotiable, but often that’s not the case.

5. Read the fine print. There’s little regulation in this area, so it’s up to you to make the extra effort to know exactly what you’re paying for.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Cost Reduction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.