At this point in the guide you will have hopefully:
- Gathered all of your KPIs & pricing for frequently-purchased products.
- Been able to compare them to the benchmarks we provided to identify your practice’s biggest growth opportunities.
- Contacted suppliers/ manufacturers who can fulfill those prices to verify that their performance and quality is identical to your current preferred vendor.
- NOTE: For Pivotal Group members, these can be found in your members’ area on the Vendor Apps & Pricing page.
- Used that information to determine which suppliers you want to replace.
- Entered negotiations for better pricing and/ or terms with the suppliers you want to continue working with.
Replacing vendors is pretty straightforward once you’ve done all of the above. It’s as simple as setting up the new accounts and updating your practice & optical’s workflows to order from the new suppliers (caution: old habits die hard — you may have to be diligent about these changes with your staff in the weeks after implementation to ensure a full transition).
Continue reading the rest of Step 8 for a few final tips & closing thoughts as this portion of the guide is rounded out.
Step 8 Table of Contents
- 8.1 Tough Decisions: Do You REALLY Want to Keep Doing Business with All of Your Current Suppliers?
- 8.2 Educate Your Staff on Any New Brands & Workflows You’re Introducing
- 8.3 Consider Implementing Bonuses/ Incentives Tied to New Supplier Adoption
- Wrapping Up: Overhauling Your Supply Chain