Why is buying PPE & Workwear seemingly the hardest thing in the world?

Have you ever wondered why something so "small" as #PPE and #workwear can cause so much chaos when things don't go to plan?

You know it's essential, but you also know it's probably a tiny percentage of what you spend on the big ticket items (raw materials or critical components). Therefore, #uniforms and safety kits can be placed further down the priority list—at least in theory!

Because of this, PPE sits in a very strange space where logic and reason seem to dissipate mystically.

Up is down, left is right, and north is biscuits.

It kinda doesn't make sense!

You may think I'm joking, but have you ever thought, uttered, or raged, "It's just a pair of boots. How hard can it be?" or "It's a case of gloves. What are they doing, knitting them?"

"How long does it take to deliver some Hi Vis vests?" etc.

The initiating point to this chaos begins as these tend to do because of some #salespeople waffling, selling snake oil, and telling buyers what they want to hear rather than being honest.

Their end goal is to get the sale - seemingly at whatever cost!

Here's what's happening: They want to hit their targets for that month, so some salespeople can and do say whatever they need to get the order.

That's "great" for them, but what about you and your business?

Are you paying for that?

Is it your objective to help them hit their targets?

Or is your objective to buy the right products at the best price without compromising on risk, performance, or the support you need?

You know the answer, and you come first!

But for most buyers, they are an afterthought!

Some salespeople and, by proxy, the supplier will worry about "fixing issues" later, which is ironic as this approach doesn't benefit either party in the long term!

Meanwhile, you still have their "persuasive sales spiel" ringing in your ears about how much they're better than your current supplier and will beat their price.

Great!

But here's a genuine question:

How cheap does something have to be if you can't get it, it turns up late, or when it does show up, it's not fit for purpose?

Where is the value?

What are you actually paying for?

If you have a quote for your products at a lower price point but find that, over time, those "savings" are dwarfed by the effort and cost of actually trying to get the stuff, is it worth it?

The aim of the game is always going to be #costsavings, especially in economic downturns, recessions or worse.

But how can a buyer square a circle as to cost savings based on a price tag without understanding the actual costs associated with alternative product and supplier choices?

For example, let's say you're not happy with your current supplier, so you look around for alternative providers and narrow down some choices before inviting them in.

Now that you've been buying product X for a few years at ￡15.00 and still want to keep buying it, you're thinking that if a potential new supplier can match or beat the price, you'll go with them.

Now, let's say you invite me in. I then ask you questions about your experiences, pain points, bottlenecks, risks, and performance to build a picture in my mind.

I then propose an alternative product at a price point of ￡25.00.

What's your first reaction?

"It's too expensive", right?

You'll probably think I'm trying to rinse you in some way.

So, if I ask you which one costs more, the ￡15.00 or the ￡25.00 one?

What's your answer?

Easy. Based on that information, it's the ￡25.00 one—it's a tenner more per unit.

If you've got 500 workers who need them, that will "cost" you ￡5,000 more than product X.

There is no way that product would be considered, right?

But is this correct? Is this the reality of the situation?

Can we really judge cost and, indeed, value from a price tag when comparing different products from different suppliers?

The short answer is no.

We don't live on price tags or quotation forms!

Not only is that akin to comparing apples to oranges and concluding that because they're both round fruit, they are the same.

We'd love to see people who may think like that bite into an orange the same as they would a Granny Smith.

Let's go back to my example regarding product X – What's missing that will give your business the correct answers and why I proposed a "more expensive" alternative product?

Data.

More specifically, your own user data for comparative analysis – in short, proof!

So, let's introduce it.

In this example, we see that your company buys the ￡15.00 product 3 times per worker per year.

In comparison, you would buy the ￡25.00 product once per worker per year.

Now stop!

I'm going to ask you the question again, which one costs more, the ￡15.00 product or the ￡25.00 one?

Unless you've skipped the above paragraphs, the answer is the ￡15.00 product as it really "costs" ￡45.00 per worker per year.

You times that by 500 staff and the "more expensive" ￡25.00 product now saves you ￡10,000.

But it's more than ￡10k – That's just to acquire the product.

Think of all the time, energy and money it's costing you and your business to place replacement orders, longer lead times, increased risk, downtime, penalties and on and on...

That approach can rack up substantial hidden costs for any business, all from a perception that a "more expensive" product will cost more.

This is the difference in value between a supplier who focuses on real-world cost savings and someone who just wants to get orders at any cost, including their own.

Selling and buying on price without data is a race to the bottom, leading to pain points, frustration and, ironically, cost creation!

Okay, so what's the solution?

It's easy to give an example like the above, but it could just as easily be another brand of snake oil or smoke and mirrors.

We don't want to do that!

But what if we said we'd prove it to you?

So, it's not just our word. It's your own data that can help you see the difference.

We either prove we can or prove we can't—in either case, it's a win/win situation for you.

Because what are you paying for?

And here's a clue - it isn't the #boots, #hivis, #gloves, or other PPE.

You're paying for service and support.

It's not about the price. It's about the cumulative cost in use over a given timeline, like a financial year; after all, that's where budgets originate.

It's about how many replacements you order, how they perform, how they handle the operational environments, and how they mitigate risk.

How much time and energy they save you!

If you're tired of listening to the typical sales patter and want results - call us.

BHI recommends buying the right products at the best prices to deliver the performance and value your business needs.

No need to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

Test us to see for yourself before committing to larger orders.

We'll help guide you to the cost savings you seek.

DM me or call.

01709 527 603

[email protected]

www.bh-i.com