Do You Know If Your Supplier Pricing Is Fair?

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Are You Getting Fair Pricing from Your Multifamily Suppliers?

5 MIN. READ

Working with suppliers in multifamily asset management can be time-consuming and costly. How do you know that you are getting the best pricing? How do you keep track of the quality of your suppliers while also streamlining the purchasing process?

Automation could just be the answer to these questions.

Multifamily Marketplace for property owners

Raiven Marketplace is a comprehensive portal that houses all your suppliers in one location. Your business will have direct and immediate access to all the products that you routinely use. The beauty of the platform is that prices are already negotiated with suppliers, ensuring you the best discounts.

This e-procurement platform streamlines the purchasing process, which means you do not have to surf from site to site to track down the specific style of filters you need for your HVAC units or new smart thermostats. Raiven's sophisticated algorithms will find the lowest price across suppliers and allow you to order all of these products from one platform. In the fast-paced business of multifamily asset management, time is of the essence and simplicity rules.

Trust but verify pricing

Keeping your suppliers pricing honest is a major part of the business. Too often, we fall into comfortable relationships and do not take the time to research and cross-reference pricing from other suppliers. Prices can change quickly, and some vendors will cut deals to try and gain new business.

Therefore, it makes sense to “shop around” to find the best pricing for your business or project. When getting a supplies quote on a project, be sure to have them itemize the pricing so you can comparison shop these items in the Raiven platform and look for savings. With Raiven’s platform, the price comparison and cross-referencing of supplies and equipment are done automatically for you, so you can easily determine if the supplier pricing is competitive.

This process ensures that you will get the best pricing while investing less time negotiating.

Terms matter too

Pricing is likely among your main metrics, but the terms make a difference. Do not focus so heavily on pricing and forget about terms. That is the classic mistake of being "penny wise and pound foolish."

Here are a few tips:

  • Negotiate for the best terms: Take your time to review agreements with your suppliers. Most importantly, do not get locked into minimum order buying commitments. This will help free up cash flow that you can use for other resources.
  • Become a preferred customer: This should develop over time, as you build strong relationships with your vendors. This applies both to contractors and suppliers. Keep in steady contact with your best partners and do not only call on them when you need something. Call just to say hi and check in. Having trusted partners is essential in the supply chain world. When the chips are down, you want a team that you can rely on - someone who will answer your calls and deliver you the goods.
  • Look for the win-win: Relationships do not prosper when only one party receives all of the benefits. There needs to be a balance. Sure, you should negotiate hard for the best terms, but you should also reward your proven suppliers and contractors with more business. Open up other channels for them to sell their goods and services, refer them to your peers and help make them profitable. This will help guarantee a mutually beneficial partnership.
  • Apply leverage: Leverage your preferred suppliers to ensure that your best pricing and terms are on the table for your contracting project. You want to apply even and firm pressure, but not too much so that it breaks the bond. Or better yet, join Raiven and receive the best pricing and service levels because we’ve already done it for you! We leverage our $250M of buying power to pre-negotiate discounts, shipping terms and more with industry-leading suppliers to save you time and money.

Tap into Raiven

In multifamily asset management, paying attention to the bottom line is critical. Raiven's multifamily Marketplace can help you reduce costs and improve NOI.

To find out more about how we can help your company, reach out to Raiven today.