To do procurement efficiently, you can’t rely solely on internal company data — your own vendor pools, transaction histories, and data analytics. And no, nobody’s questioning your expertise or your data here. We just know that limiting your financial decisions in procurement to what you’ve done in the past misses a lot when it comes to the most current data. Here’s what to do about it.

Why is your internal data not enough for more efficient procurement?

There are multiple reasons. But for now, let’s focus on just a few key ones:

• You need current prices, product specifications, etc. Otherwise, you’re relying on things that can already be out of date (hello, inflation!) and can quickly ruin your plans just when you thought you were going to save on a deal. It’s just not a good way to run any business.
• Whatever software you use for procurement management, it needs real-time data to inform your decisions in the best possible way. Sure, historical data can be helpful, but again, you need much more than that to make decisions that affect your future (and your bottom line.)
• Your industry experience is invaluable. But if you just limit yourself to what you know, you won’t avoid some inevitable blind spots. That’s why industry experts network — to exchange know-how and experience.

The first two points are pretty self-explanatory. But let’s focus on the last one for a minute.

Because what if you weren’t on your own as a CFO?

What if you could use the knowledge of a hundred CFOs? A hundred procurement experts? A hundred production managers?

Think how tapping into that collective knowledge could impact your:

• negotiation results
• quality of purchased products
• time savings
• and what else?

But how do you talk to those 100 CFOs?

You don’t have to.

(You can though, of course. And industry groups or events are definitely a good idea to participate in. But this takes time –that you don’t have — and is usually not a something you have access to on a daily basis.)

This is exactly why using smart AI-based software that collects all this information and learns the decision-making patterns is so helpful. You get all the data basically handed to you, and you can use it to get better results. Possibly much better that you would have just on your own.

And that’s where we’re headed at Zingflow.

We’re building a network fueled by the data, knowledge, and experience of finance and procurement pros. That’s what guides our software and its features: smarter and more comprehensive.

And simply more helpful when it comes to day-to-day procurement tasks and fitting them into a business’s overarching financial strategy.