High stakes in furniture sourcing
As a furniture supply chain and installation specialist, the company collaborates closely with worldwide interior designers and corporate clients to develop and propose furniture solutions tailored to their unique projects.
The dynamics of their industry has always been highly competitive but, like many, this has increased over recent years with competitors willing to take large cuts in margins just to win business.
Also, the high value and complexity of furniture sourcing projects means the stakes are high. Any mistakes in data entry or mismanagement could lead to costly delays or dissatisfaction from clients.
We chatted one of the company's consultants for the London team, to learn more about their decision, as a self-confessed "not technologically gifted" person, to choose Market Dojo Sourcing to manage the tender events for an important client project.
Challenges
The trigger
Typically, sourcing requirements have been handled manually using emails and spreadsheets. However, by using an e-sourcing solution, it proved to not only be a time saver, but instilled a sense of confidence with clients that the project would be a professionally managed process.
First off, we asked the senior furniture consultant of the client project about the trigger that drove their decision to use Market Dojo Sourcing.
"As a consultancy, one of the most important things to us is our relationship with the client; giving our clients the confidence that we are working on their behalf to put forward not only the best product portfolio, but also the best cost package for them."
"Before Market Dojo, putting together large tenders would eat up a lot of time and internal resources. Not just from a Sales perspective but relying on other departments to help us."
"As this particular project was one of the largest that we had managed, we knew we'd have to go to tender with suppliers for larger furniture packages to get the best price," they explain.
Tackling increasing competition
To add to the challenges, it's become increasingly important to get the most competitive pricing from suppliers.
"It's always been a competitive industry, but we're finding that more and more competitors are happy to take massive cuts in their margins to try and win projects. So we're having to be really creative with the product portfolios and how we can package not just the furniture, but other services, to help maximise our profits internally while still being competitive with the other dealers in the market."
Faced with the need to balance tight project deadlines, a complex tender process, and competitive cost savings, the team was introduced to Market Dojo.
"One of our senior directors shared that Market Dojo Sourcing had been used by at least two other teams in the past and it had really positive feedback from the other consultants."
What Our Clients Say
I honestly don't know how I would have done the tender process by myself. Putting together any kind of spreadsheet or any kind of platform would not only have been cumbersome but extremely time consuming, and that's time I don't have.
Solution
Market Dojo is a 'no brainer!'
After the team found out how Market Dojo would address the project challenges, including lots of positive feedback from colleagues who had used the software, they describe the decision as "kind of a no brainer!"
Even though they admit to some initial apprehension, there were enough reasons to override these concerns.
"I was a little apprehensive just because it wasn't a service that I had used before so wasn't sure how it was going to work, how much time, or how complex it was going to be from my point of view. But at the same time, I knew it was going to be better than having to manage the whole process on my own."
Once the project was underway, Market Dojo Sourcing quickly proved itself to be an easy to use, efficient solution.
One of the major benefits mentioned is Market Dojo's exemplary sales and customer support in helping them to understand the process, then to setup and run the tenders with suppliers.
"Everyone that I interacted with was very helpful. The project had tight deadlines, so the turn-around times I was requesting from Market Dojo did, at times, feel a bit unreasonable. But the team was very friendly and professional, and really did everything they could to meet those requests."
"The other big win was just how easy it was to use the platform to compare the different responses we were getting from suppliers... the ease of being able to compare the different packages and look at everything comparatively was a huge bonus for us."
Results
Confidence & efficiency gains
Compared to manual methods, using Market Dojo Sourcing saved the team time and reduced the pressure during a very busy period.
"I honestly don't know how I would have done the tender process by myself. Putting together any kind of spreadsheet or any kind of platform would not only have been cumbersome but extremely time consuming, and that's time I don't have," they share.
Aside from time savings, the adoption of Market Dojo made the entire sourcing process more efficient and effortless. They explain this a little more, "The other big win was just how easy it was to use the platform to compare the different responses we were getting from suppliers... the ease of being able to compare the different packages and look at everything comparatively was a huge bonus for us."
Transparency strengthens relationships
We delved deeper to see what the impact has been on supplier relationships.
"I think suppliers liked using the platform because they knew it was going to be uniform across all respondents. So, it gave them 'peace of mind'."
We often encounter reluctance from first time users who fear it will damage relationships with suppliers. However, the team felt that the transparent nature of an online tender/negotiation process instils a feeling of openness and fairness between buyers and suppliers.
And there was a positive impact across the project's wider stakeholders.
"In terms of our client relationship, they had a sense of security and confidence knowing that it was managed through a professional third-party platform and that there really was no room for errors or mistakes," they told us.
Key lessons learnt
We wrapped up by asking if they had any advice to others who are considering using an e-sourcing solution for the first time.
"I will freely admit I'm technologically challenged, so one of my biggest apprehensions was not being sure what I would have to do and how complicated it would be. And honestly, throughout the whole process, (and I had a lot of questions at the beginning) the Market Dojo team never made me feel silly for asking what felt like basic questions."
They go on to say:
"I would say to anybody who is either not sure, concerned or afraid that they don't know how to use the platform; or who has concerns about how involved or complicated it will be - it really isn't!"
This comment highlights how Market Dojo's simple to use platform, coupled with their exceptional support, simplifies the sourcing process, making it a worthwhile investment. By using Market Dojo, the company has not only streamlined its tender process but also empowered its team to deliver top-quality results with less stress and greater confidence.
And lastly...
Would you recommend Market Dojo?