Alan Buxton’s e-Sourcing Place

Saw this post on Ariba’s blog about online reverse auctions. Good news that they are shining light back onto reverse auctions. Some comments:

Having budget stakeholders watch their potential suppliers competing for their business in an auction is a very powerful way to help sell the process internally. It’s a much easier concept for people to grasp if they see the results – better terms and/or lower costs – happening right before their eyes, with all the drama of a ticking clock.

Couldn’t agree more. And if you want to see a real auction (as opposed to a canned demo), TradingPartners regularly runs “viewing rooms” at which you are welcome to come and see for yourself a real auction. Clearly it won’t be your budget that’s being auctioned. But nevertheless seeing a reverse auction playing out in front of your eyes – and just imagining that it could be your company’s money you are saving – is the only way to really understand the power of the tool. If you are interested check the news pages on www.tradingpartners.com. And when you are running your own auction program it is very important to get stakeholders in to see the auction on auction day. It’s the best way, certainly that I’ve seen, of encouraging more reverse auction usage.

Disclosure: Yes, I work for TradingPartners (see the About page).