Reverse Marketing: The New Buyer-supplier Relationship Book

Pressured to meet the demands of global competition, today's buyers and sellers must utilize effective strategies to produce quality products while containing costs. On the cutting edge of supply technology is the innovative strategy known as "reverse marketing." This breakthrough strategy reverses the traditional supplier-buyer relationship in that the buyer aggressively and selectively seeks a long-term relationship with a few key suppliers to maximize quality and minimize costs. Using reverse marketing, buyers can create "good, better, and exceptional suppliers" over time, Michiel R. Leenders and David L. Blenkhorn explain. In this thoroughly researched book these internationally recognized experts show purchasers and sellers how they can make this groundbreaking program work to maximize profits and accountability. Addressed, too, are industrial marketers -- all who must pay close attention to Leenders' and Blenkhorn's message and its implications for the future of marketing itself. Reverse Marketing demands a different perspective on the role of supply and how it should be managed. When it is considered the mirror image of marketing and afforded top management attention, the supply area can have a substantial bottom-line impact with savings in the five to thirty percent range. Translated into profits, a five percent savings in supply dollars may increase profits between thirty and fifty percent. Leenders and Blenkhorn document the innovative efforts of major U.S. and foreign firms in both the public and private sector which have tested the reverse marketing concept and found that it is essential for quality control, MRP, JIT, global demands, and keeping the competitive edge. Using their breakthrough eleven-phase plan, organizations in a variety of industries can put reverse marketing strategies to work for them. Detailing every stage of the process, the authors take managers and purchasing personnel from matching purchaser objectives with supply capabilities to assessing savings, negotiating a cost-effective agreement, and troubleshooting after an equitable contract is set in place. Dozens of in-depth case histories show how reverse marketing operates in diverse manufacturing areas, service industries, and non-profit organizations. In addition, Leenders and Blenkhorn illustrate important decision-making factors such as: when to consider using a small or large supplier; how to turn social, environmental and political mandates -- minority contracts -- into a profitable advantage; and how to take new technological needs to the right supplier for the best deal, best service, and highest quality products. A special focus on the Japanese model for reverse marketing provides a perspective on the longer-term effects of this strategy -- and its exciting potential. Clearly an area that should attract top management interest because of its high payoffs from relatively low investment, reverse marketing is an idea whose time has come: the imaginative approach of tomorrow, as put into practice by innovative corporations today.Read More