Today, I want to give you a glimpse behind the scenes with customers. In particular, I want to begin to elaborate on the concept of Past Value Delivered (PVD). Several weeks ago, I spent two days with a buying client helping them evaluate key suppliers in light of their evolving business strategy and changes in market direction.

The evaluations consisted of looking at past scorecards as well as evaluating the supplier’s potential suitability for the future direction of the firm. During the evaluations, one thing that struck me was how often some version of the question “How much have we spent with XYZ supplier and what did we get?” was asked. The other thing that stood out was how often that question could not be readily answered – especially by the individual who either brought that supplier in or was currently charged with managing that supplier. These certainly made for some uncomfortable moments.