Maverick Buying: Why Employees Order Outside the Agreements
Morten Kiran, procurement director at Hæhre, had a problem. The construction giant had 70-80 supplier agreements. But employees didn't know about them, couldn't find them, or couldn't be bothered to use them. The result? Millions in lost discounts every year.
This is maverick buying – and it costs businesses more than you think.
That's how much of purchases typically happen outside agreements in companies without good controls. With a procurement budget of NOK 100 million = NOK 20-40 million in "leakage".
Why does it happen? (Spoiler: It's not the employees' fault)
The same reasons keep coming up when we ask procurement managers:
- "I didn't know we had an agreement for that." The agreements are buried in a SharePoint folder nobody can find.
- "It takes too long." If placing an order takes 30 minutes, people just call the supplier directly.
- "My boss is on holiday." Approval via email = bottleneck.
- "The agreement portal didn't have what I needed." So they bought from a consumer electronics store instead.
What Hæhre did
Instead of buying a complex procurement system, Hæhre started simple. They added 10 of their 70-80 agreements to Vieri. Not all – just the most important ones.
"We finally have a system that gives us an overview and makes everyday life easier for both buyers and project managers."
– Morten Kiran, Procurement Director, Hæhre
The simple formula
Contract compliance moves once ordering on agreement is easier than going around it. Not because the system is magic, but because it makes it easier to follow the rules than to break them.
Sources
How much is your business leaking?
Use our ROI calculator and find out your savings potential in 2 minutes.
Calculate now →
