Cannon Group’s Retained Sourcing Process — And How It Works

Cannon Group’s Retained Sourcing Process — And How It Works

As business leaders, you’re busy and expect your contracts to give you the best resources while maximizing savings – we get that. That’s why Cannon Group follows a strategic process when dealing with your retained sourcing needs. We do all the market research, big requests, contract exchanging, and signature chasing for you. With our specialized process, you’re backed by our highly-knowledgeable, dedicated team of negotiators to ensure you always get exactly what you expect from your contracts. 

With our skilled team and proven process, we can confidently say that you will always see savings to your contract spend. You’ll have our dedicated team behind you throughout the entire process with Cannon Group.

Each retained sourcing engagement is led by a Senior Negotiator who acts as the point of contact between vendors and your dedicated Senior Analyst. To streamline the process, your project is always kept on track by a dedicated Project Manager. Finally, our executive team oversees everything and adds expertise as needed. 

Discovery

Because no two businesses are alike, helping you source your needs starts with learning about your goals and requirements. This step allows for the creation of appropriate criteria that will be used when selecting the right vendor. 

We do this by participating in a highly detailed discovery session. 

At Cannon Group, we pride ourselves on getting the most in-depth view to make the most informed decisions. We factor in your budget, current environment, where your costs are, what your current business initiatives are, where you’d like to be, and many other variables relevant to your sourcing needs. Learning about your business allows us to gain visibility into the resources you are currently paying for and where this spend is going. One we fully understand your needs, we use this information to outline the right criteria to select the best partner for your business. 

Strategy Session

People are often shocked by how in-depth and thorough our strategy sessions are. To get the best price, you have to act on the best information. 

We research where the current market is and why people are moving to it. We touch on your pain points, review your current vendors, and address the problems (if any) associated with them. A criterion is created from this information that vendors must fit into to be considered. Your sourcing strategy may mean changing vendors. Cannon Group offers guidance and suggestions in this area to assist you through the decision-making process.

Evaluation and Selection

The process of selecting a vendor involves multiple rounds of negotiations. 

Cannon group creates a bid sheet and manages the complete bidding process and communication with vendors - no matter how many rounds it takes. A request for proposal (RFP) may be sent out to potential vendors to create a “short-list”. Those vendors who are short-listed will be interviewed or asked for clarification as needed to further narrow down the list. 

During the retained sourcing process, multiple rounds of read-outs will take place. Cannon Group receives the bids, presents them to your stakeholders, and receives feedback to take to the vendors. Through this, our team guides you to choose the best vendor that fits the agreed upon criteria.

Contract Negotiation

Once all proposals are reviewed and a vendor is chosen, we then request contracts to be sent in from the selected vendor. Contracts are then thoroughly reviewed with key stakeholders. Through our years of experience, we know that these contracts are more than likely incorrect the first time around. Cannon Group never overlooks any of these factors. We handle all the back and forth with the vendor, engage legal, and redline the terms and conditions to ensure you are getting exactly what you need with full transparency. 

Signature

Once contracts are done, of course, they must be signed. Gone are the days when constant follow-ups are needed to secure a signature. Let our team do the signature chasing for you to get your contracts closed in a timely manner, allowing your organization to look forward and continue to thrive.

Trust Cannon Group

The goal of sourcing is to select the vendor that will become your business’ new partner—not only to help you achieve your goals but to elevate them as well. The sourcing process is time-consuming and confusing to those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of vendor negotiation. As you know, Cannon Group takes things off your plate. Trust us with all your retained sourcing needs, so you can get back to doing what you’re good at—helping your business succeed.

Request a Quote on Your Next Sourcing Project

Fill out the form below to request a quote on your next sourcing project, whether your sourcing needs are on a retained or a one-off basis. An expert in our sourcing department will review your information and get back to you within 24 hours asking to set up a meeting and discuss the sourcing project further in order to give you a more in-depth quote. Thank you.