WHAT'S HOT

By Susan Avery, Information Technology Editor -- Purchasing, 2/22/2001

Here's more ammunition for getting purchasing involved in the computer equipment buy: Nearly every corporate buyer responding to a new PURCHASING Magazine survey says technology suppliers are using all sorts of techniques from the tried and true to the brand new to try to entice end users into buying their goods and services. Backdoor salespeople ply engineers and other unsuspecting product end users with offers of dinner, tickets to sporting events and other gifts or contact them by telephone and, increasingly, e-e-mail to pitch their wares. Savvy companies thwart these ploys by establishing-and enforcing-strong purchasing policy. "Nothing gets purchased unless purchasing is involved," says one survey respondent. Corporate purchasing operations also find that letting end-user groups in on the supplier selection helps stop backdoor salespeople from infiltrating the organization.