Tropic

Intelligent Spend Management has arrived. In 2019, a procurement pro shared his biggest pain point: "no one wants to eat lunch with my team." This post is for him. That always stuck with me. If you are dealing with: -low visibility -fragmented purchasing process -overspend -no information on suppliers your teams want This post is for you too. The reason "no one wants to each lunch with us" stuck with me is because the spend management problem was deeper than people, process, and tech. It was existential. Spend management was undervalued. The investors who passed on Tropic us said "tech companies don't care about saving money." We believed that they soon would. 500+ customers later we have received that validation. We also believed that "consumer grade _____ platform" is not a winning strategy in the long-term. Anyone can build anything... If you want to create differentiated value for your customers, and become their secret weapon, you need to marry that platform with differentiated intelligence. Logically, we focused on supplier intelligence. We built a massive database. Why? Because in SaaS, large companies hold an unfair advantage over small companies because they control access to information. They alone know the quality, cost, and operability of their products. And they don't want buyers to know these things, because it threatens their monopolies. Intelligent Spend Management solves this problem. By giving finance and procurement professionals easy-to-use tools and unrestricted access to intelligence, we are leveling the playing field. This is Intelligent Spend Management. In the future we imagine, everyone has unbridled access to all information and tools to action on it instantly. The best platforms rise to the top because they are the best, not because they are the biggest. Come see how our intelligence works August 21 at 1pm ET: https://lnkd.in/g8cpY3Ua

Want to see Tropic Supplier Intelligence in action? Don’t miss this conversation! Save your seat to see Srinivas S., Tropic VP of Product & Data, and Tommy Noonan, Group Product Manager, do a live introduction of our self-serve #data solution Supplier Intelligence. It’s no secret that #software negotiations are a time-consuming, uphill battle full of challenges: 👉 Time is lost seeking out pricing data that ends up being unreliable 👉 You get stuck in endless negotiations against sellers who have a clear advantage 👉 You miss out on prioritizing the real opportunities to save big In this webinar, you’ll learn how Supplier Intelligence solves these pains and makes the best use of your time and money. 📅👋 See you on August 21 at 1pm ET: https://lnkd.in/g8cpY3Ua

#CEO David Campbell explains Tropic’s journey to Intelligent Spend Management. 🚀 It’s been a week full of major announcements as we’ve unveiled our brand, website, and self-serve #data solution Supplier Intelligence. From our procurement-as-a-service roots to #SaaS 2.0 and Intelligent Spend Management, Tropic's evolution has always been focused on leveling the buyer-seller playing field. It’s time to make technology a buyer’s market. Check out our latest blog below 👇

What if you could maximize the ROI of your buying decisions…in minutes? Now you can. We’re proud to announce the release our new self-serve #data product Supplier Intelligence. 🎉 Supplier Intelligence levels the playing field, so you can maximize the ROI of your #SaaS purchases. ▶ Know what you should pay for SaaS with unbiased benchmark data ▶ Buy with confidence using the same supplier-specific negotiation playbooks our experts use ▶ Prioritize the deals that have actual savings potential It’s all the answers and leverage you need to get better pricing and run more efficiently, right at your fingertips. 🌴 Want to know more? 👉 Check out this blog: https://lnkd.in/gJgHAUnH 👉 Save your seat for our live webinar on August 21st where we’ll introduce Supplier Intelligence: https://lnkd.in/g8cpY3Ua #spendmanagement #finance #procurement

We’re giving buyers maximum leverage to drive savings and efficiency at any stage. 🌴 Get acquainted with our updated brand, website, and easy-to-use platform that combines: ▶ Spend management capabilities ▶ Unbiased self-serve commercial intelligence It’s an intelligent approach to spend management. Learn more at https://www.tropicapp.io/ Stay tuned tomorrow to find out how we’re making technology a buyer’s market! 👀 #spendmanagement #finance #procurement

We’re thrilled to announce Maya Connet as our VP of Global Sales 🚀 Maya brings over a decade of experience leading successful #sales orgs and building long-standing partnerships. Most recently, she led commercial and global inside sales at Clari during their growth from series C-F. In her words: “Every single company I have worked with in the last few years is focused on spend visibility, supplier consolidation, and adoption/value delivery optimization…companies are trying to do more with less and Tropic is well-positioned to help them do this sustainably and at scale.” Get to know Maya in our full announcement 👉 https://lnkd.in/eYvBGhbY

A CTO told me this week he doesn’t negotiate renewals. Here’s why this is a mistake. First, it’s not like he wasn’t having his team negotiate ANY contracts. They were just ONLY focusing on new purchases. And of course there’s lots of opportunity there. So why weren’t they taking a harder look at renewals? He said he tried one or two, but wasn't successful. So he stopped. And instead, they just started waving them through with no push back. This is wrong. Now, more than ever, renewals NEED to be a focus given the macros dynamics. Here’s what’s going on: Pre-2023, software companies were doubling everywhere you looked. Organic growth was a major driver: companies were hiring like crazy, and they needed more software. 10% organic growth was the norm, while many were at 50%+. Post-2023, growth fell off a cliff - basically no public or growth stage SaaS company today is growing 50%. Their customers are cutting volume left and right, impacting their reliable organic growth. Shareholders are pushing their companies to replace that organic growth anywhere possible. So what’s the response? 🔸 Price uplifts 🔸 New pricing and packaging 🔸 Rigid auto-renewals Pre-2023, the average price increase at renewal was 3-5%. Post-2023, the average price increase is 8-15%. If you aren’t treating your renewals with the same attention as your new purchases, you are leaving boatloads of cash on the table. And that cash only compounds; the longer it goes unaddressed, the bigger your problems are for the future.

Tropic has always been focused on leveling the playing field for buyers. ⚖️ #Finance and #procurement teams need more than strong spend management capabilities. They also need access to transparent market data to make efficient and informed buying decisions. What else could you accomplish if you had the controls to manage spend more effectively and the benchmarks & playbooks to buy more confidently right at your fingertips? $10B in spend under management later, we’re ready to deliver a level playing field. Stay tuned to find out how…spilling ALL the updates and details next week 👀

The easiest way to negotiate the lowest price on any purchase: TIMING. Here’s a few recommendations from what we’ve seen across customers: 1) Set your renewal alerts 90 days before the OPT OUT DATE Note: this is NOT the same as the renewal date. Example: if you have a 60 day opt out, with a 90 day reminder you only have 30 days, which puts the timing benefit in the supplier’s hands. Time will give you more leverage and credibility in your purchase processes. You can 2.5x your savings opportunity by starting your renewal motion six months in advance rather than one. 2) Time your purchases around key dates for suppliers This is almost always their end of quarter or end of year. Learn what your supplier’s fiscal year is, and structure your buying process around an end of quarter signature. Doesn't matter if it’s a new purchase, renewal, or expansion. New purchases that are signed in the last month of the fiscal quarter have 2-3x the discount percentage. The compounding effect of a thoughtful purchasing cadence will massively benefit your spend efficiency. If you want to know the quarter end date for any relatively mainstream supplier send me a DM and I'll pull the data for you!

When it comes to sourcing, people often ask 1 question when they should actually be asking 2. (And the missed impact is substantial!) I could talk for days about sourcing. I think it’s often done inefficiently. At the same time, I think too few organizations make sourcing a priority. Check out my 2 minute video about the importance of understanding the distinction between these questions. And let me know what you think! I post these videos partly because I want to share what I’ve learned and also because I want to continue to learn from this awesome network and you all have awesome comments and ideas. #procurement #spend #sourcing