Survey: Purchasing Priorities in 2014 - Member Content

This survey asked custodial operations managers what was most important when purchasing products and equipment for their departments, and the results were quite surprising. In fact, there was a huge shift in responses from even just one year ago.

Most notably, the lowest cost was no longer the top consideration when purchasing. In fact, responses dropped by 42 percentage points. Equally as surprising was the increase in managers looking for distributor and manufacturer dependability when it came to purchasing.

But that increase in dependability was validated once it was revealed that more managers were purchasing directly from distributors and manufacturers directly, as oppose to through a wholesaler or big-box store.

The survey goes on to reveal what influences purchasing decisions, products and equipment managers expect to buy in the next 12 months, and where these executives go to look for product information.

Lastly, managers are quick to express their satisfaction with the value-added services provided by industry distributors. In fact, in the last four years, managers have slowly increased the amount and types of services they use from their distributor.