IDEA: After you notify your vendors of your current YTD ‘record’ purchases from them, ask them for a discount!

Assign someone in your AP department to run a YTD sales by vendor compared to last years total and similar YTD purchases.  Compare the totals and see if they are higher than the previous YTD purchases. If your purchases have grown during the past year, call the vendor, talk to your buyer and tell him you are giving him more sales on old pricing.  Ask him to go and speak with his boss about a reduction on future purchases to help out on larger purchases.  Tell him you really only want to deal with a couple of vendors like his company but you need a cost cut to feel good about narrowing down vendors. If he cannot give you volume discounts, ask him to prepare a list of ideas on how to cut your costs which he can offer or suggest.