Brokers fees are cheaper aren't they?

Brokers get paid by suppliers in addition to any fee you may pay them to do the job for you. These invisible commissions vary enormously with many of the cheapest suppliers paying little or no commission to a broker. How can a broker "impartially" offer the best terms in these circumstances?

CEC is truly impartial and will determine the most economic option for your supplies. We have the incentive to negotiate the lowest possible price.

Brokers can get the same deals can't they?

Brokers send out tenders, sort the responses and arrange for an offer to be accepted. They have no incentive to go further.

CEC starts off with a tender and follows up with active negotiations. This process targets both the best price and contract structure.

Who administers the contract?

Negotiating a contract is only half the job. Once the contract is signed, a Broker walks away. Who then sorts out delayed starts, registration problems, invoice errors, overcharges? If you use a Broker, you do.

CEC offers full administrative back up to make sure the deal really happens. Trouble shooting is all part of the service and takes up more than 50% of the time we spend on client accounts.

Why not compete with the Broker to improve on their prices?

Unfortunately, this just cannot be done. Suppliers work in a high-pressure environment and are unwilling to work with more than one consultant. Why would they want to negotiate the same business twice?

From past experience we know that if we try and compete with a Broker, suppliers quickly lose interest and negotiations fizzle out. This results in lukewarm prices, which benefits nobody. In practice, we can only do our job properly if we are sole external consultants.