Ten yes/no questions. Honest answers. If you score under 7 — you are almost certainly overpaying, and this guide shows you exactly what to do about it.
Answer honestly. One point for each "yes." Score at the end.
If you cannot name a figure within 10% for each of your five biggest supplier relationships, your spend is unmanaged. You cannot negotiate what you cannot see.
Auto-renewing without testing the market is the single most common source of overpayment. Ofgem found SMEs on auto-renewal pay 20–40% above competitive rates for energy alone.
If you do not have a benchmark — a reference price from an independent source — you have no way to know whether your supplier is charging fairly. IQ Benchmark publishes these free.
Three quotes is the minimum for meaningful competitive tension. One or two quotes gives the supplier negotiating power. Three or more shifts it to you.
Paying a supplier that goes insolvent mid-contract leaves you with no recourse. A basic Companies House check takes 2 minutes and is free. IQ Protection does it automatically on every transaction.
A verbal agreement or email chain is not a contract. Without a written contract specifying price, term, scope, and payment, you have no mechanism to enforce pricing or claim damages.
Suppliers who are never reviewed have no incentive to improve. Annual reviews create the conversation that leads to better terms, better service, or a change of supplier.
In most SMEs, procurement is done by whoever ordered it last. Informal buying — "maverick spend" — consistently costs 20–40% more than managed procurement. CIPS 2025 put the UK average at 72% of SME spend being unmanaged.
Paying some suppliers in 7 days and others in 60 creates cash flow pressure and missed early-payment discount opportunities. Standardising terms is pure financial efficiency.
Most businesses find out their supplier has a problem when something goes wrong. Real-time monitoring — what IQ Monitor provides — means you know before it affects you.
List every supplier you pay more than £2,000/year to. Rank by spend. The top three are your audit targets. This takes 20 minutes with a bank statement or accounting software export.
Visit IQ Benchmark Index at bundleiq.co.uk/iq-benchmark-index.html for sector-specific reference rates. Check the ONS materials price index for construction and manufacturing inputs. Check Ofgem's published rates for energy. These are all free.
For any category where your current price is above benchmark — get 3 competitive quotes. Give your existing supplier a chance to match. If you cannot easily find alternative suppliers, join a Bundle IQ buying pool. We aggregate demand, run the tender, and publish results. Free for buyers.
Whatever terms you agree — get them in a written contract. Price, term, scope, payment terms, exit clause. IQ Protection generates a formal contract on every Bundle IQ transaction automatically. For existing supplier relationships, a simple one-page letter of agreement is better than nothing.
If you scored under 7, you are leaving money on the table every month. The Hackett Group puts the average overpayment for organisations without procurement expertise at 30–40%. On a £200,000 annual supplier spend, that is £60,000–£80,000 per year. You do not need a procurement department to recover it. You need to tender your top three categories competitively. Bundle IQ does that for you — free for buyers.
Join a buying pool, raise a request, or browse the IQ Benchmark Index. Free for buyers. No subscription. You only pay when you save.
See buying pools → Check benchmark prices