Do you think of your prospects’ Procurement departments as your adversaries? People to avoid for as long as possible? Blockers that delay or diminish your deal? Or perhaps as people that make things difficult for you at the negotiating table? Some sales coaches advocate for taking a partnering approach to sales. But does that also mean taking a partnering approach to dealing with Procurement? Is partnering with Procurement even possible? And what would be the benefits? Those are the questions I will be answering in this article.
I talked to Fred Copestake about partnering with Procurement as a guest on his podcast, Sales Today. Fred is a best-selling author and he is all about taking a partnering approach to selling. In fact, one of his books is called, “Selling through partnering skills”.
Fred and I agree that sales people can benefit significantly from adopting a partnering approach when dealing with Procurement. However, there are certain things to consider before you go full out on partnering with Procurement. I’ll go through 3 of those considerations now.
Is Procurement “grown-up” enough to partner?
The first consideration is Procurement’s maturity. The Procurement department you are dealing with may not be “grown-up” enough to enter into a partnership. Over time most Procurement teams have evolved away from the traditional Old School tactical function, towards a more modern strategic function.
But not all Procurement departments have yet reached the same evolutionary stage. And if they are mostly Old School, it’ll be a waste of your time to try to partner with them. So how do you know whether you’re dealing with Old School or Modern procurement people?
Well, you can make your own assessment by looking at what Procurement is focusing on. What are the dynamics like in meetings with other stakeholders? Are they performing a clerical function, or do they add valuable business input to discussions?
Partnering with Procurement to cost optimise
The second thing to consider is whether what you are selling aligns with Procurement’s core agenda. The core agenda is about money – it’s about contributing to the financial health of their organisations. But it’s not about price. It’s about being able to deliver Value For Money, lower Total Cost of Ownership and Tangible Business Value. I talk more about this in the article, Think Procurement only cares about price? You’re wrong!
Modern Procurement functions want to work with vendors to achieve Value For Money, lower Total Cost of Ownership and Tangible Business Value. So, if you, as a sales person, have something significant to offer in those areas, you are going to be in a very decent position to collaborate and partner.
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Who is the “Trusted Adviser” anyway?
The last thing I want to highlight is that it’s not just sales reps that want to be considered Trusted Advisers to prospects and customers. Procurement aspires to the same Trusted Adviser status. And that could actually turn out to be a great opportunity for collaborating and building partnerships.
That’s particularly true in situations where Procurement is trying to convince sceptical stakeholders that they should explore a particular option. If the sales person can then provide proof that helps build a stronger case for that option, the Procurement person will emerge as a well-informed and credible trusted advisor. And in return, the sales person is likely to make a sale, assuming the option we’re talking about aligns with the sales persons offering.
I’ve been in that situation myself as a procurement professional. I tried to convince stakeholders to consider a different approach – a new type of solution. I was told it couldn’t be done, that a solution like that didn’t exist. The attitude change once I found a company that miraculously could do the “impossible” – that could do what I had been told couldn’t be done. Of course, that company ended up winning the business.
So, in summary, before partnering with Procurement, consider whether:
- The Procurement function is mature enough;
- What you sell aligns with Procurement’s core agenda; and
- There’s scope for supporting the procurement professional in being perceived as a Trusted Adviser.
If dealing more effectively with Procurement is important to you, then you could really benefit from subscribing to my LinkedIn newsletter called, “Selling to Procurement”. I share new tips and insights every week and you will NOT be asked to enter an email address to subscribe. Just click here, and once you are on the LinkedIn platform, hit the subscribe button.
