Why Don’t Purchasing Managers Negotiate?

One of the things we’ve noticed over the course of working with a wide range of purchasing managers and suppliers is that the majority of purchasing managers don’t negotiate. This observation is based on our own experiences, as well as conversations with numerous suppliers. While suppliers aren’t complaining about the fact that more purchasing managers aren’t trying to negotiate, almost all of them have made it clear that they would be open to negotiating a deal. Since this trend marks quite a bit of missed opportunities for most purchasing managers, we want to cover some tactics that any purchasing manager can use to easily negotiate more of their deals: Take Time to Prepare Research has found that 62% of people who engage in negotiations spend less than 60 minutes getting prepared. While that may not seem like a very big deal, the reality of negotiating is it’s all about how you go into this situation. Without proper preparation, the experience is going to be much more stressful than necessary. By taking the time to do all necessary research and really get yourself ready for the conversation, you’ll find that you have the confidence needed to be highly persuasive. Utilize Open Questions Because negotiations can take many different forms, there are numerous strategies that someone can utilize during the course of striking a deal. Open questions are one of the most underutilized forms of negotiating. The reason this type of question works so well during a negotiation is because it puts you in control by making it very difficult for the other party to evade what you’re asking. Know What You’re Trying to Accomplish Although this may sound obvious, plenty of people enter into situations involving a negotiation without first defining their specific objective. Since negotiations are all about give and take, it’s generally best to set an ideal objective, as well as a realistic objective. And depending on your willingness to work with a supplier, it may also make sense to have a walk away limit. Don’t Be Overly Competitive While negotiating can provide you with a rush of excitement, that doesn’t mean you want to get too caught up in the competitive aspect of this tactic. When people enter a negotiation with the outlook that they’re going to win every single deal point, they end up sabotaging what could have otherwise been a very positive experience for both parties. As you can see from the above tactics, negotiating is a skill just like any other. As a result, it can take some time to feel really confident as a negotiator. But as long as you commit to negotiating and make an effort to continuously improve, you’ll be very happy with the results that you begin to get from this practice.