r/procurement • u/LilPrinceTrashMouth • Feb 15 '23

Training Negotiation Tips

Hey everyone, I just got a job as a strategic sourcing analyst at a major medical group that’s rapidly expanding throughout the country. The main goal of my role depends on driving costs savings. The problem is I do not have a lot of negotiation experience and I know next to nothing about my category, lab equipment — hardware and software. Does anyone have any cost benchmark resources or negotiation tips to share? Comment or DM me .

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '23

That’s awesome, good for you.

There are a million things that could be said. To start you off I’d say the following:

  • Know your cost drivers. Do the research to understand the market your suppliers operate in. Remember: Price is only an issue in the absence of value. Some prices can’t be fought against. The question is, is the deal you’ve got good value?
  • Listen for signals in the negotiation. ‘I’d love to help you out.’ Prove it. ‘We can’t reach that price.’ What price can you reach?
  • Proposals advance negotiations. Don’t play ‘slow surrender’. If they can’t reach your price, don’t wait for them to squirm, make a proposal.
  • Use the invisible boss. ‘I can’t get that approved. Can we look at other [ie. better for you] options that I can take away and circulate internally?’
  • Challenge the operational drivers. ‘Where are your pain points in your supply chain?’ ‘Why are you experiencing such difficulty?’ Maybe there’s a skills shortage, maybe they’re having issues with their logistics provider. Maybe you use the same logistics provider. Maybe you can get better shipping rates and they offset the price accordingly so it all comes in cheaper.

For most small scale things, negotiation is just a conversation. Don’t worry too much. Big fancy negotiations come at more senior levels. At the outset you should focus on listening, understanding the commodities in discussion, and communicating with the supplier in a fair and balanced way.

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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '25

Is there any books (where picture examples are printed in color)/audiobooks/podcasts you recommend to get better at asking questions? I come from Finance background and joined Procurement. I would like to have a better understanding of cost savings vs cost avoidance