Leading supplier negotiations is one of the most stressful, but highest impact, parts of strategic sourcing. Strategies and tactics that work with one supplier may lead to the opposite result with another. While you ultimately want to arrive at a result that serves all parties, you don’t always get there without some hurdles.
We want to give you the tools and insight you need to improve supplier negotiations at every level– from preparations all the way to execution and beyond.
Listen to some of our favorite podcast episodes to hear directly from lawyers, authors, founders, and other procurement powerhouses as they offer you supplier negotiation advice taken straight from their own experiences.
Episode 377: A Practical Guide to e-Auctions for Procurement
“Auctions are not only about driving the price down. They are about having a fair, transparent, and extremely efficient process. And if you do that, in the long run, you will get the true market price.”
While newer procurement professionals may not use auctions as a go-to strategy, they offer significant opportunities as a negotiation tactic for achieving maximum ROI on a compressed timeframe.
In this episode, you’ll hear from Jacob Gorm Larsen, Head of Digital Procurement for Maersk and the author of “A Practical Guide to E-Auctions for Procurement: How to Maximize Impact with e-Sourcing and e-Negotiation.’” He’ll give you insight into the history of auctions, their place in value creation, and how you can improve supplier communication for lasting relationships.
Episode 262: Childcare, Ducks, and Power – Negotiation Tips from the Trenches!
“What I have learned is that, in almost every single one of the negotiations or strategies that I have developed and executed and provided oversight for, previously unheard of returns were all based on the strategy of really understanding what is important to the other party and working with them to provide it in a way that gives a mutual win.”
There’s a lot to consider when entering into supplier negotiations. Balancing your needs and theirs, preparing to fight the good fight to find a middle ground, and treading lightly with your strategy–it can all make anyone’s head spin.
In this episode, Phillip Ideson, Founder of AOP, shares three negotiation tips based on his experience as a procurement practitioner and entrepreneur–and yes, clues you into what childcare, ducks, and power have in common with negotiation in the procurement world.
Episode 261: Maintaining Relationships Through a Tough Negotiation
“The number one tenant to maintaining a relationship, at any time but especially after a difficult negotiation is trust.”
As great as it would be to execute a contract and get to the term’s end with no issues and happy parties on both sides, that isn’t always reality. Things change, and sometimes you find yourself in tense mid-contract negotiations. If tough negotiations leave one or both sides with a sour taste in their mouth, where do you go from there?
In this episode, Phillip Ideson shares his experience in these exact scenarios and offers his advice for mending and maintaining supplier relationships, no matter how rough of a go your negotiations were.
Episode 173: Lessons Learned in Contract Negotiations from a Trial Lawyer, Mediator, and Contract Coach
“Negotiators will develop the big strategy. We need the best possible price and the best possible delivery and the best possible quality. But what people are not doing is developing the strategy for the individual meetings and calls that matter.”
Procurement has always played a facilitating role, that’s a fact. Whether or not organizations recognize that–and, more importantly, capitalize on that–can mean the difference in how smoothly contract negotiations go with a supplier.
In this episode, Jeanette Nyden, Commercial Contract Coach and J. Nyden & Co. and co-author of ‘Getting to We: Negotiating Agreements for Highly Collaborative Relationships,’ focuses on the power that leveraging procurement as a facilitator has on negotiations and shares lessons you can use to build arguments that empower secure and balanced deals.
Episode 107: 5 Tips to Maintaining Your Supplier Relationship after a Tough Negotiation
“[You’ll want to maintain your relationships] not necessarily for the betterment of the individual relationship but to maintain your reputation as a fair and ethical company.”
After a difficult supplier negotiation, it’s understandable if you feel the lingering sting of broken trust and tension–but neither party should have to relinquish the strong relationship you previously enjoyed.
In this episode, Phillip Ideson offers listeners five tactics you can use to repair and preserve your supplier relationships post-negotiation and get back to the work of creating value and driving outcomes for the business.
Episode 102: How to Understand Cost & Enable Fact-Based Supplier Relationships
“Just knowing the cost is a good thing, but not enough–that is just the foundation of a cost management strategy. You have to understand the cost before you can manage it.”
If you’re going to approach supplier negotiations in a way that sets you up for successful long-term relationships, you have to dig deeper and discover the drivers behind the cost itself.
In this episode, Jimmy Anklesaria, Founder of Anklesaria Group, guides you through the most important parts of the negotiation process, the power of data in understanding key cost drivers, and the responsibilities you, as a procurement professional, hold in using acquired data in your supplier negotiation strategies.
