How to Talk to Procurement

Carol Marks, VP of business management systems at Industrial Distribution Group, is often called upon to teach her own organization’s salespeople how to engage procurement professionals. Here are some of her recommendations:

Ditch the slides. Put away your PowerPoint slides and brochures, and instead arrive ready to have a business conversation. Supply leaders aren’t interested in your features and benefits; they’re interested in how you can help them meet their objectives.

Know your stuff. Be able to prove quickly that you have real expertise, can take away a procurement manager’s risk factors, are credible, and will be a smart negotiator. Bring ideas that benefit both the customer’s organization and yours.

Be open-minded. The best reps come in saying, “I’m not sure there’s a fit between our two organizations, but I’d love to talk to you about what we’ve done for organizations like yours.” Then succinctly communicate your key deliverables.

Get in early. If you wait until an RFP is issued, then you’re going to have a price conversation. At that point, procurement has already explored what it wants and now is simply going to match your price and capabilities against those offered by the supplier who got in early and influenced the RFP.