Procurement can be considered the topmost priority for every business owner. Procurement involves dealing with suppliers and vendors for purchasing goods and services at the lowest possible prices. In fact, the entire market runs around this aspect. This kind of thing can be referred to as negotiations in deals. Negotiations are the most important factors in procurement. Such functions are directly connected to the success of your business. Procurement activities are conducted by many professionals including a procurement agent. Surprisingly, such an agent does every possible thing to make sure the business is running well through procurement. Their responsibilities also include proper negotiations of prices for acquiring the best items. Every single deal in procurement has a major aspect called negotiation.
A purchasing agent is considered one of the most important pillars of procurement. They are both desk and field operators and face the most risks in person. They are primarily responsible for negotiating with different suppliers around the world for quality, price, timeliness, and other important factors. Since a purchasing agent does most things in an organization for carrying out an entire process of procurement, they stay liable for any kind of misfunction or unfavorable circumstances. Further, while a business owner has other important work, such an agent takes on his/her part of procurement too for running procurement activities ideally. A purchasing agent also goes for factories in different countries.
Tips For Negotiation In Procurement
Various tips are there in the market. But only memorizing the top ones can eliminate any kind of confusion on your way to negotiation. In fact, any high-quality procurement agent follows the below-mentioned tips. At the same time, they suggest you have them injected into your veins to prosper in the field with very less or no time taken. Read on to know more!
The Good/Bad Guy Strategy
One of the most popular negotiation techniques till now is the Good Guy/Bad Guy – in this case, a person (good guy) appears to agree to your offer after negotiating a deal but then, he/she cannot call the shots or close the deal because the manager (bad guy) disapproves and sends back the good guy for renegotiation. If you are eager to turn the entire scenario in your favor, you should inform the salesman that you do not appreciate the good guy/bad guy technique at all and would only converse with the authority who can close the deal after offering you the final negotiated value without any further to and fro. This can lead to disarming the salesman.
The Subtle Art Of Walking Away
In this aspect, your boss strictly wants you to finish a procurement process as early as possible and at the best bargain. You have in your mind that this can be a turning point for the company you are working with. The second tip here talks about having the dare of walking away from a negotiation that seems like a great offer. Your supplier may say that it is the lowest price bided for you but you need to check their honesty. So, if you are a master of the subtle art of walking away, you can thereby win the situation and buy products indeed at the lowest possible prices.
No Range But Exact Price
There are some situations in which your supplier or salesman does not provide you with the exact price of a product. Instead, they offer you a sliding range of prices and that is definitely not the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. In these types of cases, the range of prices that are offered by the supplier is generally higher. They begin negotiation on the higher price so that you cannot negotiate much. Thus, this tip is to avoid any kind of situation where a supplier is offering any sliding price. Instead, ask your supplier for the lowest price at the very beginning. Any top-quality procurement agent would know and work on this matter every single time. Thus, they can also help you get field experience for better understanding.
Right To Persist On Price Reduction
Some suppliers can approach cleverly and quote a price regardless of the sliding range offered. You may think like this because it has happened a lot of times. In this case, you need to remember that you are not bound to negotiate with one vendor but you have a pool of vendors to deal with. Inform your supplier while negotiating that some others have offered you much lower than them for that particular product. Your negotiation is not over until you get the lowest possible price for the product you are looking for in the market.
Let No Salesman/Supplier Ride Your Emotions
This tip is considered the most important one for a buyer who might be the victim of the salesman’s manipulative skills. Such skills can undoubtedly cause trouble to your emotions. A second salesman may have the manipulative skill of getting into your personal space and utilizing your personal emotions as an advantage. Thus, keeping these things in mind, you should never let your salesman or supplier play with your emotions because these things are extremely professional. You can still make things fun and build a rapport but you must keep the professionalism in the right place intact.
A procurement agent has always been a blessing to a company. Their work efficiency has always resulted in being great for a business. By now, it can be said that if anyone can run procurement ideally and effectively, one will always be a purchasing agent. Such a professional cannot undergo any kind of replacement anytime in life.
