Imagine the feeling: after months of courting a new client, who has given every indication that a lucrative contract award is imminent, you receive an email from their procurement team. The letter states that there will be a competitive bidding process; that all bidders must agree up-front to standard (onerous) terms and conditions, and that any attempt to speak directly with the client will result in expulsion from the process.
How to Negotiate with a Procurement Team
Two key ways to improve outcomes.
February 06, 2020
Summary.
Service providers often feel frustrated when they are funneled into a procurement process to win deals with clients. Their choice, as they see it, is either to walk away, or capitulate to procurement’s rules, thus losing the opportunity for potentially significant value creation (and future profit). They enter a predicament called “winning the pitch but losing the negotiation.” But it doesn’t have to be this way. Rather than deciding how to respond to ultimata and threats, sellers can instead use two key moves to improve their fortunes: Analyze the set-up and shape the process.