Purchasing and Negotiation Training

Finding a skilled and experienced consulting for purchasing matters is a very tough sourcing assignment for most clients – they do not know where to start.  The usual presenting symptom is a big loss, an auditor’s report, a financial disaster attributable to suppliers, or even a combination of these troubles.  Management sends purchasing and financial pros scurrying off in search of help.  Almost always, a major tandem problem is that they are not fully certain of what they want but they know they need help.  They also fear that there is much more bad news awaiting a detailed examination.   

Robert Menard

Certified Purchasing Professional,
Certified Professional Purchasing Consultant, Certified Green Purchasing Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Manager

In a post last year, I addressed some of the issues that clients raise as goals of a consulting engagement.  As a live example of how the purchasing consultant adds value, here is what a major current client requested and how we were mutually able to ratchet up the Return on Investment ROI).

 Goal               to identify strategies for cost savings

 Scope

• ·          Analyze current cost structure and make recommendations on how to reduce costs for goods and services purchased
• ·          Determine best purchasing strategy by identifying/determining the optimal costs for goods and services purchased
• ·          Make recommendations on effective organizational structure for procurement

He also included a PowerPoint presentation providing an overview of the supply chain with a few specifics on spend details.   

To be sure, the Goal is as clear as it is vague.  This is not uncommon.  The Scope is extremely short and open-ended, another very common occurrence.  But since this initial request came from a purchasing pro, he knew that hiring me would in some cases affirm what he already suspected but that there were many other issues that I would uncover in a full scale examination of the supply chain practices in place.   

The client had interviewed some of the big accounting and consulting houses, but was unsatisfied with what he found.  First, the proposed onsite talent is often newly minted MBAs or academics, neither of which is particularly skilled and experienced in professional purchasing.  Second, and this is borne of client representations, expertise in purchasing is a rare quality indeed even though purchasing is the greatest generator of cost savings and profitability in all of business.  I call this the “Rodney Dangerfield” syndrome; “I tell ya, we just get no respect.”   

The clincher for the client came when I responded to his question of what differentiated my services from those of my larger competitors.  My first statement was to reject the premise of competitors.  Consumers of purchasing consulting services cannot find the combination expertise as demonstrated by professional credentials of Certified Purchasing Professional (CPP), Certified Professional Purchasing  Manager, (CPPM), Certified Green Purchasing Professional, (CGPP), and especially Certified Professional Purchasing  Consultant (CPPC) in any other sources.  

consulting services

My range of skills in consulting, training, expert witness, author, and speaker are complementary meaning that clients want a consultant who knows, practices, and has gained the highest level of expertise in all areas of the profession.  A client list that any big house would envy is another asset.   

Large house consulting reports are notorious for lots of “what to do” and little “how to do it”. “How” matters more to clients since they already know most of the “what”!  My reports are punctuated with practical, implementable solutions with plenty of specifics on how to implement them.  This is the principal reason that my consulting clients are public and private, large and small, and that they recommend me.   

The best part for the client and me came when he asked if I would be “involved in negotiations with vendors on our behalf or the implementation of cost savings programs”. We want you to work alongside our team as required.  Since I enjoy working with client personnel, my answer was an enthusiastic affirmative.  Such occasions are hands-on training labs for which I coach client personnel before and debrief after the sessions.

He then raised another question about the terms of realized savings, seeking to learn if I intended to claim a share of ongoing savings.  My answer was a resounding NO. Most organizations of any type or size claim a share of savings.  This is not how I do business.  The client pays the fee and keeps all the savings.  I far prefer a happy client who hires me again and recommends my services to others.  When the client keeps paying, the relationship suffers.  

Finally, he asked if I was willing to train their people.  Training has long been a substantial part of my practice, having delivered more than 2,000 seminars, workshops and talks over two decades.   The preparation provided by the consulting work helped to substantially reduce the training fee so this was the final win-win outcome that sealed the deal.   

Competent and effective purchasing consultants are extremely rare but in the view of a satisfied client, worth the cost measured in a very high ROI.