Procurement Teams are Not the Enemy. They’re the Gatekeepers.
Sales professionals often view procurement as the place where deals go to die. We see them as margin killers. We see them as bureaucratic hurdles.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the buying center. We celebrate the "closer," but we fail to prepare them for the chess match that happens after the pitch. When we treat procurement as a roadblock, we lose control of the deal. We lose margin. We lose velocity.
In this podcast, I spoke with Caldwell Hart, Principal at Avetta and a former Chief Procurement Officer, about the reality of the other side of the table. We explored why leading organizations do not buy on price and how the best sellers use "elegant negotiables" to create win-win scenarios. Here is how to stop fearing the gatekeeper and start closing the value gap.
1. Stop Pitching Price and Start Selling “Total Value”
The biggest misconception in sales is that procurement only cares about the bottom line.
This is false.
Leading organizations do not buy on price. They buy on competitive advantage. They buy supply chain resilience. They buy risk mitigation. When sellers enter a negotiation assuming the goal is the lowest price, they have already lost.
If you come in with a generic, "vanilla" pitch, you are a commodity. Commodities get squeezed on price. Solutions get purchased for value. And, if you deliver a standardized talk track to a highly engineered organization, you lose credibility. You do not just lose the deal; you lose the right to compete.
What enablement should train sellers to do:
- Audit the buyer’s annual report
Before the call, look at the buyer’s public filings. Find their risks. Find their ESG goals. Tie your solution to their corporate strategy, not just their department budget. - Define the value drivers
Shift the conversation from "cost" to "total cost of ownership." Highlight lead times. Highlight on-time delivery. These are the metrics that keep a CPO up at night. - Ditch the generic script
Procurement sees through a "one-size-fits-all" pitch immediately. Tailor the message to their specific industry challenges, or do not pitch at all.
2. The Invitation Is Not Optional. It Is Strategic.
Sales reps often hide the deal from procurement for as long as possible. They fear the "no." They fear the process. This is a tactical error, and until the eleventh hour to involve procurement does not save the deal. It kills the velocity.
Procurement has a process. Legal has a process. If you ignore this, you will miss your forecast. Caldwell shared a stark example from a European multinational where they failed to bring legal into the discussion early.
The result? The deal dragged on for 5 months. Then, the pricing expired. And negotiations have to restart from zero.
Procurement does not want to slow you down. They have internal stakeholders who need your product, but they cannot speed up a process they are not part of.
What enablement needs to do:
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- Map the buying center early
Do not guess. Ask the question: "Walk us backward from the signature." Identify every stakeholder who needs to touch the contract. - Force the introduction
If your champion is hiding procurement, that is a red flag. A true champion facilitates the connection. Make early engagement a stage-gate requirement. - Define the timeline
Do not rely on the champion’s optimism. Ask procurement directly about their sourcing process. Uncover the compliance requirements before you set the close date.
- Map the buying center early
3. Master the “Elegant Negotiable”
Price is a blunt instrument. Sophisticated sellers use a scalpel.
“Elegant negotiables" are items of high value to the buyer that do not necessarily erode margin. And, it is about working capital, risk, and access.
You might trade payment terms for price protection. You might offer a sixty-day payment window in exchange for a longer contract commitment. You might offer access to a Customer Advisory Board or a beta program. These trades build partnership.
Relying on discounts and rebates is lazy selling. Caldwell notes that these tactics often drive bad behavior, like over-ordering inventory that eventually becomes obsolete. That hurts both sides. Instead, trade on value.
What enablement needs to do:
- Build a trading matrix
Equip your sellers with a defined list of "gives" and "gets." Know exactly what a concession costs the business and exactly what it is worth to the procurement officer. - Quantify the trade
Never give something away for free. If you offer a concession on terms, extract value in return. This builds respect and signals that you are a partner, not a pushover. - Look beyond the invoice
Train reps to offer non-monetary value. Access to leadership, training credits, or spare parts packages can often close a gap that a price discount cannot.
4. AI Will Run the Auction. You Must Run the Relationship.
Transactional deals are moving to automation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is running the request-for-quotation (RFQ). AI is analyzing the spend.
Caldwell predicts that if you are just a vendor selling a part, you will eventually be replaced by an algorithm. The "three bids and a buy" process is becoming autonomous.
But for strategic deals, the human element is the differentiator. Technology cannot build trust. It cannot read the room.
The negotiation is just the wedding. But, the contract is the marriage. You must prove you are a partner for the long haul.
If you rely solely on the tech to manage the deal, you leave value on the table. You miss the nuance that turns a one-time transaction into a ten-year partnership.
What enablement needs to do:
- Simulate the negotiation
Use AI to prepare, not just to execute. Build procurement personas and let your reps roleplay the tough questions before they get on the call. - Focus on the post-signature reality
Don't just sell the deal. Sell the relationship. Show procurement how you will make them look good to their internal stakeholders after the ink is dry. - Don't automate empathy
AI is great for data, but terrible at active listening. Train your reps to use the time freed up by AI to deepen the personal connection.
What Sales Enablement Leaders Should Do Next.
The "us vs. them" mentality is obsolete. You cannot win if you treat procurement as the enemy.
To lead in this new reality, you must change the enablement strategy:
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Audit your sales process
Check where procurement is introduced. If it is typically at the contract stage, move it up. Force the handoff earlier. -
Train financial acumen
Ensure your reps understand how to read an annual report. If they cannot speak the language of "Total Cost of Ownership," they cannot sell value. -
Create the “Give/Get” playbook
Do not let reps negotiate on the fly. Give them the approved list of elegant negotiables. Define what you are willing to trade and exactly what you expect in return.
🎧 Listen to the Full Conversation
Ray Makela and Caldwell Hart go deep on how to decode procurement, use elegant negotiables, and turn the gatekeeper into a champion.