Getting a (deserved?) bad rap

Recently, I had occasion to have a really great conversation with a contracts guy. His team comes in after the sales people have done their work, along with the pricing team, and they put a contract in place.

It’s heavy negotiation work, have to be on your toes, and every day, he sits across the table from…well…from people like me. Procurement reps.

This very successful and hardworking gentleman said, “now, let’s see…Procurement. So you are the people who just say no all the time, right?”

I explained that I understood why he had that observation. That many of my peers had certainly earned that reputation, and it was deserved. But it was not the hallmark of all Procurement professionals.

He replied, “well…we’re trying to make a sale, we can’t just go find another vendor.”

I nodded, and said, “well, I’ve worked deals on behalf of the CIO of our company. You don’t really tell him no.”

The Contracts Man nodded. But he was still skeptical.

I could speak to him, at length, about how I’m not that sort of Procurement person. That yes, I’ve said my share of “no” to suppliers around the globe, but that my main goal, day in and day out, is to get the deal DONE.

But each day at work, he has to deal with government contracts, mostly. Government procurement really are the kings and queens of “no”.

So, sadly, because he’s been there, seen that, got many tshirts, I’ll never be able to convince this incredible negotiator that I actually understand his plight. That I get it. That I might even be on his side.

Ah well, we were able to bond over limitation of liabilities, so we’ll always have that…..