The role of purchasing in the value chain: That is why the right negotiation tactics in purchasing are so important.

Negotiation in purchasing, also called procurement, plays an important role in every company. Those who negotiate well make a significant contribution to reducing costs for a company, improving the quality of goods and services and optimising the supply chain. Negotiation is often unavoidable as the cost of raw materials and other resources often fluctuates and the demand for goods and services is volatile. Successful negotiation can therefore help to increase the company's profitability and enhance its competitiveness in the market. Long-term partnerships with suppliers can also be built and strengthened with successful procurement negotiations, reducing the risk of supply shortages and quality problems. Overall, procurement negotiations are an important part of business success, contribute to the company's value creation and therefore require well thought-out negotiation tactics in purchasing.

Negotiation tactics for purchasing: Pay attention to the negotiation process and turn it to your advantage.

Good negotiating tactics for purchasing require that you know the process of price negotiations & Co. Only if you know how a purchasing negotiation is structured can you plan your tactics accordingly and deal appropriately with possible objections from your negotiating partner.

Getting started: securing negotiating power right at the start of the meeting

The start of a negotiation meeting shapes the starting position. Take the lead in the negotiation and prevent sales pitches from salespeople right from the start. Ask for all the facts that interest you personally right at the start. By immediately gaining the upper hand, you clarify the balance of power and make the seller understand that you are the customer with needs and requirements that the seller must fulfil.

End of the negotiation process: Conclusion of negotiations

In the finalisation phase, the final terms of the agreement are determined and recorded in writing. Here it is important to clearly define all agreements and ensure that both sides fully understand and accept them.

Basis for your purchasing negotiation tactics: The right negotiation strategy

If you think about which strategy is the best approach for a particular negotiating partner before you start negotiating, you will be better able to use purchasing negotiation tactics during a negotiation meeting.

Pressure-based strategies

Strategies that are designed to force one's own interests on the other side are also called assertive strategies. This type of strategy is based on hard bargaining tactics in purchasing, in which an interlocutor takes a strong position and uses persuasion, pressure and occasionally the threat of possible consequences to try to push through his or her own negotiating goals. This often involves making clear demands in order to put the other side under pressure and persuade them to compromise. Exploiting negotiating power can achieve short-term success in certain situations, but requires careful planning and preparation in advance. In the long term, it can complicate or even damage relationships with the negotiating partner. In addition, it is important to remain flexible and to react to changes if necessary in order to achieve a successful negotiation. After all, your negotiating partner does not always allow himself to be put under pressure.

Defensive strategies: conducting negotiations in a spirit of partnership

The balance of power is already clear before negotiations begin and you are in the weaker position? Perhaps a long-term business relationship with your negotiating partner is important to you? With the defensive strategy, you primarily protect your own interests and minimise risks and disadvantages. However, make sure that you do not act too passively and thus miss out on important opportunities.

Partnership-based compromise strategy: a middle way to successful negotiations

A so-called win-win strategy presupposes that both sides have the goal of finding a joint solution that benefits both parties. It is not just about maximising one's own profit, but rather about finding common interests and creating added value for all parties involved. This strategy is neither aggressive nor compliant, but rather co-operative. Especially in long-term business relationships, this strategy creates a positive atmosphere and strengthens trust between the parties. However, make sure that you do not make too many concessions and thereby neglect your own interests.

Negotiation tactics in purchasing: 8 negotiation tips to reach your goal

If you are able to formulate and communicate your interests and goals and ultimately achieve them, you have so-called negotiating skills. However, negotiating skills are not everything you need for your negotiating tactics in purchasing. In the following, we will present negotiation tricks that will help you achieve your desired negotiation outcome:

2. formulate negotiation objectives clearly and keep them in mind

A successful purchasing negotiation is not only based on careful preparation, but also on the formulation of clear objectives. Purchasing negotiations take place between at least two parties who usually pursue an opposing, overriding goal: each negotiating partner wants to achieve the most favourable conditions for themselves - be it in terms of price, delivery date or other conditions. When formulating objectives, the aim is therefore not to achieve a specific price or deadline, but to consider all negotiation items separately and thus pursue sub-objectives.

Always keep these in mind during negotiations, as they form the basis for your negotiation strategy and consequently for your negotiation tactics in purchasing. Without clear objectives, you offer the other party a target for manipulation attempts. These often lead to you being tempted to make concessions that are unfavourable to you. To maximise your success, your negotiation objectives should therefore be specific, measurable and, above all, realistic. Once the objectives are clearly defined, you can develop a strategy aimed at achieving these objectives, prioritising and weighing up possible concessions.

3. initial situation, body language & respect for the interlocutor: effective dialogue management

Procurement negotiations usually take place in person and require a conversation between the negotiating parties. Therefore, the 15 rules of dialogue also apply here, as for all other types of discussions. These show how you can communicate in a goal-orientated manner by treating your counterpart with respect, using rhetoric and body language and many other aspects.

4. react to contradictions: Dealing with insights in a solution-oriented way

Since you and your negotiating partner are pursuing different goals, it is inevitable in negotiations to receive objections to your own negotiating position and also to raise objections yourself to the arguments of the other side. You can find suitable approaches to dealing with objections in advance. Put yourself in your counterpart's position and think about what arguments and criticisms your counterpart could make of your demands and views. This way you will not be surprised by objections, but will have the perfect counter-argument ready to counter them.

6 Silence is golden: Listen more than you speak.

It's easy to go into a price negotiation and focus only on what you're going to say. However, the goal is not only to get what you want, but also to help the other side achieve satisfactory negotiation results. This is particularly important if you are interested in a long-term business relationship. To do this, you need to know what the other side wants. So you need to listen. Often it is not just pure price negotiations that are on the agenda. Delivery times, the amount of advance payments, rebates such as discounts or the quickest possible booking of revenue are also often up for discussion in negotiation situations.

7. express points of criticism

No matter how good a business relationship between two companies is, there are always points of criticism. If you raise these with your dialogue partner, they will be forced to respond. It is not uncommon for buyers to benefit from this and receive special conditions, discounts or similar as compensation.

8. deviating from the course: a flexible approach in challenging situations

Some negotiation situations are so difficult that if both sides insist on their demands, it results in a stalemate. As a general rule, you should be firm and consistent in defending your position in negotiations - especially if you have opted for a pressure-based negotiation strategy. However, if you reach a point where an agreement no longer seems possible, it may well be more expedient to deviate from your own strategy. Especially if you already have a long-term business relationship with your negotiating partner or would like to have one, you should not negotiate too hard.

Conclusion: Negotiation tactics in purchasing

Whether it's price negotiations or negotiations on delivery or payment terms - in order to assert your interests and demands as much as possible in your own company's favour, you need to make use of certain tactics. Our 8 negotiation tips will help you to act flexibly within your negotiating leeway and to persuade your counterpart to conclude a contract that is advantageous for you. Negotiation preparation is of particular importance, because it determines the complete negotiation tactics in purchasing. Would you like to learn about negotiation tactics in purchasing in a practical way? In our purchasing negotiation training, we provide you with essential know-how in negotiating in purchasing.