Procurement and Sales Don’t Have to Trust Each Other …

… but they should focus on TCO or TVM.

Unfortunately, as per a recent Procurement and Sales Survey by Greybeard Advisors, discussed in this recent article over on Supply and Demand Chain Executive on When Procurement and Sales Collide, price is still the dominant factor in negotiations. This is problematic. Even though some savings can be found in a price reduction, price can only be reduced so much. A supplier cannot reduce price below cost and stay in business. And price reductions, even if they materialize, are not sustainable in the long run.

As Jim Baehr said, procurement executives need to recognize that as we move into a healthier economy, they need to start doing things differently, and they need to start thinking much more strategically. It’s not just price, it’s quality, it’s sustainability, it’s value-add, it’s inventory, it’s delivery, and a host of other factors that contribute to overall cost and limit organizational profit. So while it’s probably healthy that Procurement and Sales don’t trust each other, since this will keep both sides alert and on their toes, it’s unhealthy that they choose to just focus on price when that energy should go into understanding total cost.