Procurement Tips: Help Us Save You From Us

Here’s what procurement looks like through the eyes of the private sector, along with tips to help reps work through the buying process without pestering you.

Please let me preface this by stating that I am not a procurement officer. I have never been a procurement officer. And I have never worked in a procurement office.

Fortunately for us all, this is not an article about the nuances of government purchasing. 

I’m here to share how things look from your vendor’s side of the fence. 

More specifically: how to get them working for you during the purchasing motion (rather than adding more work to your plate).

I had thought about titling this post “Procurement Through the Looking Glass” or “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Enjoy Procurement,” but one of my colleagues (a sales rep, no less!) suggested “Help Us Save You From Us,” and it fit perfectly.

Let’s get into it. 

Set expectations

After a bunch of fact-finding, you’re ready to make the purchase. Congrats!

New vendors and sales reps will jump for joy.

Old hats know that we’re just getting started.

Here’s your chance to really set the tone and help these folks carry the ball across the finish line.

How are you purchasing?

General Services Administration (GSA) or sole source? 

Request-for-proposal (RFP) or piggyback?

Purchase-card (P-card) or marketplace?

If you haven’t already, lay it out there for your rep so they know what and how to prep internally.

What’s your experience when it comes to procurement?

Are you new to the game, or do others on the team normally handle the back and forth?

Or maybe you’re the department’s expert in purchasing.

Whatever your comfortability, tell your rep. This will let them know how to proceed — and will mitigate any potentially awkward conversations where they’re explaining something that you’ve done a million times over. 

Establish a timeline

What’s your next project? 

When do you need your goods or services?

Any rep worth their salt will have this date circled in red on their calendar and will move heaven and earth to meet this deadline.

Also, be sure to adhere to this date. If you need to push things back — for instance, maybe a committee meeting was rescheduled — let the rep know. The closer you get to this deadline, the more frequent their calls will be.

Request a procurement checklist and milestones

I cannot emphasize this enough, as it will force your rep to be organized.

Every procurement is unique, so their checklist will likely be very lengthy. That’s fine; they can cross out any superfluous sections.

This checklist shows that your rep has a plan to move things forward. They have all the necessary documents handy. And most importantly, they won’t flood your inbox/mailbox with a bunch of one-off emails/phone calls requesting this, that, and the other.

I’ve seen, too many times, reps lean on you — the buyer — to help with random requests, when they should really be dealing with your procurement department.

A checklist will force them to be accountable for everything you both have agreed upon.

And speaking of accountability …

Empower your rep to carry the ball across the goal line

You are busy. And it’s safe to bet that hand-holding vendors through procurement sits quite low on your priority chart.

The reality is that it is your rep’s job to sell. To ensure that you are getting a good/service that you both need and find valuable.

You are at the center of their universe. They are one part of your very busy day.

Knowing this, challenge and empower them to do their job, if for no other reason than so you can get on with yours.

Use the aforementioned checklist as a guideline.

Do they need an introduction to your procurement officer? Legal? IT? Anyone else?

Are there any hiccups — vacations, paperwork backlogs, etc. — you foresee?

Arm your rep with all that information, and then tell them to get out there and make it happen. 

Be more of a champion, less of a shepherd.

Be receptive to phone calls and emails, but if there’s somebody in your pocket everyday then ask yourself, and that person, why.

You’re both working toward a common goal — one that financially benefits your rep, and that fills a need for you and your team. Be forthright about what it will take to get there.

As a result, your rep will stay motivated and not feeling like they’re rolling a boulder up a hill. And you’ll be saved from a million random pings and requests, getting annoyed by a needy salesperson, wondering why you ever agreed to that first call.

Jonathan Bass is a jack-of-all-trades and master of some. His passions include building workplace culture, connecting teams through effective (and interpersonal) operations, and finding the most efficient paths to success. When he’s off the clock, you can find him introducing his children to the natural world, plowing through a Larry McMurtry novel, or practicing bluegrass standards on the banjo. Jonathan is currently the Director of Marketing at Urban SDK, a cloud based traffic management software based in Jacksonville, Florida.

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