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Last month, we shared details about the need for your procurement officials to hone their negotiation skills to achieve success. But that isn’t the only important trait for qualified professionals in the procurement field. This month, we’ll discuss another: persistence. Rarely are first offers what your company wants, so you have to be persistent to get the results that fit in with your production costs. So how can you do professionally and consistently? Here is how persistence works for procurement.  

 

A Belief in Your Company Mission  

The key to persistence is often a simple belief in what you’re doing. If you don’t care about your company mission, you’ll have a harder time sticking to your values and asking for what you want. If you’re in negotiations, you need to communicate your mission and stay true to it throughout the process.  

 

Focused Persistence 

It’s also vital that you remain focused. If you are all over the map in your requests, it will begin to wear down the very argument you’re trying to make. Instead, remain tuned in to the most critical aspects of your negotiation, so you don’t water down your requests and muddy the waters.  

 

Fair and Right 

Another strategy to take is the concept of fair and right. When you’re in negotiations, you always want to make sure that the outcome is fair and correct by both parties. If you continue to emphasize the fairness of the agreement you want to reach, the other party will have no choice but to see how this will benefit them as well.  

 

Taking a Risk 

At its core, negotiation is always about taking risks. If you wanted to play it safe, you would accept the first offer because you know it’s a sure thing. But you should be able to take calculated risks with the idea that you can always get more. That’s where persistence comes into play and allows you to narrow down your risks and go after the ones that make the most sense.  

 

About Anserteam Workforce Solutions 

Anserteam Workforce Solutions represents North America’s very best staffing agencies aligned together to deliver world-class workforce management solutions. We offer end-to-end talent services that can be customized for any size business, utilizing our Managed Services Provider (MSP) model and Vendor Management Solutions (VMS) technology. Is your organization seeking a WBENC-certified diversity partner to provide measurable results and substantial cost savings?  Contact us today.