How Procurement Decides™

Many negotiations fail before they start because:

• requirements embed buyer leverage
• alternatives are framed asymmetrically
• evaluation criteria reward price over total value
• internal stakeholders align too late or not at all

Once these elements lock, even skilled negotiators are forced into defensive positions.

How Procurement Decides™ addresses how Procurement actually evaluates, prioritises, and constrains options – not how they claim to.

How Procurement Decides™ focuses exclusively on pre-negotiation deal shaping.

It does not:

• train negotiation behaviour or tactics at the table
• govern concessions or closure mechanics
• manage post-signature execution or delivery risk

Those are handled by other modules in The Negotiation Surgery™.

This programme installs control over:

• Decision criteria shaping
  How evaluation logic is influenced before it becomes formal and non-negotiable.
• Alternative framing
  Which options remain credible, visible, and comparable – and which should never exist.
• Internal alignment architecture
  How commercial, technical, and leadership stakeholders align before Procurement enters.

These are structural controls, not persuasion techniques.

How Procurement Decides™ installs concrete upstream artefacts, including:

• A Deal Architecture Map (criteria, weights, alternatives, decision flow)
• A Stakeholder Alignment Framework clarifying roles and influence points
• A Pre-Negotiation Positioning Logic that protects leverage before engagement

These artefacts are used before any negotiation meeting takes place.

How Procurement Decides™ is not:

• sourcing process training
• supplier positioning advice
• a generic “early engagement” workshop

It is a deal control intervention designed to prevent disadvantage before it becomes visible.

This is not the right starting point if:

• deal criteria are already fixed and formally issued
• the negotiation is already in progress
• the main risk sits in delivery, not deal architecture

In those cases, a different entry point in The Negotiation Surgery™ is more appropriate.

After How Procurement Decides™:

• Procurement criteria stop being a surprise
• Negotiations start from a position of structural parity
• Fewer concessions are needed later because leverage is balanced earlier
• Commercial teams stop reacting and start shaping outcomes

Negotiation becomes a controlled step, not a rescue operation.

Designed for commercial and sales leaders who negotiate with Procurement and need to control deal structure before leverage locks against them.

Common roles:

• Sales and commercial leaders
• Bid and tender teams
• Teams facing structured sourcing processes

How Procurement Decides™ is typically delivered as:

• A focused upstream diagnostic
• A 1–2 day working session with key stakeholders
• Optional support during early buyer interactions

The work is time-critical and front-loaded by design.