Art of Procurement

This week, I am joined by negotiation ninja Mark Raffan. Mark leads a negotiations training business – both for buyers and sales professionals – and recently launched his own podcast – Negotiations Ninja – which I highly recommend that you check out. We had a wide-ranging discussion on all things negotiation - from negotiation strategies and approaches, to the common pitfalls that negotiators face. What was particularly insightful was hearing how a salesperson is taught to negotiate so that we could spot those tactics, and understand when they are being used, as we sit on the opposite side of the table. I had a blast talking to Mark, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

My guest is Joseph Richardson. Joseph is the President and CEO of Professional Purchasing Partners which he founded in 2014, after a long spell as a practitioner. Joseph's most recent buy-side roll was as a Head of Indirect Procurement in the Oil and Gas industry. In our discussion, we touch on a wide range of topics, from the evolution of procurement to value beyond savings, and much more. One of the points that really resonated with me is when we talked about the notion of best-in-class procurement and benchmarking our organizations against others.

My guest on the Art of Procurement this week is my friend Johan-Peter, or JP, Teppala. JP is the CEO of the US operations of Sievo, a Finland-based procurement analytics company, encompassing spend analysis, spend forecasting, savings management and contract management. The core of our conversation today focuses on how procurement can be the driver of what JP termed "radical transparency" through data. We discuss three key themes: Transparency through spend analysis Transparency through realized savings Transparency through predictive analytics. In my mind, these are core building blocks for any catalytic procurement organization. It is hard to make a mark without good data.

Hitting publish on the show is a culmination of a lot of thinking and reflection as I look to continue the evolution of Art of Procurement. I reflect on where we have come from, but more importantly look to the future and the building blocks of what my team and I have termed Art of Procurement 3.0. In today's episode, I start by sharing the importance of finding your Why, and the process that I went through to articulate my own. I then explore why I believe Art of Procurement must continue to evolve to be in service of my Why. And then I deep dive into that evolution, and how my thinking has evolved over the course of 175 interviews, and putting those learnings into practice for my clients. Finally, I share the six content pillars for Art of Procurement in 2018, and how they connect with our core philosophies of Making Choices, Leaving a Mark and Generating Fulfillment. For more information, visit http://artofprocurement.com/episode169

How can we work collaboratively with our suppliers to manage and mitigate risk? That is the question I put to today's guests on the Art of Procurement, Margaret Gilbert and Anthony English. Margaret is the Director of Corporate Contracts Management, where she works with buyers and suppliers in all areas of procurement and contracting. Anthony has enjoyed a long career as an IT consultant working as a supplier inside both large and small organizations, and together they are co-authors of 'Contract Matters: Procurement and Risk: A practical guide for buyers and suppliers'. I invited Margaret and Anthony on the show because I wanted to understand the supplier perspective, and the unintended consequences of some of the decisions we make!

Tania Seary is passionate about raising the profile of procurement, and is a master connector, and networker. She is the Founding Chairman of Procurious, The Faculty and The Source, and in 2016 was named "Influencer of the Year" by Supply Chain Dive magazine. I was delighted to invite Tania back onto the show for what is now her third appearance. I wanted to dig deeper into her success as a networker – with a focus on how to balance our online and in-person networking in an age where "connecting" is as easy as a click of a button. What can we do to make meaningful relationships out of those connections that we make online? We caught up on the progress that Procurious has seen over the past 12 months and their plans for the future – if you are a Procurious member, or have interest in joining, you'll enjoy this behind the scenes look!

I was inspired to cover today's topic based on a question from a listener who has resolved to make a career move in 2018… I know from personal experience that at this time of year, we are often making decisions on our career strategies for the year ahead. When I made the decision to pursue setting up my own business, I made the decision over the holiday period, and I'm sure many listeners may have done the same this year – whether it is to pursue a new role internally, or externally. So what I thought I would do today is share a number of tips to consider if you are considering a new role in 2018 – based on both my own experiences, but also gleaned from interviews and conversations with a number of recruiters. These tips are focused on what you can do TODAY to be prepared.

My guest today is Chandar Pattabhiram, the new Chief Marketing Officer at Coupa. We sat down and recorded this podcast during the SIG Fall Summit in Carlsbad, California, which explains all of the interesting background noises you may hear. I took that opportunity to get his fresh perspective on how procurement can elevate its role in the organization.

My guest today is Lawrence Kane, a Fortune 50 strategic sourcing and functional excellence lead. Lawrence and I sat down to talk at the SIG Fall Summit in Carlsbad, California, where our conversation focused on what he has learned during his three-decade career.

Hi there everyone, and welcome to this week's Art of Procurement interview, which is powered by SIG. My guest today is Kate Vitasek, a member of the graduate faculty in executive education at the University of Tennessee, and the creator of the Vested model. Kate and I have recorded several podcasts together, but in this case we connected in person at the SIG Fall Summit in Carlsbad, California. We took that opportunity to discuss the Vested model and how procurement (after long delay) is embracing the mindset. We started our conversation by getting caught up on what has transpired in the world of Vested since the last podcast.