I am happy to report that, what began as a goal to write a helpful compendium of practical tips for driving incremental and immediate improvements in supply and contract management operations, has turned into a living exchange of ideas among supply and contract management professionals.

Since “publishing” the original e-book in March, The 100 Greatest Supply Management Tips of All Time, I have received dozens of reader-contributed and -tested approaches for supply and contract management improvements. After a series of reviews, Supply Excellence readers voted, selecting the following as the most-useful contributed tip:

• Executive support is only half the battle: When senior leadership says you have their full support to begin introducing supply chain strategy across the organization, what they are really saying is that you have license to go out and sell your supply chain ideas for the various business units. So, perfect your sales pitch! And be sure to tailor and refine your messages to meet the hot buttons of unique stakeholder groups.

How true. The most successful purchasing people are indeed the best salesmen. Just consider the world’s most successful CPOs — all have great selling skills.
This sentiment was shared by supply management executives at Procuri Empower 2007 earlier this week. During a executive panel discussion on the conference mainstage, AllianceBernstein Chief Procurement Officer Joanna Martinez told anaudience of over 260 supply and contract management professionals:

“I tell my team that ‘I don’t buy, I sell.’ I must constantly sell the value of the purchasing function and our strategy to the CFO and business directors. And, because we’re not as large as some other companies, I must also sell AllianceBernstein, and the value of doing business with us to our suppliers.”

Note to self: brush up on your salesmanship. These skills will come in handy whether you’re trying to win budget or policy support for a supply management initiative or whether you’re trying to secure supply in a tightening market.