Don't Be The Sacrificial Lamb. Don't Get Exploited!
Don't Be The Sacrificial Lamb. Don't Get Exploited!
I received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from a large Global Pharma company four days ago. It had a deadline to respond, today! TODAY!! WTF.. Today.. FFS!! C’mon.. Really..
The Weekly Walkaway highlights negotiation in its ‘good’, ‘bad’ and sometimes ‘downright ugly’ forms. Issue No. 70 (22nd March 2024).
Thought of The Week
Don't Be The Sacrificial Lamb
I received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from a large Global Pharma company four days ago. It had a deadline to respond, today!
C’mon.. Really.. Four days of work-work, busy-busy, to write the proposal, negotiating with myself about pricing and stressing over getting it out the door in time….
178 procurement and category managers globally. To train them in the art of negotiation. That's like.. Wow.. between £500K and £Imio of potential revenue!! Yummy, yummy, that’s cash in my tummy!!
BUT Stop…..
The RFP process is a negotiation, Walkawayers.. Don't be fooled!!
It is designed to streamline the selection of vendors and is meant to resemble a tempting oasis, promising opportunities for growth and partnership to invigorate competition.
At its base, it is game theory.. As true of The Haggler on The Eastern Side of the Negotiation Compass as you can get!
Cold. Hard. Tough. Arrogant. No Trust etc…
Game Theory: “.... economic and mathematical theory - concerned with the analysis of strategies for dealing with competitive situations where the outcome of a participant's choice of actions depends critically on the actions of other participants…”
If you are fooled into competing then beware
Beneath the surface, lies a hidden danger, a trap that ensnares unsuspecting participants in a web of fruitless endeavours, wasted time, money and scarce resources.
Here I share my experience
Initially alluring, like the scent of sweet nectar to a bee, the proposition soon reveals its toxic nature, like a venus flytrap.
Just some simple cold rational and logical analysis can save you from the trap…
At the core of my apprehension lies the Kahvay Sales philosophy; RAD:
Relationship;
Awareness;
Demand.
RAD is a cornerstone of Kahvay's sales and negotiation philosophy.
Remember: Sales and Negotiation are very different things.
Never sell in a negotiation, it weakens your position and never negotiate unless you have completed RAD. The selling phase.
The RAD framework emphasises the importance of establishing meaningful relationships, gaining awareness of stakeholders' needs and motivations, and accurately assessing demand before engaging in negotiations.
I scrutinised the opportunity more closely.
I stopped looking at the huge revenue opportunity and started to analyse the glaring deficiencies in each area of RAD.
RELATIONSHIP - Firstly, and most importantly, the absence of any pre-existing relationship with the company and its people. I had no relationship with this company. None! I knew none of the stakeholders, none of the procurement team running the show, no one.. apart from a respected relationship with a senior procurement consultant I had once worked with.. Turn it around - They had no relationship with me;
Do Not Negotiate!
AWARENESS - Secondly, a lack of awareness. Neither I nor the pharmaceutical company possessed sufficient insight into each other's operations, objectives, or challenges. Simply put I had no awareness of them, what they did, who they did it for, what they wanted, needed or for that matter anything about my prospective stakeholders, their people, their motivations, fears and pressures.. and they didn't know mine, they didn't know Kahvay, our services, our products, this mighty newsletter, my motivations, fears, pressures, needs.. nothing. We knew nothing about each other apart from what can be found online.
Do Not Negotiate!
DEMAND - Finally, their vague, yet alluring demand. While the need for negotiation training appeared evident on the surface, the true extent and nature of this demand remained uncertain. Volume is always used against vendors. It is as simple as gin and tonic, toast and honey, flies and sh1t. Had they inflated their volume requirement as a predictable tactic to draw out suppliers' lowest numbers? Probably. Using volume as a leaver is simplistic, basic even. There had been no prior interaction, no discovery had been conducted by Kahvay. We are blind to their real needs. We are the specialists, not them, how do they know what they need? Maybe they only needed to train their most senior staff and let it waterfall down.. maybe they only needed to learn the foundations of negotiation or maybe there was a mix of levels.. seniors do levels 1-5, up to the Skilled Negotiator certificate and their juniors do 1-3, Foundation Negotiator certificates. In fact all that had been written was; win-win-lose negotiation, game theory and a few other unimportant areas. This showed they needed training at least but there was nothing on behaviour, process, frameworks, tools, communication, power, empathy and control.
Do Not Negotiate!
Without prior relationship or understanding of the stakeholders involved, you have got to recognise the inherent risk in proceeding further
C’Mon Walkawayers…. It's not rocket science!
Incomplete RAD serves as a warning sign, a signal, a huge red flag, to tread cautiously or risk falling victim to predatory tactics.
You are The Sacrificial Lamb
Remember - The whole RFP process is a negotiation.
The most simple forms of negotiation.
As I’ve said before, The RFP process is clearly an Eastern Negotiation where competition is used against you, the bidders, to drive lower prices.
The trap is that you just focus on the win. You lose sight of the value. They are using this fact against you and your desire to win.
And in this climate many of you are pushing your teams into just winning, and winning at all costs.. This can easily fall directly into loss. Yours and your team's. As you slave over never ending RFP’s hoping you win something.
Eastern negotiations are associated with cold, hard and tough behaviours, where there is very little need for trust. They don’t care for you….. They do not have your best interests at heart…. They are going to exploit you!
You are being manipulated. Used. EXPLOITED!
Usually there will be a list of preferred and even existing partners. The incumbents.
If you are not one of these… be warned!
You are going to be used, manipulated. They will use you against their preferred list, to manipulate them!
The RFP has most probably been written with the preferred list or incumbent supplier’s information. Maybe they have quoted or have been delivering. What ever happens they are not going to award the business to an unknown. Get real!
Stay away from the sweet smelling nectar..
Warning..
Beware of beautiful Sirens……..
Your need to win business will suck the life out of your team's time.. writing, chasing and presenting in a vain hope of winning the business you were never going to win!
Steer clear. You are The Sacrificial Lamb (see tactic below).
It is a warning for all of us to conduct thorough due diligence before committing our company's resources.
It also highlights the need for Sales. And the need for long term relationship building.
With no foundation of trust or mutual understanding in place, proceeding further would only lead to wasted time, energy, and precious costly resources.
RAD
For your interest here is my response
Dear X,
Kahvay is a niche provider of negotiation services; Consulting, Coaching and Training.
Please note that we do not;
compete for business;
propose on business without having a relationship with stakeholders;
disclose any information that we perceive as sensitive; e.g cost breakdowns.
Kahvay has no relationship with you or your stakeholders and considering this is a competitive bid we will therefore 'no-bid'.
I wanted to let you know this early and upfront, and to thank you for the consideration.
If the opportunity changes to - meet the stakeholders, build a relationship, understand their needs, make a proposal, agree a SoW - then please do reach out again.
Giles,
I adhered to my principles of integrity and transparency. I respectfully declined to submit a proposal, I no bid. I stated the absence of a relationship and the competitive nature of the bid as grounds for no-bidding.
By clearly articulating my position and extending an invitation to explore future opportunities for collaboration, I also demonstrated a commitment to building authentic partnerships based on trust and mutual respect.
I won’t hear back from them. I was a Sacrificial Lamb.
But I’m now wondering how many others have been slaving over an RFP, chasing that revenue win, blinded by the beauty of the Siren as they are gently pulled underwater
Unfortunately we are entering into an era that is being defined by transactional exchanges and cutthroat competition. Cost Cost Cost… Price Price Price..
The value of genuine connections and shared understanding cannot be overstated.
Save yourself and your team's time and you will save more money that you are chasing.
Embrace the RAD philosophy and champion it internally.
Remember Do NOT negotiate if you;
do not know who you are negotiating with or against;
do not know the value of the deal;
You are not in control!
Beware the allure of seemingly lucrative opportunities that lack the foundation of trust and mutual understanding.
Like a venus flytrap disguised as a blooming flower, such ventures lead you into a web of deceit and disappointment.
Instead, invest time and effort in cultivating meaningful relationships, gaining awareness of stakeholders' needs, and accurately assessing demands before embarking on any negotiation journey.
In a world fraught with uncertainty and complexity, let us navigate the waters of negotiation with a relationship-centric approach, courage, creativity, and a steadfast, calm, commitment to the principles of RAD and The Kahvay Negotiation Compass.
Trust me.. It will save you…
Tactic of The Week
The Sacrificial Lamb
"The Sacrificial Lamb" is a strategic move that involves one party being unwittingly used and manipulated by another for ulterior motives.
The sacrificial lamb enters the negotiation process with genuine intent and a belief that an agreement can be reached. However, their counterpart has no such intentions.
The essence of the tactic lies in deception and exploitation.
The counterpart feigns interest in reaching a deal, leading the sacrificial lamb to invest time, effort, and resources into crafting proposals and presenting offers.
Their agenda is to leverage the sacrificial lamb's information and involvement to serve their own interests.
Used in many forms but there are two primary objectives;
they want to use the numbers and proposals as ammunition against their preferred partner. By extracting valuable information or competitive pricing insights from the sacrificial lamb, they gain a strategic advantage in negotiations with their preferred partner. This tactic allows them to extract concessions or secure more favourable terms;
to change the perception of power. For instance, if the sacrificial lamb happens to be a big and powerful company, they become a target for manipulation and exploitation. The counterpart uses their involvement as leverage to demonstrate dominance and assert control over their preferred partners. By orchestrating a scenario where the sacrificial lamb is 'killed-off', rejected, in front of their preferred partners, they showcase their superiority and establish themselves as the dominant force in their preferred negotiation.
Ultimately, the sacrificial lamb tactic is used to distort the perception of power in negotiation.
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