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Materials management’s working with end users make clinical, fiscal difference

But there is still a large amount of negotiation that goes on without involvement or even knowledge of materials management. Contracts are still signed, agreements in principal finalized and commitments for business made.

Why does this practice continue? At least part of the reason is the belief that the materials professional will not know the subject matter being negotiated as well as the end user. You can understand that the radiology director would feel he/she has a better grasp of the needs (even if there are good specifications) for a CT scanner and might have a better feel for what concessions could be squeezed out of the vendor. One way to get past this problem is to adopt a team negotiation approach.

Team negotiations are superior to individual negotiations in many aspects.

• There is power in numbers. Think how often a vendor brings multiple parties to a negotiation. To some extent this is done to impress and subtly intimidate.

• Multiple members allow you to pay better attention. While one member is speaking, the others can take notes, watch body language, mentally prepare counters to opposition points, look up things in their notes, or even distract.

• Team members can take specific roles – the local leader, the powerful corporate executive, the technical expert, physician advocate, etc. They may even plan who will say what and when. This can include variations on the good cop/bad cop tactic. It is easy for the supplier to believe that the materials person is being difficult while the department director is more sympathetic.

• Team members can clarify or even correct other team member statements. The observer can pick up that the message is not being received correctly and phrase it in a different way.

Setting up your team is a great opportunity to use your win/win negotiation techniques. In preparing for the negotiation the team should decide on its objectives. If you start with a focus on identifying your interests you will find that the number and types of potential positive outcomes will grow.

Another important part of the preparation phase is defining the various team roles and expectations. Each team member must be clear on who will lead, when other team members should interject, and if there are specific duties like observer or recorder. This is particularly important if you have a physician on the team. The best role for him/her might be to sit at the table and not say a thing. This will never happen, though, unless you have agreed in advance to proceed this way. Having a written agenda will help, too. An agenda is a great tool in any negotiation, but more so in a team setting.

Pre-negotiation is also when you want to decide on what information you want to share and which you do not. Such things as budget, competition, preference, timing, future purchases, etc., can all be important points in a negotiation. If and when to present them can be critical.

While team negotiations are great, they are resource intensive. Depending on the subject matter you might have two to five people on a team. There could be several negotiation sessions and as many pre- and post-session conferences. So you cannot afford to put together a team for everything. Choose those things where strong negotiations are likely to have a major impact.

Starting a team negotiation initiative tells the major players that you do not intend to do this on your own. It demonstrates that you respect their expertise and want them at the table. There is little question that the outcome of a team negotiation – if well structured and executed – will be superior to an individual one. An additional benefit is the relationship that develops among the negotiating team members. You all get to know and trust one another better. This leads to more willingness to work together in the future and continuing benefit in better negotiation outcomes.