Upskilling at home with ProPurchaser on-demand instructional webinars

2) COST TRANSPARENCY – Let the Data Do the Talking

A second foundational webinar that focuses on Cost Transparency and explains why it is the ‘golden arrow’ in your negotiations quiver, and why the best suppliers to partner with (usually low-cost producers) welcome transparency.

3) Less Stress and More Success
– Take Control of Supplier Negotiations

An upskilling webinar that focuses on boosting your leverage and confidence at the negotiating table, while achieving lower prices. Learn about four practices that position you to speak with authority, manage relationships with sales reps, and make your job less stressful.

4) Collaborating/Innovating with Suppliers
– 3 Steps that Make it Succeed 

An upskilling webinar about how to identify and organize high-potential joint projects with suppliers and achieve buy-in from both organizations. It also covers project management and execution, so you reap the rewards for all your (and your team’s) hard work.

5)  When Suppliers Reject Fair Pricing
– and Silent Slopes Don’t Work

Suppliers often reject fair pricing, even when their input costs have fallen, and  it’s only fair to lower prices. This webinar describes, 5 ideas for pushing back against unfair pricing. You may be pleasantly surprised at how effectively you can drive costs lower and career prospects higher.

6) When Supplier Selection is Influenced by pressures
within your organization.

It’s almost a taboo subject in some organizations – suppliers are favored for reasons not always based on sound business principles. It’s often difficult for a Procurement Professional to know what to do. This webinar discusses ideas that allow you to both build resilient, low-cost supply chains; and bolster your career prospects at the same time.

7) Boost Your Procurement Career Prospects – How to make a good first impression and an even better second one.

Whether you are between procurement jobs or going for a promotion, you need to find ways to attract attention and stand out. This webinar discusses how to make an intriguing first impression, followed up by a compelling second impression of your ‘hitting the ground running’ and contributing to the bottom line on day one.

8) Cost Containment
– even more important in a post Covid-19 world

After COVID-19, most companies will be cash poor, margin hungry, and riveted on boosting supply chain resilience. The goal of this webinar is to help you prepare for the future. Kelly Barner first explains why some of today’s “best practices” may no longer be “best”. Rod Sherkin follows up with practical advice on preparing for what’s coming.

9) Forecasting Purchasing Costs
– How to Navigate this Career Minefield

If someone tells you they can predict prices with more than 50% accuracy, don’t believe them. Unfortunately, Procurement is usually the department made responsible for determining these numbers.

And, at the risk of stating the obvious, being wrong half the time is not good for anyone’s career!

10) An Important Distinction
– why the procurement profession is often underserved

Our profession is often underserved when it comes to tools and data we need to do our jobs. This webinar explains why and, more importantly, describes what procurement professionals can do to remedy it.

11) Should-Cost Models  –  How to build them; how to use them

Most people agree Should Cost Modeling favors buyers in price negotiations. However, they use them sparingly because they see them as hard to build..

In this webinar workshop, we present tools and techniques that make building useful models easier (and faster). We also describe how to take maximum advantage of your models, at the negotiating table.

12) How Good is Your Purchasing Department
at Negotiating Pricing?

Does your procurement team have the information and skills needed to match seasoned sales reps’? Do you unknowingly leave money on the table? This webinar is focused on how to properly measure (and manage) your purchasing department’s price negotiating performance.

You may be surprised by how simple it is to do, and also by the attendant financial rewards.

13) NEGOTIATING PRICES IN INFLATIONARY TIMES –  Turning Adversity into Competitive Advantage

The last 2 years have certainly been difficult for our profession. Most of us have been dealing with a relentless cycle of price increases, with very little push-back leverage. Finding ways to win would certainly be a welcome change. That’s what this webinar is about – finding ways we can win in today’s sellers’ market.

This 45-minute live event, hosted by Rod Sherkin, focuses on specific tactics Procurement Professionals can use today to achieve success at the negotiating table and create competitive advantage for their organizations.

14) The Five Hardest Negotiating Questions (answered)

Here they are:

• • How do I handle “Take-it-or-leave-it” suppliers?
• • What if suppliers argue my cost information is wrong?
• • What to do when suppliers blame higher overheads?
• • Isn’t bidding more effective than negotiating?
• • What to do when distributors say they have no choice but to pass along manufacturers’ increases?

This live webinar drills into these questions and presents effective ideas and tactics for responding. We also plan to allow plenty of time for other audience questions.

15) Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Supply Chain – Where to look for opportunities

Discover why materials and components you purchase are likely candidates for carbon reduction. Learn how to identify and capture the biggest opportunities, by making simple adjustments to current sourcing practices.

You might be surprised by the positive impact your efforts can have on your company’s goals as well as on your career prospects.

16) Answers to the 3 Hardest Questions from Finance

Why did you blow the budget?  Cost avoidance is not actually saving money, right? How do you really know we’re getting good prices?

Fact: most financial executives have no experience negotiating pricing with materials suppliers. Small wonder explaining price outcomes can be challenging, especially in a volatile, sellers’ market. This webinar shows you how to create simple reports that will resonate with Finance and demonstrate the competitive advantage you create for your organization.