What Procurement Pros Get Trained In

Sep 3, 2026

What if salespeople understood what procurement teams are actually trained to do?

In this episode, Fred is joined by returning guest Mark Schenkius, procurement expert and author of The Other Side of Sales and The Art of Spending Money Wisely, to look at sales from the buyer’s side of the table.

They discuss why procurement isn't simply about squeezing suppliers on price, why buyers think about risk as well as cost, and why something a salesperson sees as exciting - like innovation —-can look very different through procurement's eyes.

In this episode:

• Why buyers and sellers can approach negotiations very differently
• Why procurement thinks beyond price and cost savings
• Why innovation can look like risk to a buyer
• How procurement uses silence as a negotiation tool
• Why understanding a buyer's objectives changes the conversation
• Why salespeople need to understand the buyer's world, not just their own
• How trust can change the relationship between sales and procurement

The big takeaway?

Step into the buyer's shoes.

Understand what they're measured on, what they're worried about and how they see the decision - and selling becomes a very different conversation.

Connect with Mark

·         LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/markschenkius

·         Website: https://roi-10.com/en

·         Books:   https://amzn.eu/d/05nyfs8e

                        https://amzn.eu/d/09Ge9mPq

 

Follow Fred: https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake

 

Watch this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/K0DRtC8K-Gw

 

Watch Fred’s FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: https://bit.ly/Sales-Mastery-For-Engineers

 

Useful resources

Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard – free
Check how well your sales approach fits today’s buying environment https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com/