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Unit 5: Negotiation

”We’ve had many engineers unknowingly give information to our suppliers, thinking Notes
they were helping them and our sales people, but what they were doing was cutting out
our legs from under us when we were in the battle of negotiations,” said John Glass,
purchasing manager for the Electrical Passive Components Group.
A unique training program, called ‘Dealing with the Highly Skilled Salesperson,’ was
brought in by the purchasing department to “even up” the training between engineers
and the suppliers who call on them. Developed by Robert Benedict, President of Benedict
Negotiating Seminars, the videotape-based program helps non-purchasing people
understand a subtle fact-seeking process used by sales people called “Back-Door Selling.”
The training program consists of a fast-paced videotape, small group experiences, role
playing, and other practical training resources. Hosking explained that “the program is
very interactive with a user friendly training manual. The tape itself gets you involved
and laughing as it helps build teamwork between engineering and purchasing.”

Mapping out a Strategy
The target audience for this new training concept at Delphi Delco initially focused on
engineers. That’s why the primary communications strategy was to approach senior-level
engineering, purchasing and other executives about the advantages of helping the
engineering staff to deal with the so-called ‘back-door selling’ suppliers. After all, purchasing
works hand-in-hand with engineering in winning business and getting the best prices.
Glass went to the top of the organization with an assertive message: “Here’s something
that we believe will not only help purchasing to do it’s job, but also engineering as an
integral part of our success.” Soon after, senior executives were invited to hear Robert
Benedict, a national negotiating specialist, talk about the power of knowledge as a
bargaining tool. They, in turn, went back to their staffs and recommended the program
based on their own positive experiences.
Based on several options for rolling out the program offered by Benedict Negotiating
Seminars, Delphi Delco selected the lowest price, highest value option, said Hosking.
“Bob Benedict trained our people who, in turn, trained others.”
Key to the roll-out strategy throughout the company was a team approach: A senior
purchasing manager and senior engineering manager presented the class together to
employees within all engineering disciplines: design, software, mechanical, electrical,
manufacturing, process, and system design engineers.
“The one thing that really surprised us as we started rolling this out was the enthusiasm
from our engineering group,” says Hosking.
Evie Van Rens is an engineering analyst in the Milwaukee Design Center of Delphi Delco
who believes that the ‘Dealing with the Highly Skilled Salesperson’ training was needed
years ago. She explained: “Engineering has interfaced with suppliers for years to get
specialized tooling and other products. By not having this training sooner, we as an
organization may have unwittingly disclosed valuable company information without
being aware of it, thus overpaying for the end product.

“Val Hoffmann from Delphi Delco’s Purchasing in Kokomo, Indiana did an excellent job
presenting the educational materials in an articulate and professional manner within the
context of our business environment. He used the video and training manual, and
challenged the participants to get involved in order to get the most out of the workshops.
By using our real situations, asking penetrating questions and suggesting responses, it
was time well spent — and meaningful on a career Performance Development Plan (PDP)
as training,” according to Van Rens.
Contd...

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