Another strategy to consider using in order to get outside of Procurement's span of control and get to the decision maker is leveraging reciprocity. This can be a tricky topic, one that can be very effective or blow up in your face. On one hand, who would better understand the impact of reciprocity than Procurement? On the other hand, you don't want to overplay your hand and be perceived as heavy handed, or worse.

This strategy can be effective in one of two scenarios: you are currently a customer of the company; or they are competing to win business from your organization. In either case, it seems unrealistic to think that you should get the business just because you buy something from them today. However, it seems very fair that you deserve an audience with the decision maker since you already have an important relationship.

Consider this wording that you or one of your senior executives might share:

"Given how significant our relationship is today, we would like to request a brief meeting to review this opportunity in context with what we are already doing."

This request subtly links what they are getting from you (or hope to get from you in the near future) with what you hope to get from them. It's very different than saying:

"We buy a lot of printers/trucks/services from you today and think we deserve your business."

There is another reason to avoid over playing this connection. It could be that your competitors do more business with them than you do. If you overplay this position, they could use your logic against you to justify awarding the business to a competitor.

To read more on this subject, check out the IMPAX Blog.