What if you've tried almost everything to deal with a tough procurement situation and are still blocked? Here's a "last resort" idea: change your team. It might sound extreme, but by changing your team you may be able to change the odds in your favor.

Your team, including sales reps, account managers, support and service personnel and front line managers are the daily face of your company to the customer. They have their roles and relationships and the customer can become accustomed to these people. They can also get blocked and trapped into playing by certain rules.

By replacing any of these people, you have a chance to stir things up. New players can leverage their "ignorance" and contact people that the existing team might not be able to contact. They can skirt around gatekeepers because they simply don't know better. They can ask questions that the current players might not be comfortable asking, such as, "Who will sign off on this project?" or "When will we meet with the decision team?" This all makes perfect sense, as the new players feel that they need to do their homework and meet as many people as possible in order to understand and serve the customer better.

Replacing an executive sponsor can also be effective. New executive sponsors have a need to reach out and meet their counterparts, which are often the senior level decision makers we need to gain access to for critical presentations and decisions. It is common and expected that these connections happen for all of the right reasons.

This is not a strategy you can take lightly or overuse, but by making these changes, your team may be able to circumvent established processes and relationships and improve your odds of winning.