Margaret Peake’s Office, 10 Years Earlier
Carl Ritchie is disheartened. He has just received a call from his customer, Margaret Peake, who has recently joined her company as purchasing manager:
I’d prefer to speak frankly: The deal is about to slip through your fingers. We’ve taken account of each supplier’s strengths and weaknesses and your proposal seems to be uncompetitive. You’d need to make a major price adjustment to get back into contention. The decision will be made within 2 weeks. It’s up to you.
Who was making the decision? Margaret Peake had been clear with him from the start of the consultation: “I’m empowered to make a decision about this deal. It’s with me that you’ll be negotiating, and if we agree on a deal, it’ll be me signing the PO.” Yet Carl Ritchie gets a real sense that the buyer is not the only one involved in making the decision. He has never met the plant manager, who enjoys considerable influence in the decision-making process. He has briefly met the packaging workshop supervisor, but to no useful purpose. There is no doubt about it: If he does not clinch the deal, it will be because the workshop supervisor has been influenced by one of Carl’s competitors.