The Relationship Between Sales and Procurement

What came first: sales or procurement? It’s a real chicken-or-the-egg conundrum. Regardless, we know that sales and procurement need each other. The best organizations develop seamless cohesion between these two departments. With a few changes, your teams can successfully collaborate and achieve great things.

The sales and procurement departments of Cristaux International are tightly connected because of how much custom work we produce. Our relationship with our clients is just as important as the relationship between our employees. To help you, we’ve has outlined the basics of these departments, how they relate, and how to improve your team dynamic.

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Sales and Procurement: Definitions

What is sales to business? The sales department is where all the selling and buying of goods and services happen. Salespeople work with clients to exchange goods and services for something of value in return, typically money.

What is procurement? Procurement is the purchasing of goods needed for an organization’s production. If you’re a farmer, then you’ll need to procure a tractor. The procurement department of one business is completely different from another because it is specific to each business’s needs.

Learn more about single versus global source procurement.

Sales and Procurement: Objectives, Purpose

Why is sales important in business? Without sales, the value of your business could not grow. Your sales team brings in new clients and is a necessity for your business to function. It’s a requirement.

Why do you need a procurement department? It’s very similar to sales in that it is required for your business to run. What good is a business if it has nothing to sell? Procurement is there to source what you’re selling.

The Relationship Between Sales and Procurement

Sales and procurement are related because they both play a part in fulfilling customer orders. They both must be on the same page throughout the turnaround process. Ultimately, they need to be in sync regarding manufacturing times, shipping timeframes, and client expectations.

Sales brings in the orders, and procurement realizes those orders.

Sales and Procurement: Best Practices

How can sales and procurement work together? Collaboration is essential to any business that wants all its teams to grow together. Team building drives success because one person cannot do it all. Consider our tips for how to get sales and procurement working better together.

Maintain Consistent Communication

To uphold relationships, hold regular meetings to share updates, concerns, questions, and more. At Cristaux International, we host a weekly sales meeting including team members from our sales, procurement, accounting, and marketing teams. Because of this, everyone has a structured opportunity to hear from and share with other departments.

Understand the Other Side

Take the time to understand other departments, their role, function, objectives, and more. Either research online or invite a team member for a quick chat to learn about what they do and how you can help them. This encourages company-wide awareness and compassion.

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Share Important Updates

To share all your information with teammates can be overwhelming. Keep your updates high-level and focused on the most relevant information. Updates may include new turnaround times, manufacturing delays, and material shortages.

How to Celebrate Sales and Procurement

There are already well-established recognition programs for any sales department. Present President’s Club awards for your highest achievers, or create a deal toy program to celebrate every important deal closed. For even more inspiration, check out these tips for sales team motivation.

Procurement hasn’t had its proper time in the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean this department doesn’t deserve it. Develop a recognition program tailored to your procurement employees.

Read this blog post to learn how to create an employee recognition program.

Communication Is Key

Sales and procurement are meant to lean on each other, so ensure they work well together. A positive relationship between departments trickles down to your customer relations. Strong internal communication has a ripple effect, inspiring better interactions outside your staff and greater brand awareness.

Contact the Cristaux team to create sales trophies for your exceptional staff.