Haggle! Or let a coworker do it.

Photo by Darren Hester on Flickr

Because we Office Managers are often (usually? always?) the first point of contact with vendors, we’re usually the go-between between the vendor and the boss (come to think of it, the majority of the office manager job is being a go-between). I haven’t met an owner yet who didn’t want to get the best deal possible for every single thing the business buys, but everyone has varying degrees of expectation when it comes to haggling with vendors and contractors.

Me, I’m very comfortable haggling to a certain point. I’m not afraid to demand great service from vendors I’ve already bought from and have an established relationship with, nor do I shy away from asking someone to lower their quote if I’m buying a lot of something or will be buying from them for years to come. Last week I even got Ikea to lower the price on a discontinued storage unit I was buying 15 pieces of! And haggling at a mega store like Ikea is practically unheard of in our culture.

In general, it can’t hurt to ask for a lower price. What’s the worst that can happen?

The best way to haggle, in my experience, is to carefully listen to the other party and find a way in. Let’s take for example my 6-hour-long visit to Ikea last week, when I was outfitting our new office with a kitchenette and 14 workstations all in one visit (I’ve certainly never spent so much at Ikea before!).

The head guy in the Office department saw that I wanted to buy 14 discontinued storage units and immediately said “Oh I’m so glad you’re getting those off our hands! Are you sure you couldn’t use 35 of them?” (they had 35 in stock). I immediately mentioned that I had seen that the same unit at another Ikea was marked down way lower than this Ikea’s price and asked him how that process works. He said he could call someone about lowering their price more, made a call, and in a few minutes came back to me lowering the price 30%! The whole interaction took less than 10 minutes and saved my company hundreds of dollars. All it took was asking nicely.

That said, I often feel uncomfortable haggling with a small mom-and-pop vendor or haggling to the point where I feel I’m taking advantage of the person if I go any further. Unfortunately, since the money isn’t mine but rather my boss’s, what matters is where s/he feels comfortable, not where I do!

A few weeks ago I found myself stuck uncomfortably in the middle between my boss and a vendor. My boss insisted I go back to the vendor with a much lower price and I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable doing it. I knew I had to do it but it was incredibly hard for me. While I agreed with my boss’s intention to get the best price the vendor would accept, I personally wasn’t able to haggle any further because by that point, I was empathizing with the vendor too much because I’d gotten to know and like him.

Solution? I got a coworker to do my dirty work!

It seems like in any business there is always (at least) one coworker who thinks “everyone’s out to get you,” or “the decks are always stacked against you”, or that “no one can be trusted.” Am I right? I’m sure you can think of the person in your own company who fits this description. He is usually complaining about something and doesn’t really want you to fix the problem, he just wants to vent. This person often uses the term “they” to say things like “they’re all crooks” or “they decided” and if you’re like me, inside you’re wondering, “who’s this they?”

While this person’s negativity may annoy you greatly sometimes, he’s just the person to engage in this quest. Not only will he be in complete agreement with your boss in wanting to lower the price even further, he will really enjoy getting that price himself! It’s amazing to witness what people like this can accomplish in this sort of situation. My coworker got the price lowered, of course, but he also got a thrill out of doing it and thoroughly enjoyed the process. He researched the purchase thoroughly, came up with calculations and a game plan, and then went back to the vendor a few times, each time coming back with a better deal.

Best of all? I stayed completely out of the discussion and preserved my good relationship with the vendor! Which is good because I have to supervise his work for the next month or so . . .

What about you? Do you have a good story about haggling for your company? Share it in the comments or in the Forums!