Rich Sains

The Procurement Conversation Podcast Host | Elevating Procurement | Procurement Leader | 10x Procurement |

My focus is on transforming IT and procurement functions for top enterprises, leveraging over a decade of consulting experience to deliver real, impactful change. The Procurement Conversation podcast, which I host, furthers this mission by sharing insights with a global audience, fostering a community where expertise and trends in procurement are at the forefront.

Our team's approach priorities strategic activities and benchmarks success, ensuring our impact resonates across the businesses we serve. Through Acada's software and advisory services, including transformation and process re-engineering, we are elevating the procurement function to new heights, creating value for stakeholders and suppliers alike.

Founder

We help procurement leaders to solve many of the challenges they face in today's complex environment and manage their teams more effectively and objectively.

I simplify Procurement | 5900+ newsletter subscribers get insights making them 1% smarter at Procurement each week | Link below 👇

There are plenty of expensive ways to get better at Procurement.
Expensive courses and Qualifications. 

But after 25+ years in both direct and indirect procurement roles, I figured out the real differentiator for procurement success - and it doesn’t cost the earth.

It’s how you interact with others.
Your ability to influence, communicate, and collaborate.
In short, your soft skills.

I’m Tom Mills, Procurement Protagonist®, and through years of hard-won experience (and a few battle scars), I built the frameworks that helped me and my teams thrive. 

Those frameworks became my flagship course, Procurement Soft Skills Mastery, now helping procurement professionals elevate their careers around the world.

I also simplify procurement through cheat sheets, frameworks, and my weekly newsletter, Procure Bites -- - read by over 20,000 procurement pros who want real, relatable insights (not jargon).

Here’s how I can help you:

1. Subscribe to Procure Bites - the number one independent procurement newsletter.

2. Join the waitlist for Procurement Soft Skills Mastery (limited enrolment windows).

3. Partner with me through the Quarterly Growth Package if you’re a business looking to reach 115,000+ LinkedIn followers and 20,000+ newsletter subscribers.

All links are in my bio and featured section.

📧 Sponsorship enquiries: tommills@procurebites.com

(no sales emails, please)

Tom Mills

Because getting the contract type right SHOULD be easy.

This infographic shows the 8 contract types & how to choose:

➟ If you're buying GOODS your first decision

 is it One time? or Recurring? 

If it's one time...

↳  If it's simple or standard
✅ Purchase Order (PO) 

↳ If it's complex/ custom then ask:
Is there a well defined scope?
✅ Fixed-Price Contract 
Uncertain scope?
✅ Time & Material (T&M), Cost-Plus, or Other Type
 
If it's recurring...

Is it single supplier, predictable?
→ Supply Agreement
✅  Execute via POs 

Multiple suppliers, flexible?
 → Framework Agreement
✅ Execute via POs 

➟ If you're buying SERVICES your first decision should be is it One time? or an on Ongoing relationship? 

If one time is there a well defined scope with clear deliverables?

Then ask is there an accurate cost estimate?
✅ Fixed-Price Contract 
is there high uncertainty?
✅ Time & Material (T&M) 

Is there uncertain scope, exploratory R&D?

Then ask do you need cost transparency?
✅ Cost-Plus Contract 
Do you need flexibility, hourly rates?
✅ Time & Material (T&M) 

Is it very complex / specialised?
✅  Other Contract Types
(Performance-based, Design-Build, etc.) 

If there'll be an ongoing relationship:
✅  Master Service Agreement (MSA)
with Statement of Work (SOW) per project 

Then for each SOW:
Are there clear deliverables?
✅ Fixed-Price Contract

Is there ongoing support / staff augmentation?
✅ Time & Material (T&M)

Is there R&D / high uncertainty?
✅ Cost-Plus Contract 

Are there multiple service providers?
✅ Framework Agreement
✅ Execute via Statement of Work (SOW) 

_______

So let's simplify this further. 

That's 8 contract types to decide upon

➟ Purchase Order (PO)
➟ Fixed-Price Contract
➟ Time & Material (T&M)
➟ Cost-Plus Contract
➟ Supply Agreement
➟ Framework Agreement
➟ Master Service Agreement (MSA)
➟ Statement of Work (SOW)

Other Contract Types (Performance-based, Design-Build, etc.) 
8 Contract Types Flow Diagram

Choosing the wrong contract type doesn’t just create admin pain.
It hard-wires risk, cost exposure, and poor behaviour into your supplier relationship.

Start with two simple questions:

➟ Are you buying goods or services?
➟ Is it one-off or recurring?

From there, let scope clarity, uncertainty, flexibility needs, and supplier landscape drive the contract type.

→ Fixed price when scope is clear.
→ Time & Materials when flexibility matters.
→ Cost-plus when transparency is critical.
→ Frameworks and MSAs when scale and repeatability matter.

Credit to Joël Collin-Demers who created this chart. It's a game changer. 

Think this could help you or others?

👉 Click save (...in top right of this post) to use it for later. 
👉 Hit repost ♻️ to support your network.

____

📌 Do you want a hi-res PDF of this cheat sheet and all the other ones I produce straight to your inbox?

I’m Tom Mills Procurement Protagonist®️

I simplify procurement.

Simply sign up to my free newsletter here: https://procurebites.com/

Get 1% smarter at Procurement every week | Join 24,000+ newsletter subscribers | Link in featured section (it’s free)👇

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The Battle

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