Looking to build higher social value with procurement? Well, remember: the most valuable resources are the scarcest.
We’re often so eager and excited when we reach the procurement or contract stages because we can practically smell that deal closing. But here’s the catch: that eagerness can sometimes backfire. When we’re too quick to respond, it gives the procurement manager a chance to drive the narrative.
Instead, try leveraging scarcity in the sale by being a little more elusive. Make yourself a bit harder to reach and schedule calls selectively. This approach ensures that when you finally land that meeting, the procurement officer is as incentivized as you are to get the deal done. It’s all about creating a sense of value through scarcity.
When you master scarcity in sales, you shift the power dynamics in your favor. By being slightly less available, you’re signaling that your time and resources are valuable. This scarcity principle can make your buyer more eager to finalize the deal, knowing that they can’t easily get a hold of you.
It’s a subtle but effective way to build higher social value and urgency.
Another strategy is to delay responses just a bit, but not too much, just enough to create a sense of anticipation. This cautious approach enhances the perception of scarcity without causing frustration. When used correctly, scarcity in the sales process can significantly benefit your negotiations by keeping your prospects eager to close.
Remember, the key to implementing scarcity in sales is to balance availability with elusiveness. You want to create a sense of urgency without coming off as disinterested. By carefully managing how accessible you are, you can drive the narrative and make your prospects feel that closing the deal is just as important to them as it is to you.
Scarcity in sales works because people assign higher value to things that are harder to obtain. Cialdini’s research on influence identifies scarcity as one of six core principles driving human decision-making, and it doesn’t stop working just because your buyer has a procurement checklist.
When a procurement officer can reach you instantly at any hour, they’re receiving a continuous signal that your time has no competing demand. A rep who is slightly harder to schedule, who proposes meeting windows rather than asking “what works for you,” communicates something true and useful: my time has value, which means my solution has value.
This isn’t manipulation. It’s alignment. The rep who built the deal through discovery, qualification, and a tight business case should not suddenly behave like someone who needs this close more than the buyer does. Scarcity in sales is how you stay in character through the finish line.
The risk in applying scarcity at the procurement stage is overcorrecting. Going dark for a week when a contract is under legal review sends the wrong signal. The goal is calibrated scarcity, availability that feels earned rather than absent.
Propose, don’t react. Instead of asking when your buyer is free, offer two specific windows. “I’m available Thursday at 10am or Friday at 2pm, which works?” You’ve controlled the frame while giving the buyer a genuine choice.
Match your response time to deal stage. Early in a deal, fast responses build trust and momentum. At procurement, that calculus shifts. A four-hour response window on a contract redline question won’t kill the deal, but an instant reply to every message trains your buyer to expect constant access.
Protect your preparation. When you do show up, show up fully prepared. The value of being harder to reach only holds if the meeting itself demonstrates why that access was worth the wait.
Scarcity in sales is not the same as being difficult, disorganized, or slow. A few things to avoid:
Don’t go quiet on open items. If the buyer is waiting on something from you, pricing, a reference call, a redlined contract, deliver it on time. Scarcity applies to discretionary access: your calendar and your willingness to extend meeting windows indefinitely.
Don’t confuse scarcity with leverage theater. Dropping hints about other deals in your pipeline to manufacture urgency is a riskier play than it looks. Procurement managers have seen it. Genuine scarcity is communicated through your behavior, not your talking points.
Don’t sustain scarcity past the close. Once the deal is signed, the posture shifts. Scarcity in sales is a procurement-stage tool, not a permanent operating mode.
And that’s your Hoffman Hack for today.
Happy Selling!™