I could have simply reposted her post below but I wanted to make sure that this post resonated for those of us that like to think differently. Below are Tanya’s words but they could have been mine. The only caveat that I would make is be careful especially with this tactic if you are in the public sector or brand new to purchasing.

Tanya’s quote:

“Repeat after me:

I will share my budget with the supplier.
I will share my budget with the supplier.
I will share my budget with the supplier…

Catch my drift?

Keeping the budget secret from suppliers is a huge mistake.
I learned this lesson the hard way.

A while back, I was asked by a stakeholder to hold back the budget in a marketing tender.

We’d see if we could drive down costs by making suppliers “guess” what we were willing to pay.

The result – A disaster.

We got agency bids that were all over the place—from five times the budget to a tenth of it.

We lost time, suppliers were frustrated, and we had no clear solution.

In the end, we had to go back to the drawing board and wasted a lot if the agencies time.

Since then, I’ve changed how I work.

I now share the budget with suppliers and, in return, ask for transparency.

My approach is simple:

“Here’s the budget.
Bid open-book and show your margins.”

If a supplier won’t agree?
They’re out.

The bids I got since are more thoughtful and focused.

If we, in procurement want it to really be about value, not just cost, we need to stop treating suppliers as adversaries.

Too often, we set them up to fail.

Here are some of the ways it happens:

• Last-minute RFPs – We want quality responses, but we give suppliers impossible timelines. It’s unrealistic.

• Withholding key details – Holding back critical info to “see what they come up with” only creates bad assumptions and wastes everyone’s time.

• Relentless cost-cutting – When every conversation is about squeezing their margins, suppliers lose trust. Why bring their best ideas to the table when they’re constantly on the defensive?

• Treating suppliers as commodities – When we act like every supplier is interchangeable, we get just that: average solutions. Suppliers who feel valued bring their best; those who don’t, won’t.

Sharing budgets, asking for transparency, and setting fair expectations isn’t soft—it’s smart.

It leads to innovation, better solutions, and genuine partnerships.

Have you tried being open about budgets? How did it change the conversation?”