When Procurement Faces Delayed Payments: A Reality Few Talk About
Why managing supplier trust during cash flow crises demands more than just communication
Let’s face it - few things test a procurement professional more than supplier payments that don’t go out on time. It’s awkward. It’s stressful. And it puts you at the intersection of two powerful and often opposing forces: your finance team’s constraints and your supplier’s expectations.
Mohamed Abdulrahim’s original post struck a nerve in the procurement community. His 6-step approach to managing supplier relationships during payment delays—anchored in transparency, prioritization, and internal collaboration—resonated with professionals across industries. But what made his post truly valuable was what happened next: the comments.
The procurement community didn’t just agree - they added, challenged, and enriched the conversation with real-world insights. What follows is a deeper dive, combining Mohamed’s original points with the voices of over 70 global procurement experts who weighed in.
1. Communication Isn’t Just Key. It’s the Whole Door.
Nearly every comment emphasized transparency. But as Kunal Dewan put it, communication during tough times doesn’t just preserve relationships—it builds trust. Multiple professionals emphasized that silence is worse than bad news.
Mhosa M. explained it best: bad news from finance, when shared early, becomes manageable. When it’s hidden, it becomes a crisis.
But transparency must also be accompanied by empathy. Maxime Piguet pointed out that if you know a supplier is financially fragile, you owe it to them to at least explain the situation. Otherwise, you’re forcing them to take out high-interest loans—or worse, pushing them toward bankruptcy. That interest burden? It eventually makes its way back to your company.
2. Who You Pay First Says Everything About Your Strategy
Amod Jha introduced a practical framework: identify the 80% of suppliers who are financially vulnerable and ensure they get paid before the more resilient 20%. This is basic Pareto thinking applied to risk management.
Faseeh Muhammad added a layer of precision: use timestamps and workflow data to pinpoint exactly where the payment delay is happening. Is it with finance? A late invoice from the supplier? A bottleneck in technical approval? Fix the process, not just the outcome.
3. Procurement Is Not a Transaction—It’s a Partnership
Several comments echoed this powerful idea. Prananda Aridya Budiawan said it simply: “We are not just buyers—we’re reliable partners.” That shift from transactional to relational thinking is what turns a crisis into an opportunity for trust-building.
Farhan Farrukh Chaudhry echoed this sentiment with a reminder: strong vendor relationships make delays survivable. Weak ones snap under the pressure.
But building strong relationships doesn’t mean caving in. It means negotiating smartly and creatively. Richard Struthers raised a vital point: persistent late payments eventually lead suppliers to increase their margins to hedge against your unreliability. You can’t ask for discounts and pay late. That’s a recipe for eroded trust—and higher costs.
4. What If the Problem Is You?
One of the more candid takes came from Rajan Gupta, who called out a common dynamic in construction: procurement is expected to deliver materials without ever questioning payment. Finance, production, and leadership all assume suppliers will “just deliver”—even with funds diverted elsewhere.
It’s a reminder that sometimes, the issue isn’t external. It’s cultural. And procurement professionals need the courage to push back internally—not just negotiate externally.
Gaurav G. nailed it with a simple question: why are the payments delayed in the first place?
5. What Happens When There’s No More Trust?
Abdullah Elshafie posed a sharp question: what if delays become habitual? What if there’s no “future commitment” to offer anymore?
This is where contingency planning becomes essential. P. Balavignesh proposed a detailed set of proactive strategies:
Categorize suppliers not just by criticality, but by risk exposure.
Build goodwill during good quarters (e.g., early payments) so you have credit to spend during the bad ones.
Offer non-monetary value: case study collaborations, future volume guarantees, or referrals.
Explore reverse factoring and supply chain finance options.
In other words, prepare before the storm hits. Don’t improvise in the middle of it.
6. Procurement as a Strategic Nerve Center
Trésor K. summed it up perfectly: procurement sits at the crossroads of operational continuity and relationship management. That’s not a small role. When a supplier isn’t paid, your operations stall, your reputation suffers, and your future costs go up.
Slim Ben Romdhane noted how finance can easily undermine procurement efforts. You might have spent months negotiating favorable terms, only for late payments to destroy the goodwill you worked hard to build.
That disconnect between finance and procurement isn’t just a workflow issue. It’s an organizational risk.
7. Creative Solutions From the Field
Several professionals shared practical tools and methods that go beyond the basics:
Reverse Factoring: Let third parties pay your supplier on time while you extend your own payables, as suggested by P. Balavignesh.
Payment Buffers: Build them in when times are good, so you have a “trust reserve” when things go wrong.
Procurement SOPs for Crises: Pre-plan responses, talking points, and supplier outreach so you're not scrambling when liquidity dries up.
Non-Cash Offsets: Testimonials, future contracts, or even operational partnerships can sometimes buy time—and patience.
8. The Hidden Cost of Ghosting Suppliers
A recurring theme across comments: never, ever ghost your suppliers.
Khalid Shaikh put it bluntly: if you can’t talk now, at least call back. Suppliers aren’t just vendors—they’re people. And like anyone in a partnership, they just want to be treated with respect.
Because when you go dark, your suppliers assume the worst. And once that fear sets in, the damage is often irreversible.
Final Thoughts: What Kind of Procurement Professional Do You Want to Be?
This isn’t just a tactical issue—it’s a test of leadership.
Delayed payments happen. Sometimes they’re unavoidable. But how you handle them defines your credibility as a procurement leader.
Do you own the problem, align with finance, and communicate proactively? Or do you hide behind the system and let suppliers carry the cost?
The comments on Mohamed’s post offered more than praise. They revealed a deep well of experience, empathy, and wisdom from professionals who’ve lived through these scenarios many times over.
And maybe the biggest lesson is this: procurement isn’t just a function. It’s a voice. And it’s time that voice got louder—both inside the company and across the supplier ecosystem.
Now we want to hear from you.
How do you manage supplier relationships during payment delays? What tactics have worked—or failed—in your experience? Let us know in the comments and join the discussion.
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