Respond to a supplier's price increase
An analysis of whether a supplier's price increase is justified, plus negotiation options and a reply you can send.
The prompt
A supplier has told us they're raising prices. Help me respond.
Supplier and what they supply: [DETAILS]
The increase: [%/amount, effective date, reason they gave]
Their notice or letter: [PASTE]
Our spend and volume with them: [ANNUAL SPEND, VOLUME, CONTRACT TERMS]
Contract terms on pricing: [e.g. fixed until X, index-linked, notice period - paste the clause if I have it]
Alternatives: [other suppliers, switching cost and time]
How critical they are: [e.g. "sole source", "one of three"]
Help me:
1. Check the increase against the contract: are they allowed to do this now, with this notice?
2. Test their reason: which cost drivers (materials, labor, energy, freight) plausibly moved, and what share of their price those likely represent. Tell me what data to ask them for rather than assuming figures.
3. Calculate the impact on our annual cost and on our unit cost or margin.
4. Give negotiation options: reject, phase in, partial increase, longer commitment in exchange for a cap, index-linking, volume or payment-term trade-offs, cost-reduction ideas together.
5. Rate our leverage honestly and suggest a walk-away point.
6. Draft a reply that is firm but keeps the relationship, asking for supporting data and proposing a meeting.
Don't invent market data; mark it [CHECK MARKET INDEX] where it would help. Contract interpretation should be confirmed with legal.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- DETAILS
- PASTE
- ANNUAL SPEND, VOLUME, CONTRACT TERMS
- other suppliers, switching cost and time
- e.g. "sole source", "one of three"
- CHECK MARKET INDEX
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
Related prompts
- Find unnecessary approvals in a workflow and simplify sign-offsReviews every approval in a workflow, flags the ones that add delay without reducing risk, and proposes a leaner sign-off design with thresholds.
- Price and document a change order before doing extra workA change order with cost breakdown, schedule impact, and justification that the owner or GC can approve quickly.
- Build a punch list and closeout plan to finish the jobAn organized punch list by area and trade plus a closeout checklist for documents, inspections, and final payment.
- Request additional fees when an architecture or engineering client changes scopeAn additional services request that ties a client's change to the contracted scope, phase, and fee, before the extra work starts.