Castle Negotiation Courses
    Home
    About
    Testimonials
    On-Demand Training
    Contact

    Procurement Negotiation Frameworks Built from Real Crises—Battle-Tested & Proven

    Castle Negotiation Courses exists because a procurement professional asked the right question at the right time. Not "Can you negotiate?" but "Why is 54% of negotiated contract value disappearing during implementation?"

    That question sparked 25+ years of trial-by-fire procurement negotiation frameworks. Billion-dollar boardroom standoffs. Conflict resolution in volatile supply chains. Supplier power plays. Internal stakeholder resistance. Every negotiation disaster imaginable.

    The result? Procurement frameworks that work because they were forged in actual situations procurement professionals face—not academic theory, but battle-tested methods that have closed billions in deals across 25 countries and trained 7,000+ professionals.

    How Procurement Negotiation Training Started: A Question That Changed Everything

    Ruth's Real-World Crucible

    Ruth wasn't always a procurement negotiation coach. She was a sales negotiation professional who survived every negotiation disaster imaginable. Supplier power plays that felt unwinnable. Internal politics undermining her leverage. Relationship breakdowns. But she had advantages: Lithuanian parents who negotiated everything. And she had to teach it: explaining negotiation concepts to first-graders.

    Colleagues Came Asking

    After surviving those crucibles, Ruth's expertise became so sought-after that colleagues couldn't stop requesting her coaching. "How do you stay calm when suppliers have leverage?" "How do you align internal stakeholders before negotiations?" "How do you close deals that don't destroy relationships?"

    Partnership with Procurement Expert

    But Ruth knew something critical: procurement negotiation frameworks need actual procurement context. They need someone who understands BAM lists, TCO calculations, supplier leverage dynamics, internal politics, and the exact flavor of impossible targets procurement professionals face. That's when Michele joined.

    Procurement-Insider Frameworks

    Together, they built frameworks that respect the procurement professional's reality: time-starved, under relentless cost pressure, facing internal resistance, managing suppliers with real power. Not theoretical. Practical. Immediately applicable. That's Castle.

    Meet the Procurement Experts Behind Castle

    Ruth Shlossman

    Founder & Chief Negotiation Strategist
    25+ YearsHarvard-Trained7,000+ Trained25 Countries
    Ruth has revolutionized procurement negotiation for over 25 years, training more than 7,000 professionals across 25 countries. She’s consulted for NASA, TaylorMade Golf, Impossible Foods, and Fortune 500 procurement departments. Her Harvard-trained negotiation strategies are forged in real-world crucibles: from billion-dollar boardroom standoffs to conflict resolution in geopolitical hotspots. Raised by Lithuanian parents who negotiated everything—yes, including vegetables—Ruth entered her ultimate proving ground: teaching first-graders negotiation principles. Her hard-won expertise from surviving every negotiation disaster imaginable (supplier power plays, internal politics, relationship breakdowns, impossible cost targets) became so sought-after that colleagues began formally requesting her coaching. Ruth’s superpower is turning procurement negotiation crisis situations into frameworks. She’s negotiated multi-million dollar deals, defused tense conflicts, and built long-term trust across cultures.

    Key Achievements

    ○Consulted for NASA, TaylorMade Golf, Impossible Foods, Fortune 500 clients
    ○Trained 7,000+ professionals across 25 countries
    ○Specialties: High-stakes procurement negotiation, conflict resolution, stakeholder alignment

    Michele Mandryk

    Procurement Expert & Lead Facilitator
    40 Years Procurement$400M Budget LeadershipSteel Industry Veteran
    For four decades, Michele worked her way from Associate Buyer to Sourcing & Procurement Process Manager in volatile steel procurement—the ultimate pressure cooker for procurement negotiation skills. She managed procurement teams leading $400M annual budgets, navigating supplier power dynamics, volatile markets, and relentless internal cost targets. Michele understands firsthand what procurement professionals face: impossible cost targets, suppliers who hold leverage, maverick spending undermining your authority, internal stakeholders bypassing procurement to get what they want faster. Her superpower? Helping procurement professionals improve negotiation skills while maintaining strong, positive supplier relationships. In steel procurement (where supplier relationships are adversarial by default), she learned how to be assertive AND collaborative—to drive hard procurement bargains AND build trust, to hit aggressive cost targets AND create long-term value.

    Key Achievements

    ○40 years procurement, individual contributor to process leadership
    ○Led procurement teams managing $400M+ budgets
    ○Successfully negotiated multi-million dollar contracts in high-pressure, high-volatility environments

    Dr. Chiraag Nithin Hegdekar

    Design & Curriculum Innovation Lead
    M.D.Computer ScientistBehavioral Psychology
    Chi brings a rare blend of precision, playfulness, and results-driven focus to Castle. Trained as a medical doctor, computer scientist, and copywriter, he leads the design and online delivery of Castle’s procurement programs, helping procurement teams become more persuasive, confident, and creatively equipped in high-stakes negotiations. Chi’s known for one specific skill: taking complex procurement negotiation methodology and translating it into simple, actionable insights. He figured out how to take Ruth’s 25 years of battle-tested frameworks and Michele’s 40 years of procurement reality and turn them into something procurement professionals can actually understand, remember, and use in tomorrow’s negotiation. That translation ability—from complex concepts to clarity—is critical when teaching time-starved professionals. Chi believes procurement negotiation skills should be accessible, practical, and human-centered. He lives between Europe and Asia, meditates, cooks for his family, and plays guitar by the ocean—perspectives that inform his philosophy that negotiation is both art and science, requiring both preparation rigor and emotional intelligence. At Castle, he ensures every framework respects the time constraints and real-world pressures procurement professionals face.

    Key Achievements

    ○M.D., Computer Science background, specialized training in persuasion & behavioral psychology
    ○Created procurement negotiation curriculum frameworks used in Fortune 500 procurement training
    ○Specialties: Complex methodology translation, online program design, behavioral psychology integration, accessibility-first teaching

    What Sets Castle Procurement Training Apart

    Generic Approach

    ✗One-size-fits-all frameworks
    ✗Sales negotiation adapted to procurement
    ✗Theoretical models, not battle-tested
    ✗Doesn't address internal stakeholder challenges
    ✗No procurement-specific language
    ✗ROI hard to measure

    Castle's Reality

    ✓Built by Ruth (25+ years) + Michele (40 years procurement)
    ✓Every framework tested in actual supplier negotiations
    ✓Addresses the 12% value gap (the forgotten problem)
    ✓Includes internal stakeholder alignment methodology
    ✓Procurement insider language throughout
    ✓Proven ROI ($3.7M, $750K, $4K examples)

    Castle Negotiation Courses

    Harvard-Trained Procurement Experts

    Pages

    Home
    About
    Testimonials
    Contact

    Free Resources & Training

    5-Day Crash Course (Free)
    On-Demand Training ($497)
    ROI Calculator
    Case Studies

    Get in Touch

    EMAIL: info@castlenegotiation.com

    PHONE: (555) 123-4567

    © 2025 Castle Negotiation Courses. All rights reserved.
    Privacy PolicyTerms of Service
    Edit with

    [formidable id=66]