The procurement function is still considered by some a dispensable business discipline. Perceived as a necessary evil to overcome, both by their own stakeholders and by the salesperson on the seller’s side. While many procurement teams still need to advance in their abilities to create value between supplier and their own company, numerous organizations have turned into that valued focused business partner already.
A great example here are marketing services expenditures managed by procurement. For many the ultimate holy grail. A budget preciously protected by CMOs and fiercely defended against any interferences. Not so in some of the world’s leading companies. For them procurement is an integral part of defining marketing’s business needs and identifying the best external partners to match internal company requirements. The WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) has surveyed some of these big companies (totaling ~45bn USD in marketing expenditures!) and asked them at what stage they involve their professional buying teams. At more than 70% of the cases is procurement involved very early on in the decision-making process. The results are seen below.
If you are a marketing agency, a provider of marketing services and you believe you should only involve procurement at the very end of your sales process it is time to rethink.
Source: WFA
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