In our profession, Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) often dream about how successful they could be if the entire business fully supported procurement—adhering 100% to spending policies, allocating more budget to procurement initiatives, and spreading a cost-conscious culture across the organization. In short, it’s about getting everyone involved in creating the conditions needed to achieve results.

But it’s not easy. Cost leaders who want the business to fully engage with procurement will find that leadership teams and other stakeholders usually fall into three categories:

– Supportive: Those who understand and value procurement, and are ready to engage in new procurement initiatives.

– Neutral: Stakeholders with limited knowledge of procurement or who don’t see its relevance to their work.

– Resistant: Stakeholders (often with negative past experiences) who see procurement as a nuisance or as obstructing their work.

In customer satisfaction theory, these groups are known as Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. Procurement professionals must work to retain promoters, convert passives into promoters, and at least move detractors into passives if they can’t convert them fully.

Strategies to Build Support

Increase Visibility

Stakeholders may not have a positive view of procurement simply because they don’t understand its purpose. For example, someone booking a business-class flight may default to a personal booking website rather than the corporate portal simply because they don’t know the process. Procurement can increase visibility by marketing itself internally: creating FAQs, explaining the benefits of upcoming changes, using multiple platforms (email campaigns, posters, intranet posts, lunch-and-learn sessions) to engage stakeholders. Procurement is no longer just a back-office function; teams should actively reach out to stakeholders across the organization.

Educate Others

Start with the basics: explain what procurement is and how it delivers value. Focus on outcomes, not just processes—show how procurement achieves results rather than only describing “spending management” or “RFQs.” Address common misconceptions that procurement is only about cost savings, and communicate additional value, such as risk reduction, social and environmental benefits—not just money.

Speak the Stakeholders’ Language

Stakeholders will not support procurement if they don’t understand it. Procurement professionals should be able to communicate in:

– Procurement language: Useful within procurement and supply management ecosystems.

– Functional language of stakeholders: If working with marketing or engineering, speak their language to understand priorities and concerns.

– Financial basics: Demonstrates business acumen.

– Business lingua franca: Tailor messaging to the audience, goals, and organizational values.

Don’t Be a Policeman

Resistant stakeholders often push back because they’ve had negative experiences with procurement policing. Chasing compliance one-by-one is time-consuming and can generate more detractors. Instead, act as an enabler—use procurement technology to make compliance easy for end users rather than punitive.

Show Stakeholder Benefits

Change management is key. Stakeholders won’t support procurement just because it’s policy—they need to see what’s in it for them. Identify their priorities and pain points, then demonstrate how procurement can help solve challenges or achieve goals. This might include reducing costs, mitigating business risks, or simplifying processes like booking travel.