Galen Hersey

Oftentimes, procurement’s relationship with agencies is minimal. They often negotiate contracts and review RFPs, leaving marketing to deal with the rest. However, when procurement isn’t involved in the day-to-day relationship, how they structure the engagement can speak volumes as to whether the relationship is successful.

• How much direct contact should procurement have with agencies?
• Do you want a collaborative or commoditized relationship?
• Are you a difficult client for agencies? How can this impact cost and innovation?
• What happens to the relationship between the supplier and marketing if the procurement relationship sours?
• How do you spend less time doing non-productive work to manage the supply base for best value?
• Who evaluates the agency at the end of the engagement? Who develops the metrics to measure them? Do the KPIs make sense?
• How should procurement keep on top of agencies to make sure they’re hitting targets and not going out of scope?
• Procurement’s role in interagency relationships to reduce duplicate efforts
• How are your internal practices/behaviors (Procurement, Brand Teams, Marketing, etc.) impacting the agency relationship and value for both parties?