MICE Suppliers: What Corporate Procurement matter?

Recently started in this category, Meetings and Events is the new Procurement Playground
Mainly focused on Business Travels, M&E buyers try to setup Category Management fundamentals but are struggling. Why? Because while most the suppliers are the same, the business dynamic behind M&E is totally different.
For the Tourism Industry, MICE remain the last territory where they can make margins, after old school buyers squeezed them in Business Travels. Therefore, the industry is strongly defending this area, allocating a lot of energy and resources to protect their last margin maker.

In your shoes
What the industry must understand, is that despite what they believe, Procurement and Suppliers interests are not divergent.
In term of maturity, Procurement is now a teenager, ready to jump into the Young Adulthood. The rest of the corporation now recognize that Procurement as much more than savings to bring to the table. And while savings are still part of the mandate, Procurement starts developing Incremental Value Building approaches, based on Innovation, Collaboration and full redesign of relationships with suppliers.
As long as suppliers will see Procurement as the “Lemon Press” they will hit a wall.

What Procurement wants?
Procurement mission is bi-directional:
Externally, they have to master the industry related to their category, be able to capture innovation, opportunities and bring that home
Internally, they have to manage stakeholders, influence processes, guaranty compliance, control risk….
Procurement job is 80% internal and 20% external
What suppliers perceive as their customers’ needs, is only the 10% emerging part of the iceberg, the 90% being purely internal and therefore inaccessible to suppliers.
To satisfy Procurement needs, you need to be able to answer their questions and requirements in three main domains:
1. Risk Management and CSR
2. Data, Data and Data: Insightful, Accurate and Consolidated
3. Visibility and transparency… on Everything

It also requires a mindset shift, from “Is it doable?” to “What does it take to make it happen?”
Procurement and Suppliers interests are not divergent, they are different and fulfilling everyone’s needs is easily feasible but requires an open business mindset and the willingness to build trust relationships with Corporate Customers.

Xpendr.io is a B2B ecosystem addressing Corporate Meetings & Events. Designed by Procurement Professionals in a “Blue Ocean” mind, it allows Corporations to govern their M&E Category while allowing Suppliers to unleash Opportunities. For more information, visit Xpendr.io, Facebook/xpendr

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This release was published on openPR.