Engaging employees during a P2P implementation is clearly an investment into the success and adoption of the solution. Yet is spending time and money on supplier adoption and engagement equally balanced?

Considering that most organisations have more suppliers using their eProcurement solution than internal users it’s unfortunate that suppliers can get left out in the cold whilst an organisation focuses on its employee engagement, especially when this can halve the impact that could be achieved. Balancing the investment across both user and supplier adoption can lead to a genuine return on that investment, evident in the P2P solution success.

In Wax Digital’s new Guide to Supplier Adoption we’ve outlined the best practices drawn from our experiences of working with our clients’ during their P2P transition. While challenges can crop up at every step of the way, benefits can also be realised at the same rate, if you get it right. So what are the critical steps to successful P2P supplier adoption?

Segmentation – dividing your suppliers into tiers based on their criticality to your organisation is an important step in segmenting your approach to communication and on-boarding so that you don’t attempt a one size fits all or risky big bang approach.

Rationalisation – expecting to rationalise your supplier list is part of the natural selection process of migrating to a new platform. It should highlight supplier weaknesses or challenges if it’s doing its job.Communication – once your migration and adoption process has been decided, consistent and continual communication with your supplier community ensures that they stay committed and engaged throughout.

Automation – leveraging the benefits of online supplier communication and control via a web portal helps you to make engagement a natural part of your supplier relationships, whereby the supplier takes control of the management of their own information, gain visibility of transactions and creates an on-going means of communication.

On-boarding – Never underestimate the power or need of an intensive on-boarding campaign to keep suppliers engaged once the P2P system and supplier portal is in use.

Exception handling – There will always be cases where suppliers don’t fit or comply with the requirements of your new process. Treating each case individually and deciding how to manage these exceptions is more effective than a ‘blanket ban’.

If you’re aiming to bring your suppliers in from the cold perhaps our guide can help. Remember that engagement must be on-going and continuous before, during and after the transition.