• Know who to involve

Executive sponsorship is key to rolling out any enterprise-wide initiative, particularly when it has to do with company financials. Executive sponsors will help you to push your Purchasing Program through and escalate when necessary, and they will provide the general support you may need to get buy-in from all involved stakeholders.

Most successful purchasing programs are run by a dedicated program administrator, who is responsible for effectively managing the program to ensure its continued growth and compliance to policy, as well as reporting metrics and challenges to senior leadership.

Finally, be sure to involve team members from your IT, tax, procurement, and finance departments. These members will help you to integrate the program with any existing systems, ensure compliance to internal and external regulations, and ensure that your new expense management solution stays on track. 

• Communicate, communicate, communicate

Starting a new program means that stakeholders will have questions and will want to know where to find the answers. Communications should run from executive leadership to cardholders, and should certainly involve the program administrator and management. Consider various forms of contact to determine which will work best for your company. Some companies have found that an interactive intranet site works best, while others have found that a weekly newsletter is most effective.

Be sure to continuously listen to your cardholders’ and vendors’ feedback, as it will help you optimize your purchasing program, and post policies and other vital information in an easily accessible place.

• Take advantage of reporting and data analytics

Use data from your purchasing card provider to make smart business decisions. Understand where your company is spending, how much, and on what. Look for patterns, as well as outliers, and set appropriate spending and transaction limits per card, per employee, or per merchant. Search for opportunities to consolidate your company’s vendor spend. If you are currently spending small amounts at many vendors, consolidating your spend to several key vendors will give you the volume you need to ask for greater discounts for your company.