Cost Reduction and Value Enhancement are important messages, but if the CEO/CFO aren’t smart enough to understand the message, or don’t believe the message, start by focussing on their vanity. Specifically, as this recent CPO Agenda article on the multiplier effect points out, a CPO should focus on how the CEO and CFO can use Supply Management as a growth and career-enhancement ‘lever’. Money saved through the traditional tactics of aggregation, rationalization, negotiation, and optimization — core tools in the Supply Management toolkit — drastically increases profitability. And since increased earnings lead to market rewards, the CEO and CFO can look forward to accolades, and commiserate rewards, in their annual review. With little effort on their part.

Remember to point out that, without solid supply management, the company will be giving away 30 cents on every dollar that it could be keeping, and using to fund market expansion efforts in developing economies. Expansion efforts that will be key to continued corporate success given the stagnant sales environment in most of the developed economies. So appeal to their vanity. The important thing right now is to get the support the organization needs to take its supply management to the next level.