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Procurement offices are more than a required bureaucratic step for local government agencies. Procurement staff can make buying processes speedier and more effective through active partnership. But how do procurement professionals ensure that agency staff understand this?

By combining traditional connection points with new, data-driven storytelling techniques, local procurement professionals can strategically communicate these benefits to build productive relationships.

Cultivating Connections

To cultivate connections and improve efficiency, procurement professionals should standardize and leverage common connection points among staff. Connection points are more than project management fundamentals. They facilitate opportunities for procurement staff to message their process and role to the agency.

A common first point of contact for procurement and agency staff is a kickoff meeting. This meeting offers the agency the opportunity to define its requested procurement and provides a chance for all stakeholders to walk through the procurement process and its objectives. This exchange ensures that the collaboration can continue throughout the project and, ideally, cultivates relationships that aid other projects. If this is the first time staff are meeting, it is particularly important to cover topics such as:

• The procurement process and its basic principles (fairness, competition, and ethics). 
• Relevant statutes and regulations. 
• Contact information and preferred forms of communication.
• Who will be conducting specific reviews. 
• A rough timeline of the procurement. 

By covering these topics, both sides build consensus around the process while providing the space for any clarification or questions about what to expect next. 

After a kickoff meeting, another crucial point of engagement is when the two sides work together to create a project charter¹ that details defined goals, realistic expectations, and a timeline with milestones. The establishment of routine check-ins, particularly when procurement staff know of a forthcoming delay, is also essential.² 

To further establish trust, procurement offices should promptly respond to agency inquiries and be flexible enough to prioritize any urgent needs with ongoing procurements. At the end of a contract, post-procurement debriefs can identify opportunities for process improvement.³

These actions help demonstrate that everyone is working towards a common goal — the successful product or service that meets the agency’s actual need.

Engagement opportunities extend beyond specific procurements. Collaboration flourishes through consistent communication touchpoints. This can take various forms⁴:

• Newsletters.
• Regular meetings about any general issues, questions, or suggestions.
• A public website with published policy references.
• Trainings held by the procurement office.
• Surveys to gauge agency satisfaction.
• Procurement liaison programs.
• Published service-level expectations.

Consider how your office could use one of these communication touchpoints to keep agency stakeholders up to date about your office’s process and goals. 

During these touchpoints, procurement staff can reinforce several benefits of engaging with them,⁵ including: 

• Reduced administrative burden (because procurement staff are well-equipped with information about state laws, regulations, and practices).
• Faster cycle times.
• Limited unnecessary work.
• Improved supplier confidence.
• Enhanced compliance support. 

When used effectively, these connection points build buy-in, ultimately making a smoother and more efficient procurement process.

Incorporating Data and New Technologies in Communications

Compliance and cost control are central functions of procurement, and to monitor these, procurement staff need to encourage local agencies to work closely with procurement offices. Procurement staff should explain how their involvement can make the process easier and more effective. A major way to accomplish this is by using new forms of storytelling. This includes not only procedural information but also performance data. 

In recent years, several states and municipalities have launched creative systems to track performance. The Missouri Division of Purchasing, for instance, recently leveraged Smartsheet — a cloud-based spreadsheet that captures bid worklog data and allows buyers to track turnaround time goals ─ as well as Tableau ─ a data visualization software that promptly displays metrics on turnaround times. 

The Division of Purchasing used the new software tools to track the status of procurements, clearly displaying which ones were behind schedule, on time, or ahead of schedule.⁶ This kind of data can provide the Division of Purchasing with plenty of quantitative evidence that it can share with agency partners. Simple, low-cost strategies like this can help leverage the role of procurement offices and build buy-in from key stakeholders.

Communicating Strategically

After considering connection points and storytelling techniques, local procurement officials may then craft strategic messaging that effectively communicates procurement’s big picture — their value to local agency stakeholders. One way to do that is by connecting procurement functions to broader legislative and executive priorities. 

If an administration prioritizes economic development or small business participation, procurement staff can work collaboratively with agencies to design solicitations that support those objectives. When agencies provide reports to administrative or elected officials, procurement staff can provide agencies with enhanced reporting tools and compliance support.⁷ This establishes a shared framework that agency leaders can understand and support.

Procurement offices also benefit from demonstrating their capability and competence to agencies. If procurement professionals demonstrate subject matter expertise, market knowledge, and data-driven insight, agency stakeholders are more likely to engage.⁸

Training and continuous learning, including courses offered by NASPO’s Procurement U, allow procurement professionals to take on advisory roles and engage agency staff with credibility and confidence. When agencies understand procurement fundamentals, they better position themselves to participate constructively in strategic sourcing, contract management, supplier engagement, and other key procurement components.⁹

Conclusion

Strategic messaging can cultivate productive relationships between procurement offices and the local government agencies with whom they collaborate. In addition to traditional touchpoints with agencies, the availability of data and new technologies has bolstered these messaging efforts. 

Procurement offices have much to offer any government agency. Intentional messaging is the key to unlocking those fruitful relationships. 

Additional Resources

Procurement Guide: Executive and Legislative Leadership

Inter-Agency, Data-Driven Collaboration: Wisconsin’s Innovative Approach to Specification Development
 

Endnotes

1. A project charter “formally authorizes a project. It describes the business need for the project and the anticipated project results. It formalizes the existence of the project and provides the project with the authority to expend organizational resources to support project activities.” NASPO, State & Local Government Procurement: A Practical Guide, 4th ed. (J. Ross Publishing 2024).

2. Descoteaux, Josh. “Customer Service to Agency Stakeholders.” National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) NASPO Pulse, May 11, 2021. 

3. Oxford College of Procurement and Supply, “5 Ways to Improve How You Engage with Your Stakeholders in Procurement,” accessed February 10, 2026. 

4. Descoteaux, “Customer Service to Agency Stakeholders.” 

5. Oxford College of Procurement and Supply, “5 Ways to Improve.”

6. Heffernan, Jack. 2024 Cronin Case Study: Missouri (National Association of State Procurement Officials, 2024). 

7. NASPO, Procurement Guide: Executive and Legislative Leadership, accessed February 10, 2026. 

8. NASPO, “Inter-Agency, Data-Driven Collaboration: Wisconsin’s Innovative Approach to Specification Development,” 2021 Cronin Booklet, accessed February 9, 2026. 

9. Oxford College of Procurement and Supply, “5 Ways to Improve.”