Sales Has CRM. Why Can't Procurement Have S2P?

Sales has CRMs. Manufacturing has MES. Marketing has enough SaaS subscriptions to bankrupt a small country. But procurement? Procurement’s still stuck dragging a rusty wagon full of spreadsheets through a desert of ERP screens that were last updated when “Gangnam Style” was trending.

by

Everett Frank

May 20, 2025
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So yeah, it’s time to ask: If sales gets CRM, why the hell can’t procurement have Source-to-Pay (S2P)?

Procurement Has Outgrown the Back Office

The idea that procurement is just a tactical, behind-the-scenes function is so 2008. Today, procurement is strategic. And I’m not just saying that to make you feel good about your job title.

Procurement touches everything:

  • Cost structure

  • Supply risk

  • ESG compliance

  • Supplier diversity

  • Business continuity

  • Product timelines

So why are the tools still treating it like it’s ordering printer toner?

ERP systems were designed for transaction processing. They weren’t built to handle sourcing nuance, component substitutions, or quoting from twelve different suppliers with lead times ranging from “in stock” to “good luck next year.”

And spreadsheets? Sure, they’re the Swiss Army knife of business tools. But they’re also error-prone, fragile, and totally disconnected from the outside world.  (Read more on why spreadsheets fall short)

Would you ask your sales team to manage their funnel in Excel? Didn’t think so.

What CRM Does for Sales, S2P Should Do for Procurement

Let’s break this down.

CRM gives sales:

  • A single view of their customers and pipeline.

  • Automation to save them from email purgatory.

  • Real-time data and prioritization.

  • Built-in collaboration with marketing and customer success.

Now imagine what S2P could (and should) do for procurement:

  • A live, centralized view of every supplier, part option, lead time, and risk.

  • Automation for RFQs, quote analysis, PO generation, and follow-up.

  • Data enrichment to surface alternates, flag compliance issues, and forecast risk.

  • Real-time collaboration across finance, engineering, and operations.

That’s not “digital transformation”, it’s just treating procurement like it matters.

The Hidden Cost of Legacy Procurement

Underpowered tools waste time and kill strategy.

If you’re stuck in spreadsheet hell, does this sound familiar?:

  • You don’t find alternate parts that could shave off weeks.

  • You don’t realize a supplier’s on-time delivery rate has tanked.

  • You spend hours formatting quotes instead of evaluating them.

  • You lose top talent who signed up to solve problems, not do data entry.

Meanwhile your competitors are 40% to 80% more efficient because they invest in S2P tools that automate the grunt work, give them better data, and help them respond faster.  

Overall, studies and case examples consistently show that digitally enabled procurement teams outperform. They make decisions faster, collaborate better with stakeholders, and handle greater spend complexity with the same resources.

S2P Adoption is WAY Behind

Look at where the money is flowing:

So yeah, there’s a massive investment gap. But here’s the kicker: procurement often has 10x the impact on net profit. This isn’t just a missed opportunity. It’s absurd.

S2P isn’t lagging because it’s unimportant. It’s lagging because we’ve been treating procurement like a second-class citizen in the tech stack.

What Procurement Looks Like in the Real World

Let’s make this real. Here’s what one mid-sized Cofactr customer dealt with in a typical sourcing cycle:

  • 1 BOM

  • 87 BOM lines

  • 47 RFQ lines

  • 11 quotes received

  • 40 quote lines analyzed

  • 15 purchase orders

  • 102 PO lines

  • 128 email updates to track

And no, this wasn’t some massive defense contract. Just a routine job. The kind you do every week.

Now go ahead and manage that in a spreadsheet. Or better yet, don’t. That’s a great way to miss a critical change, order the wrong revision, or accidentally buy parts from the supplier who ghosted you last quarter.

S2P software exists to handle exactly this kind of complexity. And it frees up your time to actually make decisions instead of babysitting documents.

Procurement Needs a Seat at the Digital Table

Procurement manages millions in spend and holds the keys to massive business risks like supply chain fragility, part shortages, and supplier viability.

So why are you still doing your job with email and VLOOKUP?

Sales wouldn’t tolerate a world without CRM. Engineering would riot without GitHub. So procurement shouldn’t have to duct-tape together workflows with Outlook, Excel, and a 15-year-old ERP interface.

Procurement isn’t some side quest. It’s central. It’s strategic.

And it deserves software that respects that.

Final Word

It isn’t your fault If you’re a procurement team still stuck in the Stone Age of sourcing spreadsheet-and-email style. But it is your move.

S2P is your system of record, your source of truth, your automation engine, and your strategic cockpit.

So stop settling for duct tape. Get the software your team actually needs. And maybe, finally, start giving procurement the tools it should’ve had years ago.

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