EP 41 – EBIT Intelligent Procurement's Joanne McCourt on Measuring Procurement Success beyond Savings

EBIT Intelligent Procurement ditched their 50% gain-share model for fixed-fee managed services after recognizing how gain-share creates operational friction: departments paying fees from their budgets start resenting consultants as cost-cutting mercenaries, regardless of actual performance. The fixed-fee pivot quieted the "who really drove this saving?" disputes that derail stakeholder relationships and freed category experts to focus on supplier relationship management and outcomes beyond P&L line items.

When a client needs marketing expertise for a quarter, then shifts to facilities work the next, CEO Joanne McCourt and her team pull from EBIT's specialist pool without carrying fixed overhead or managing staff augmentation contracts. Their C-suite pitch challenges why companies attempt building procurement capability across fragmented indirect spend instead of investing that talent in core business operations. The MRO reality: manufacturing sites that have operated independently with local contractors for years will emotionally resist centralization, even when compliance requirements and supply chain transparency demand it. The business case exists, but the operational resistance is real.

Topics discussed:

• Transitioning from 50% gain-share to fixed-fee managed services to eliminate departmental friction and stakeholder resistance

• Implementing virtual procurement models that provide flexible category expertise through monthly fees

• Targeting C-suite executives instead of procurement teams when selling outsourced services to address strategic business priorities

• Managing emotional resistance when centralizing MRO and facilities procurement across manufacturing sites that operate independently

• Measuring procurement success through operational outcomes like supplier relationship management, governance improvements, and board-level reputation rather than savings alone

• Protecting revenue through procurement interventions in courier performance issues, payment processing optimization, and customer experience improvements across indirect categories

• Partnering with LogicSource to move away from spreadsheet-based client management systems