Faced with growing budget pressure and the need to optimize every euro spent, procurement and finance leaders are looking for structured approaches to streamline their spending. Swile’s experience offers a highly relevant methodological framework: an optimization strategy built on three complementary pillars that radically transforms the management of indirect procurement.

This three-part approach—buy better, buy less, buy cheaper—goes beyond simple cost reduction to create a true culture of responsible, efficient purchasing within the organization.

Buy Better: Strategic Alignment in Service of Performance

Identify and Eliminate Organizational Duplicates

Swile’s acquisition of Bily revealed a common challenge in mergers and acquisitions: the multiplication of redundant solutions. As Kevin explains: “We quickly ended up with duplicate solutions. For example, in internal communication tools, we found ourselves with two platforms that didn’t even communicate with each other.”

Far from being trivial, this situation generates significant extra costs and complicates internal processes. Systematically identifying these duplicates is the first step toward real optimization.

Create Synergies to Maximize Negotiating Power

Beyond removing redundancies, buying better means capitalizing on consolidated volumes. The integration of two entities offers a unique opportunity to renegotiate contracts with greater commercial leverage. This approach not only reduces unit costs but also secures better contract terms and higher service levels.

Integrate ESG Considerations into Every Purchase Decision

Buying better also means aligning purchasing practices with the company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values and goals. Often overlooked in purely cost-cutting approaches, this dimension becomes a differentiating factor that contributes to overall performance while meeting growing stakeholder expectations for social and environmental responsibility.

Buy Less: Rationalization Through Accountability

Distinguish the Essential from the Superfluous

Éric sums up this philosophy perfectly: “Buying less means focusing on the essentials and eliminating what we could call the ‘nice to have’.” This approach requires systematically questioning every expense and its actual contribution to business objectives.

Make Budget Owners Accountable at the Supplier Level

The organizational transformation implemented at Swile illustrates the importance of direct accountability. Ending shared service centers created a direct link between teams and their budgets. As Éric emphasizes: “When you make people responsible, I think you shouldn’t babysit or coddle them too much. Everyone is very responsible from the moment you give them the keys to their truck.”

This supplier-level accountability fosters heightened cost awareness and naturally encourages stricter expense management.

Implement Granular Tracking Indicators

For this accountability to be effective, it’s essential to equip budget owners with detailed monitoring tools. Visibility into spend by supplier, cost trends, and internal benchmarks enables informed decision-making and encourages best practices throughout the organization.

Buy Cheaper: Building a Negotiation Culture

Train Employees in Negotiation Techniques

One of Swile’s most innovative levers is negotiation training. Kevin explains: “The goal of the training is to break down barriers and remove the fear of negotiation that some people have.”

Using playful role-playing, this approach demystifies negotiation and gives every employee the tools to optimize their purchases—whether for major contracts or smaller expenses.

Create a Negotiation-Friendly Environment

Beyond technical training, the aim is to create a culture where negotiation is valued and encouraged. This involves:

• Recognizing negotiation successes

• Sharing best practices across teams

• Providing tools and resources to facilitate negotiations

• Pairing less experienced employees with mentors

Structure Negotiation Processes

To maximize the impact of this approach, it’s crucial to structure negotiation processes with:

• Standardized preparation templates

• Clear, measurable objectives

• Post-negotiation reviews to capture learnings

• A database of arguments and negotiation levers by purchasing category

Conclusion: Lasting Transformation of Purchasing Practices

Swile’s three-pronged method proves that optimizing spend is not just about cutting costs. It’s a deep transformation that touches company culture, organizational processes, and individual skills.

The results—streamlined spending, improved organizational efficiency, and skill development—show that this holistic approach delivers sustainable benefits far beyond immediate savings.

For procurement and finance leaders, this experience offers a proven methodological framework to transform their practices and create long-term value.

Ready to transform your purchasing practices? Discover how Freqens can help you optimize your indirect spend with actionable insights and intelligent automation for your negotiation processes.