Expert Mode: Navigating the Complexities of Marketing Procurement Services
St. Petersburg, FL – Kathleen M. Pomento, CMO at ProcureAbility, was recently featured in The Agile Brand Guide.
The Agile Brand Guide
Listen to the original episode here.
Procurement plays a vital role in ensuring businesses can secure the goods and services they need to operate efficiently and effectively. However, the procurement services industry faces unique marketing challenges. Many perceive procurement as a mere checkbox exercise or a source of corporate red tape. This perception overlooks the strategic importance of procurement in driving cost savings, ensuring supply chain resilience, and enabling overall value for organizations.
Kathleen Pomento, CMO at ProcureAbility, a leading procurement services firm, shared her insights on navigating the complexities of marketing in this industry. Pomento emphasizes that procurement is not simply about cost reduction but about enabling strategic value. By partnering with businesses, procurement professionals can transform organizations from tactical to strategic, bringing them into the decision-making process earlier to negotiate better terms, identify optimal suppliers, and build long-term relationships that drive real value. This approach requires a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities specific to the procurement services industry and tailoring marketing strategies accordingly.
Highlighting the Strategic Value of Procurement
“We don’t have to convince Chief Procurement Officers, they understand what type of value they can extract from their organization. But a lot of times, like all of us, we’re putting out fires during the day. We are just challenged with doing the daily activities. To bring in an expert really allows them to take a step back and look at their strategy, look at their approach.”
Building Trust and Credibility Through Thought Leadership
“One of the things that we lean heavily into is thought leadership…We have really smart people here at ProcureAbility, and they’re thinking about things that either a CPO knows they should be thinking about but she just doesn’t have the time, or we’re thinking about things way ahead of them that they’re like, ‘Yes, I really want to have that conversation because that’s where I need to be.’”
Fostering a Culture of Mentorship
“It really is about creating that space for people to grow versus telling them what to do…it’s not just about mentorship, it’s about advocacy. What I mean by that is mentoring is a huge piece of that, but you also have to advocate. You have to say their name in a room that they’re not in.”
Adapting to Volatility with Agility and Data-Driven Decisions
“It really is key to be agile…I would say in the broader scheme of things to become agile and to remain agile, the two things that I focus on, I focus on intellectual curiosity…And then I also think it’s about smart risk taking.”
This approach underscores the importance of continuous learning, data-driven decision-making, and a willingness to experiment with new strategies. By embracing agility, procurement services providers can navigate market fluctuations, respond effectively to changing client needs, and maintain a competitive edge.
In conclusion, marketing within the procurement services industry requires a strategic approach that goes beyond simply promoting services. It’s about educating stakeholders on the strategic value of procurement, building trust and credibility through thought leadership, fostering a culture of mentorship, and adapting to market changes with agility and data-driven decisions.
By embracing these principles, procurement services providers can establish themselves as trusted partners who help organizations achieve their procurement goals and drive long-term value. As the business landscape continues to evolve, the strategic importance of procurement will only grow, creating exciting opportunities for those who can effectively communicate its value and deliver impactful solutions.
Listen to the podcast on The Agile Brand Guide.
Chief Marketing Officer
Kathleen Pomento has over 20 years of experience marketing to a wide array of industry sectors, including procurement, supply chain, asset management, banking and capital markets, consumer goods, real estate, and insurance.
Prior to joining ProcureAbility, Kathleen served as Deloitte’s US Investment Management Marketing Leader, and previously led Marketing for Pershing’s Broker-Dealer, Prime Brokerage, and Trading Services practices. She also has experience as a dispute analysis and investigation consultant and business interruption negotiator.
Kathleen holds a B.S. in Accounting from Penn State and a dual M.B.A. in Marketing and Communications and Media Management from Fordham University. She was recognized by Acquisitional International as the “Most Influential Procurement CMO” in 2024 and 2025, named Corporate Live Wire’s “Procurement CMO of the Year” in both 2023/2024 and 2024/2025, and honored by Consulting Magazine’s Women Leaders in Consulting in the award category of “Mentor of the Year” in 2022.
ProcureAbility, a Jabil company, is the leading provider of procurement services, offering advisory, managed services, digital, staffing, and recruiting solutions. For nearly 30 years, we have focused exclusively on helping clients elevate their procurement function.
We combine leading methodologies, analytics, market intelligence, and industry benchmarks with our uniquely flexible and customizable service delivery model. Global organizations of all sizes trust ProcureAbility to transform their procurement operations, drive growth, and reimagine what’s possible.
Let ProcureAbility help you reimagine your procurement capabilities.
