CBRE Procurement Solutions
Digital Playbook
January 2023
Main Entry
Challenge
In 2021, we realized our existing playbooks were not in-touch with relevant market factors and, resource content was hard to locate across different platforms.
In 2022, CBRE procurement developed Category Excellence Digital Playbooks to deliver information globally - designed to be digitally accessible, provide relevant content, branding alignment, governance, security, effective training, and meaningful procurement tools.
The digital format enables procurement associates to make informed decisions, answer the question, “why did I get this price or solution?”, differentiate themselves within the integrated facility management industry, and fulfil the promise of delivering exceptional client outcomes.
Approach
The CBRE Procurement Solutions Digital Playbooks set the stage on a global platform with a single-access point to all category management knowledge, content, ESG programming, CBRE Consultancy, supplier relations, supplier performance and other primary procurement workstreams. CBRE chose to partner with Paperflite to build a world–class knowledge content delivery platform. With this platform, users can access the latest relevant category resources, news and market intelligence, providing CBRE’s internal and external clients globally with world-class solutions, category excellence and best practices. CBRE has designed the Digital Playbooks to meet the growing demands for seamless administration of procurement activity and supporting sales and marketing professionals across all lines of business.
Design Driven by Program Mandates
- Digital: Deliver topical knowledge content in a manner that is unavailable through the lineal effects of a PowerPoint deck or manuscript document.
- Accessibility: Fully formatted and available on any mobile device.
- Category Excellence: Digital Playbooks covering over forty categories by end of year 2024.
- Global Coverage: Digital Playbooks and preferred supplier program establishes global coverage in twenty-one countries and sixty-four metropolitan statistical areas, representing over 90% of all CBRE IFM activity, that aligns identified supplier partners, master supplier agreements, pricing or rate cards and accessibility to the CBRE technology stack.
- Ease: Designed to be as simple to navigate as your online banking application.
- Principle (or most commonly used content) Tools: Available with one or two clicks.
- Relevance: Notable “last published” dates
- Metrics: Managing website metrics (clicks, dwell time, pages opened, etc.) as a guide to ensure business relevance, penetration, and priority.
- Usability: All content downloadable.
- Training and Socialization: Three levels of training videos available in six languages.
- Security: Content CBRE watermarked.
- Global: Digital sites translated into 125 languages.
- Functional: Development and accessibility to Benchmarking, Supplier Selection and Category Calculator tools.
- Excellence: Feedback portal and content governance.
- Collaborative: Aligned with all lines of business and primary workstreams.
With just a few clicks, CBRE employees can design sustainable, world-class solutions quickly and efficiently using the Digital Playbooks. All playbook content includes preferred suppliers, supplier contracts, pricing, standard SOWs, best practices, savings drivers, cost benchmarks, innovations, sustainable solutions, and diverse supplier options.
Using CBRE’s market-leading database, procurement or sales team members can run pricing exercises with interactive tools, including category calculators. CBRE’s benchmarking tool allows you to compare cost per square foot and select suppliers based on their location or specific city. In addition, the playbooks include diverse suppliers available globally, and sustainability practices for each category, reinforcing our commitment to ESG and diversity.
The CBRE Global Digital Playbooks offer procurement professionals a single reference point that enables world-class and leading decisions without the need to search for the “right” information source. Anyone can choose a playbook from the digital shelf and implement a “best-fit, best-value” solution aligned with relevant site-specific adjustments.
The design, implementation and digital accessibility of the Category Playbooks maintain and enhance CBRE’s distinct procurement advantage over our competition.
Testimonials
The new digital playbooks are probably the strongest tool we have to support our teams delivering world class procurement results. From the scalability we need in a global operations, to engagement and processes the playbooks allow our teams to create strategies and deliver optimization with a much better understanding and accountability of the categories but still maintaining the agility our clients need.”
Maria Loesch - Procurement Director. - Global Delivery
“The Digital Procurement Playbooks are a game changer! We are now able to take the key knowledge and expertise from our Category Managers and put it in a tangible format where our teams can ascertain this data very quickly and that alone will prove to be a valuable tool for our Procurement Teams!”
Elaine Carter - Director, Managing • GWS EA FM Platform Sourcing Solutions
"These playbooks are brilliant; they are such a massive development that’s been done. It’s going to make everyone’s lives so much easier” Sarah Tenant: Sourcing Manager • GWS EA FM Client
“I think it’s a fantastic tool, we’re all really excited about what this can do for our business and how it can become a differentiator for us. I think it’s really important that people become familiar with it”
Matt Kinnard - Director, Managing • GWS EA FM Platform Sourcing Solutions
”The agile approach to keep this moving and growing and improving is great, it’s terrific to see.”
Joanne Lupatkin - Head of Procurement (AMS) Property Management
“Looking forward to looking at the Digital Playbook, I think it’s a game changer for all of us!”
Lisa Wojtak - Supplier Relationship Management (EMEA)
"ESG in Procurement can only work if it’s fully integrated into the way we source, contract and manage suppliers. Having CBRE’s Digital Playbooks of all the best practices in one user friendly location is a significant step in helping us achieve this.”
Mat Langley - Global Procurement Head, ESG
Analytics
In the first quarter of their release, the new playbooks had 1,596 visitors who spent 5,014 sessions spanning over 1,214 assets. They were accessed in 35 countries across all lines of business.
With this accomplishment, the goal is to publish playbooks for every major spending category by 2024.
CBRE Group, Inc., a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 revenue). The company has more than 105,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services.
Company Description
Procurement Function Description
CBRE Procurement is a global function responsible for the market evaluation, selection, contracting and performance management of suppliers in collaboration with our business lines and corporate functions. It is an integral component of how we deliver a comprehensive suite of direct real estate services for our clients. CBRE engages with over 130,000 suppliers globally, which requires our organization to stay current on industry and operational trends, specifically digital enablement and innovation. It is imperative that everyone can access supply chain information in one location to ensure accuracy when working with stakeholders and clients. Digital enablement enables world-class and leading decisions for CBRE.