305: Powering Procurement’s Social Impact w/ Paul Polizzotto

Everyone wants to have a positive social impact on their community or industry, but doing so also has to be a sound business decision. That is something that Paul Polizzotto instinctively understands. It has fueled and inspired his 30+ years as a social entrepreneur. As the Founder and CEO of Givewith, Paul is combining his desire to have social impact with his knowledge of marketing and advertising to create value for buyers, suppliers, and the world.

Rather than being a soft, ‘feel good’ type of initiative, the Givewith process and principles are based on hard data and environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) analytics. Paul and his team know that the value of social impact has to be precise and undeniable if companies are going to get on board, and so they have made that the backbone of their approach to B2B commerce.

In this interview, Paul explains how B2B transactions that were going to happen anyway, can be leveraged for social good:

• Buyers continue to negotiate the very best deal they can get, as well as competitive non-price terms
• Suppliers use their ability to advance their customers’ sustainability objectives as a sales and collaboration differentiator
• And if you happen to have a few ‘objections’ that come to mind as a pragmatic procurement professional - you’re not alone. We asked Paul the tough questions as well.