Supplier Engagement

Get suppliers to respond. Improve Scope 3 data quality over time. Build a repeatable outreach and accountability system (not a one-time email blast).

CollectionCore

Why Supplier Engagement Matters

Most Scope 3 programs fail for the same reason:

  • You can calculate a baseline once using proxies…
  • But you can't improve it because suppliers never respond (or respond with unusable data)

Supplier engagement is how you move from:

Proxy estimatesActivity dataSupplier-specific data

It's also how you build long-term leverage: contract language, renewal moments, QBR expectations, and standardized vendor requirements.

What Supplier Engagement Is (Plain English)

Supplier engagement is a repeatable campaign that does four things:

1. Prioritizes

Suppliers that matter (by spend coverage, not supplier count).

2. Asks

For minimal viable data (in formats suppliers can actually provide).

3. Tracks

Responses and data quality (measured vs estimated vs proxy).

4. Escalates and Embeds

Requirements into renewals and vendor governance.

The goal is not "perfect data this month."
The goal is a program that gets more accurate every quarter.

Start Here (Best Order)

If you are new, do this in order:

  1. 1Clean your vendor list (so you don't email duplicates and double-count spend)
  2. 2Prioritize suppliers by spend (Tier A first)
  3. 3Send the minimal viable request (make it easy to say yes)
  4. 4Track coverage + quality (spend coverage is the key KPI)
  5. 5Escalate systematically (don't rely on hero chasing)
  6. 6Embed into renewals + QBRs (so this becomes permanent)

If You Only Do One Thing

Build a Tier A supplier list that covers ~60–80% of in-scope spend, then run one outreach wave with:

  • A clear ask
  • A due date
  • A tracker
  • An escalation ladder

That single wave creates momentum and real coverage improvement. Start with the Supplier Engagement Starter Pack.

Bundles Included

Supplier Engagement Bundle

A complete campaign motion: prioritize → ask → track → escalate → improve.

60 min setup + ongoing cadence

All Supplier Engagement Resources

Tools and Calculators (Ungated)

Templates You Can Copy (High-Use)

These templates exist inside the resources above; pull them into your Template Vault:

  • Supplier prioritization table (Tier A/B/C by spend)
  • Supplier data request email (minimal viable)
  • "Make it easy" follow-up (alternate formats)
  • Supplier engagement tracker (response + evidence + next step)
  • Data quality labels (measured/estimated/proxy/unknown)
  • Escalation ladder (Day 0 → Day 30)
  • QBR agenda add-on (data readiness as a standing topic)

Common Mistakes (Avoid These)

  • Starting with the long tail (feels busy, doesn't move coverage)
  • No vendor normalization (duplicate outreach + broken totals)
  • Asking for "full GHG inventory" immediately (suppliers ignore you)
  • Tracking "responses" without checking usability (period/boundary/units)
  • No escalation ladder (program stalls)
  • Not embedding requirements into renewals/QBRs (same problem repeats next year)

What to Do Next

Pick the next collection based on where you are:

Change log

v1.0 (2026-01): Latest release