Blog

From insights come answers.

A series of articles from the Insider Pro team, in which we examine relevant topics and examples of current challenges that we see in our work with a huge range of organisations, across many sectors.

The importance of relationship building

Posted by Ollie Hucks

It’s no secret that speed is a fundamental characteristic of many successful businesses, be that fast food chains delivering food, or a service-based company delivering value and quick results through efficiencies or cost savings.  Speed is ultimately a result of delivering a product or service in an efficient and timely manner. 

Whilst there are almost endless things that can increase the speed of a business, this blog focuses on one of the key aspects that our team at Insider Pro takes time to commit to all of our customers, relationship building. By building strong relationships, we ultimately gain the trust of those individuals and this enables a far more successful and faster-paced working relationship.

A relationship is not formed with a company, but with those individuals who work for that company. All of these individuals have different personalities and ways of going about their work. Taking the time to understand how every individual operates is key to the success of a project. This could be as simple as understanding how best to communicate with an individual. Are they someone who prefers written communication to enable more time to digest the information? Or do they prefer a simple phone call or video call as a means to relay information? Tailoring your ways of working to deliver an optimal strategy for a customer, offers benefits to both parties.

Strong relationships with customers can be developed through the following key themes:

  • Clear Communication - Clear communication is vital for trust because it ensures customers understand what to expect, what our ways of working are, and any potential issues. When expectations are clear and met, trust naturally grows.

  • Shared Values - Having shared values creates a sense of alignment between us and our customers. This creates a foundation of mutual understanding and respect, which enables increased confidence in our decision-making and actions taken on our customers' behalf.

  • Shared Goals and Objectives - Mutual success is a common characteristic that enhances the relationship between Insider Pro and our customers. When both parties are working towards common goals, such as hitting specific milestones, this fosters collaboration and transparency.

  • Confidence to challenge each other constructively - The ability to challenge each other within a customer relationship is something that requires much consideration. Ensuring that the challenge is made in a way that is constructive and makes the customer feel empowered, is critical. Challenging a customer with accompanying data to support your challenge can prove particularly impactful. At Insider Pro we are sometimes met with an initial reluctance to change, but if challenged with data or evidence that clearly supports a change, this helps to empower our customers to act upon our proposals. This is always a two-way relationship, and having a customer that challenges our ways of thinking too, can enable a deeper dive into a specific area.

When the four themes discussed above are implemented within a structured framework, the results will speak for themselves. Great results are a product of great relationships, and our team at Insider Pro has experienced this first-hand!

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Topics: Disruptive Procurement, Procurement People, Procurement Consultancy, Our Team

A Virtual Christmas - Team Spirit in Action

Posted by Jeremy Bowley

If 2020 has taught us one thing, it's the importance of team spirit.  And Insider Pro demonstrated this clearly at our Christmas jumper charity event last week.  Since March, everyone has been forced into a position of uncertainty and isolation and being part of a team has become even more important.  It was critical to decide quickly on the best ways to hold the team together, communicate, connect and maintain important relationships. 

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Topics: Best Practice, Our Team

What does it take to create £3m enterprise value in a year?

Posted by Mike Dunlop

1 YEAR - 5 CUSTOMERS - £3M IMPACT - AVG 20% SAVINGS

It has been 1 year since I joined Insider Pro Ltd and I can safely say it has been the best decision of my career so far.

I remember receiving advice from colleagues, my professional network and family that it would be unwise to give up a secure senior position in a large blue chip corporation and move to a boutique consultancy. Yet here I am today with a huge smile on my face due to my current lifestyle and my achievements to date.

£3m impact to my customers within the first year is more than I could ever have imagined and I didn’t have to reach ‘burn out’ to achieve it!

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Topics: Our Team, Enterprise Value

Working at Insider Pro - what's different?

Posted by Darin Crosby

I joined Insider Pro a few months ago, and was reflecting on my time here.  This is a very different type of consultancy practice and I'd like to share my thoughts with you:

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Topics: Our Team

Insiders at work

Posted by Jeremy Bowley

30 days after joining us, I asked our latest recruit how she feels about working for Insider Pro:

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Topics: Our Team

Working at InsiderPro - the ultimate sense of achievement

Posted by Ally Ryles

Having held a senior position in a multi-billion pound business for 10 years I never thought I would ever return to business after children to work in a small procurement consultancy still in the infancy of its development.

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Topics: Our Team