Delivering excellent customer service through procurement

On the 24th September, we launched our latest Breakthrough Research*: The Procurement Partnership – Developing relationships to deliver excellent customer service though procurement.

The key purpose of the research is to identify best practice in procurement of services and capabilities that deliver sustainable service excellence and business performance examining:

• How organisations define procurement requirements
• The factors that influence how organisations evaluate suppliers and make procurement decisions
• How supplier relationships are managed to ensure performance and accountability
• The evolving impact of Covid-19 and factors that will influence procurement in the future
• Key enablers and characteristics of successful procurement to enable customer experience performance

The research is based on interviews with senior executives across 18 organisations, combined with the results of our online survey of managers in procurement, customer experience and contractor roles.

Some of the key findings are:

• Managers rate (on average) 69% of procurement affecting their organisation’s customer experience as “successful”
• 67% of managers agree that customer experience is a key strategic driver for procurement
• 25% of organisations always consult their customers about procurement requirements affecting customer experience
• 34% of managers believe that Covid-19 will have a major impact on their organisation’s procurement in the next 12 months
• 73% of procurement managers believe their organisation manages its supplier relationships effectively but only 58% of customer experience managers do

Members can access the recording of the launch webinar where Institute’s CEO, Jo Causon and Head of Research & Insight, Brian Weston, talked us through the findings of the research. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the research sponsors Scottish Water and YPO.

*Note: Member organisations can access Breakthrough Research for free by logging in their member dashboard. Discounts apply for Individual members.