Emma Carroll is joined by Paul Alexander and Martin White, in this first episode of Business Leader’s Voice, a new series providing a client’s-eye view of the professional services landscape.
When it comes to selling and contracting for professional services, have you ever fallen into any of the common procurement pitfalls?
Clients say that firms can fail to understand the structure of procurement and the wider buying process. They can be tempted to oversell capabilities or talk up talent that isn’t available. Those on the ground may assume that people working in procurement understand more about consulting than they do. And sometimes firms can simply fail to listen…
It’s a rare firm that hasn’t fallen into the supplier management gap at some time.
In this podcast, we discuss all things procurement with Paul Alexander, who’s had leadership roles at BP and British Airways, and now lectures on procurement, teaching tomorrow’s buyers of professional services and beyond. Paul has witnessed all these mistakes and more—but he takes a positive look at what firms can do to build a better and more profitable relationship with their partners in procurement.
The first 40 minutes of this episode are a behind-the-scenes interview with Paul Alexander. This is followed by 10 minutes of bonus content with Martin White, Principal Consultant at Source, in which we discuss what Source’s research has to say about the issues raised.
About the series: Business Leader’s Voice is essential listening for those seeking to understand what’s important to clients. Speaking to influential buyers and users of professional services, Source’s managing editor, Emma Carroll, asks the big questions about what really matters to firms today and offers fresh insight into the critical issues occupying the headspace of senior executives.