We answer to our customers’ procurement needs

Due to the merger of Hansel and KL-Kuntahankinnat in September 2019, our clientele increased many times. The clientele’s growth and joining framework agreements in advance required new kind of investing in customer work, communications, and marketing in the report’s year.

We shared customer responsibilities into geographical regions. Each region was appointed two account managers. For its part, the coronavirus pandemic changed the nature of customer work, and many customer encounters were arranged online. Customer work changed its form astonishingly fast, and based on positive experiences, the online meetings will become a permanent practice, at least partially. Customer events were also cancelled and carried out online. The seven webinars we hosted in the autumn were received well by customers, and each event had hundreds of listeners.

Communications and marketing have a big role

As a basis for the online service renewal, we conducted customer interviews, which revealed that the customers’ biggest worry is failing to notice a joint procurement agreement and missing the deadline to join a framework agreement. Communications and marketing have a big role in customer work. We have invested in customer communications by increasing the personnel resources and developing competence. We devise a marketing plan for each joint procurement, with which we ensure that information is shared in time about the framework agreement’s joining schedule, taking the customer’s decision-making in consideration. We strengthened our customer service with a Swedish-speaking customer advisor.

Successful procurement by listening to customers

The customer forum of twenty representatives from Hansel’s clientele gathered three times in 2020. The forum’s purpose is to exchange experiences, share good practices, encourage, and gain up-to-date information about Hansel’s operation. The discussed themes included digitalisation in procurement, spend analyses as a management tool, and the provision of joint procurement. In the last remote meeting of the year, the forum also discussed the coronavirus pandemic’s influence on the members’ organisations and Hansel’s operation.

Customers appreciate Hansel’s service attitude

Hansel regularly monitors customer and supplier satisfaction. A customer satisfaction survey is performed annually, and a supplier satisfaction survey is performed every other year. For 2020, the customer satisfaction survey was performed in January 2021. The entire clientele took the survey together for the first time.

The Executive Committee and personnel information event went through the results of the 2020 customer satisfaction survey. The results will be used in the planning of development initiatives with the employees.

The overall customer satisfaction 4.08 was slightly better than in the previous year (customer satisfaction was 3.90 in 2019) despite the changes in the operating environment. In addition to the reorganisation of the company and the changes in the joining practice for framework agreements, the prevailing pandemic influenced Hansel’s operation extensively.

Customer work transferred nearly entirely to online meetings, as did planned customer events. Similarly to last year, customers highlight Hansel’s knowledge of the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts as well as tendering competence, service attitude, and operations of the contact persons as their strengths.

Development areas named by the customers included knowledge of customer requirements and benefits from joint procurement and functionality.

A total of 470 customers who did business with Hansel over the course of the year replied to the survey.

• The average score was 4.08 (3.90 in 2019)
• An overall score of 3.50 or better was given by 84% of the respondents (78%)
• An overall score of 2.99 or worse was given by 6% of the respondents (11%)

The performance bonus paid to Hansel employees is linked to the received customer satisfaction feedback.