marketing

customer research reveals high level of satisfaction

Ongoing research with customers has revealed that satisfaction levels continue to rise.

In our 2008/9 Annual Report and Accounts we reported 94% customer satisfaction, exceeding our target of 90% and demonstrating a year on year improvement in this hugely important measure of our performance.

And the latest figures for the first quarter of the new financial year show that this upward trend continues, with our latest research results putting the figure at 95.1%.

Further analysis at the end of the 2008/9 financial year revealed some further positive findings, including:

• 40.9% of customers believe Buying Solutions has improved what it does over the last year
• 33.5% of customers said that their future use of Buying Solutions would increase
• 83% of customers would recommend Buying Solutions to a colleague or other public sector body
• Saving time, resource and money, and having clear and transparent pricing and contract terms and conditions remain the most important attributes for customers in the first quarter of 2009/10. The importance of being easy to do business with has also increased in the last quarter.

As a Buying Solutions’ supplier, we recognise that you have a key role to play in the delivery of our services and would like to thank you for your valuable contribution to our improved performance in this area.

Customer satisfaction is at the heart of our new brand strategy and we are striving for excellence. With your continued support, we are confident that we can achieve further improvements in this key performance measure throughout the year.

For further information on Buying Solutions' customer research, please contact our service desk on 0345 410 2222 or email

events

You may be interested in attending one or more of the following events where Buying Solutions has a stand.

For more details click on the news and events pages at www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk

new focus, new brand

Most of you will already have seen the new Buying Solutions brand, launched in April this year.

The new, single brand replaced the Catalist and Managed Services sub-brands, cutting out  potential confusion  and eliminating any perceived overlap with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

We remain an Executive Agency of OGC however and will continue to work closely with them particularly, for example, in supporting the Government's collaborative procurement agenda.

Suppliers have a major role to play in helping us to raise awareness and embed the new brand. By using the Buying Solutions branding on your marketing materials to highlight your status as a supplier, you should find that it opens doors to more business from public sector customers. After all, where else can customers find deals that offer better value for money, compliance with EU procurement regulations and expert, independent support?

So please review your materials, remove references to Catalist if you haven’t already done so and use the new brand guidance. It’s also important to ensure your customer-facing staff are aware of the changes and the new guidelines.

More details, guidelines and FAQs relating to the new brand can be found in the Supplier Zone at our website

no 'Procurement Solutions Live' for 2010

After many years of hosting Procurement Solutions Live – our annual conference and exhibition
– we have reviewed our events strategy and will not be staging the event in 2010.

Our strategy for the coming year will be more targeted to customer and supplier
needs, allowing us to engage at a deeper and more productive level.

Working closely with suppliers, we will agree an events plan which provides
mutually beneficial opportunities to connect with our customers.

Procurement Solutions Live formed part of the overarching Public
Procurement Show which also included Smart Healthcare Live and GC Live.
For 2010, although the Procurement Solutions will not form part of the Public
Procurement show, Kable will still stage a similar exhibition and we are
likely to have a presence.

Your Buying Solutions Senior Marketing Manager will be able to update you on
events of interest, or alternatively call our service desk on 0345 410 2222.