Customer Focus
Cutting costs for the council
“Using an approved CCS supplier is the best way of procuring cost- competitive services at best-practice standards.”
As council budgets becomemore andmore constrained, the pressure to cut costs and improve efficiency has never been more important. Here, Claire Schweidler, Document Solutions Manager of Kirklees Council explains how sourcing postal services as a consortium through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has enabled the Council tomake significant savings.
What are the potential pitfalls to avoid? Don’t get too distracted by savings on mail items that only generate small volumes. Although there are over 200 categories listed on the RM1063 Framework, you should start by prioritising 10 large-volume items before reviewing everything else. What do you look for in amail provider? A good understanding of the demands that local government face and providing innovative solutions that improve efficiency is key. Where do you findmost savings can bemade on post? As far as Kirklees Council is concerned, most of our savings are achieved by making sure all our mail is machine-readable, and has the correct address and postcode. We also save on print, stationery and consumables by using hybridmail for certain mailings. Howmuch have you savedwithWhistl? In the months following the tender, Kirklees Council has made a 17% saving. As a consortium that includes Yorkshire, Humber and Association of Greater Manchester Authorities – significant savings are expected in the year ahead! Howdid you benefit fromsourcing a postal provider through a CCS framework agreement? It made the whole tendering process much quicker, easier and simpler to follow. Because the bidding suppliers had already signed up to pre-agreed terms and conditions there was less scope for re-negotiation, which made the contract procedure much more straightforward. For more information about Whistl’s extensive services for the public sector, please phone 01628 879611 or email whistl.magazine@whistl.co.uk
What’s your main challenge regarding post? Our main challenge is to deliver a more efficient service whilst reducing costs. Because we send out post that can be of a time-critical nature such as bills, reminders, legal documents and benefits, it’s really important that the mail we send out arrives on time. Working with an organisation that can handle the high volumes of post we send and that can improve cost-efficiencies is therefore really important to us. Howmany items of post does Kirklees Council send? Around 2 million items of mail every year. Why did you put the postal contract out to tender? As our existing contract withWhistl was about to expire there was an opportunity to team up with neighbouring local authorities that were also seeking to source postal services. By forming one consortium it meant we could benefit frommore competitive prices based on our combinedmail volumes – this adds up to around 27 million items per year. What advice would you give to other councils when choosing a postal supplier? Although price is very important, the quality of service is more so. Delivery needs to be efficient, quick andmost importantly of all, secure. Choosing a postal supplier should not purely be down to cost, it’s about implementing new efficiencies, good contract management and providing supportive customer service. Using an approved CCS supplier is therefore the best way of procuring cost-competitive services at best-practice standards. Where should you start when looking for amail provider? Speak to your procurement team initially as they will have a list of CCS approved postal providers. Then it’s down to you to shop around, visit depots, talk to the sales and operational managers.
6 Whistl Magazine • Winter 2017
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