Eva Backe, in charge of consultant procurement at Handelsbanken, said: "Inkopio feels like colleagues rather than just a supplier."
Handelsbanken began working with Inkopio in 2020, after being impressed by the company's product a few years prior. This strong impression led to an obvious choice when Handelsbanken later faced an internal system change. Here, Handelsbanken's Eva Backe and Katarina Jeansson share the story of their successful collaboration.
Handelsbanken has had close dialogue with Inkopio since 2020, even though they were introduced to each other eight years ago.
- Their Vendor Management System (VMS), CPro, turned out to be an interesting solution. It wasn't the right time to change the system back then, but Inkopio left a strong impression that has stayed with us ever since, says Katarina Jeansson, Head of Consultant Procurement at Handelsbanken.
“Now let's reach out to Inkopio”
- It was a fortunate coincidence that our current platform was going to be phased out. That's when Eva (Backe) and I were quick to act and thought, now let's reach out to Inkopio, Katarina Jeansson explains.
Not only did the system feel tailored for Handelsbanken's consultant procurement, but there were also several aspects that led them to choose the offer from Inkopio. Eva Backe, responsible for consultant procurement at Handelsbanken, highlights how the people behind the company are humble and accommodating individuals.
- It's also a Sweden-based product and a smaller company. Which we see as a major advantage, as it makes the dialogue easy and the work smooth, Katarina explains.
"CPro - a powerful system"
Inkopio's system, CPro, has proven to be a perfect solution for Handelsbanken when it comes to consultant procurement. The system offers comprehensive statistics and enables full support of the entire consultant procurement process. CPro outperformed the previous systems Handelsbanken used for consultant procurement and administration of consultants.
- The previous solution involved several manual steps, with two systems requiring a lot of clicking back and forth. Not to mention how much more efficient we have become now. We had order and structure before, but now we save a tremendous amount of time, Eva Backe explains.
"They feel more like colleagues than a supplier"
The collaboration with Inkopio has exceeded all expectations.
- No supplier has been as responsive; no matter what it's about, they're always there. They feel more like colleagues than a supplier because we have such a close collaboration, Eva Backe explains.
The close collaboration provides the conditions for transparent and flexible work, where requests for updates quickly become a reality in the system.
Control over costs
Handelsbanken has not only achieved its goals with Inkopio and CPro, they have surpassed them. Thanks to the interface in CPro, the work with consultant procurement has become more professional and the process more efficient.
- This has led to others, such as controllers and HR representatives, starting to use the system to generate statistics, Eva Backe explains.
Previously, Handelsbanken had a clear overview of consultants, contracts, and suppliers. With CPro, the bank also has clear cost control directly in the system. This has made the biggest difference and attracted attention from the rest of the organization.
"The entire organization has noticed how we work"
When asked about what they appreciate most about the collaboration, they find it difficult to choose just one thing.
- I appreciate that they are available almost all the time, I can call them anytime. I call several times a week, Eva Backe shares.
Katarina Jeansson continues.
- The system is fantastic. We can send powerful reports up to the management level, which has made others in the organization notice how we work.
Recommends CPro - "The market's best system"
CPro is the market's best system for consultant procurement, says Katarina Jeansson.
She therefore recommends more people to use Inkopio's system.
- Changing to a new system is a matter of mindset, and we see the possibilities of what Inkopio's system can do. We are so satisfied, and regardless of how much they grow as a company, we want to keep our contacts, Katarina Jeansson concludes.