Picking the right supplier is crucial to the success of any project, and getting the right people is a vital element, so when selecting a supplier there are a number of crucial questions to ask:
- Do they have people who understand professional services and my area of business?
A consultant with previous experience of the Professional Services Sector, who understands the changes affecting the sector and the resulting sales challenges, will lead any project-team. When building a project-team we have the flexibility to include people from other industry sectors to ensure that new approaches and fresh insights can be brought to bear, avoiding any risk of restricted thinking or complacency.
- Do these people have the range of skills needed to deliver my project?
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Many clients focus on the trainers, in their efforts to ensure that the people delivering the solutions have the necessary skills and experience. But, success is obviously dependent on more than just having good trainers:
- Do they have the consultancy skills to ensure the blocks to success are identified and addressed?
- Have they the design expertise to develop programmes to match the identified needs and the writing skills to develop materials to support the solution?
- Do they have project management skills and experience to handle the problems that are sure to arise during implementation?
- When it's all over, are they able to evaluate the project to ensure that it is making a real difference to performance?
At Huthwaite we have built a team to handle all aspects of the project from needs analysis, programme design and materials development, through programme delivery, to project management and control.
- Does the supplier have sufficient resources to deliver the project within my time frame?
- At Huthwaite we have built a substantial team to allow us to handle the largest projects. In addition to our UK based team we have built a large global network giving us over 300 people to draw on. We try to ensure that all our people gain experience of a wide range of industry sectors and most of our team will have experience of working on projects within the Professional Services sector. So we can assemble a team, with the right blend of skills and experience, to deliver even the largest projects quickly and effectively.
- Does the organisation have the production facilities and resources to support large projects?
- At Huthwaite we have production facilities and resources large enough to support the biggest projects. Our team produces thousands of sets of training materials a week and we have never missed a deadline. So you can rest assured that while our trainers are excellent, we have put the same care and effort into ensuring that our back up services match the quality of our front-line team.
- Can they deliver the project in all the locations and languages we need?
- Huthwaite has spent 30 years developing an international delivery network, covering most of the globe from Finland to South Africa and Australia, from the United Kingdom to Japan and Korea. Our network now covers 33 countries with delivery and materials in the local languages.
