Providing a quality service to our customers
We continue to make strides in our attempts to provide a quality service to our customers, from developing our modes of communication to updating our well-established digital toolkit. Here are just a few examples of how we do it:
Customer Events
One of the many ways we work to ensure we are delivering a quality service to our customers is to speak with you – the people who will be using our agreements – to learn what works well, what services you may require, and what new products we can offer. This includes speaking with various procurement groups to obtain the most recent information on what services we should provide to meet your needs. Throughout the year, we host many events, such as our Members Forums, Joint Cluster Workshops, and Atamis Health Family Forums, that give our members and customers the opportunity to discuss their needs and challenges in their roles and work together to find solutions.
Atamis
Using the Atamis Health Family e-Procurement system has made it easier for our customers to manage and facilitate the complete procurement process. The platform is quickly being adopted across the NHS and public sector landscape allowing customers to undertake an end-to-end procurement project that allows users to move a concluded procurement project to a contract record and contract manage the awarded supplier.
When supporting procurements on behalf of our customers, our skilled Procurement Operations team regularly provide evaluator training as standard, promoting a best practice approach to evaluation for our customers. With evaluations conducted within Atamis we ensure that customers have a complete audit trail of the evaluation process and that the overall scores are a true and fair reflection. Managing the evaluation and moderation process in Atamis ensures that a robust process is followed in line with PCR 2015 regulations and help to reduce risks for our customers.
Using the platform has provided numerous benefits, including our ability to work with and contribute to the development of the Integrated Care System procurement model. We have previously run Further Competitions for South Yorkshire ICS as part of our Total Waste Management framework. This process was delivered in Atamis; the end result is a contract record that the contracting authority can pick up, have full visibility of, and self-manage.
Digital Toolkit
Our digital toolkit provides customers with a variety of digital tools available across our website, making it easier and faster for customers to gather all the information they require for their procurement. Here's a quick rundown of the digital tools available to customers across our website:
Fileshare
Our website's file-sharing system provides customers with a self-service approach, where they can easily and quickly obtain framework documentation, they require allowing for a faster turnaround in gathering the information needed to evaluate if the framework is suitable for the customers' needs.
Customers can browse framework documentation for all the frameworks across our four categories via a customer login. After logging in, customers can access user guides, rate cards, a list of suppliers and the lots they are appointed to, framework specifications, call-off contracts, and other supporting documentation. If customers wish to call off via a Further Competition, we have templates that can be accessed within the fileshare area to support customers with this process.
Quick Quote Tool
Our innovative Quick Quote Tool allows you to send details of your specific requirements to suppliers in the Lots you select so that they can contact you directly with a quote that meets your needs. The tool is simple to use and can save you time during the sourcing process.
The Quick Quote Tool is available on our IT Hardware and Services (LINK3) and Total Technology Solutions frameworks. Click here to learn more about the tool.
Benchmarking Tool
The benchmarking tool helps our customers to identify savings and best value across multiple frameworks through an easy-to-use interface.
Provider Search
Our Minor Works Trades and Associated Services DPS has a built-in online provider search tool, helping you to identify the suppliers who can meet your needs. We can also support customers to onboard any existing suppliers to the DPS.
Vendor Discount Matrix Tool
This easy-to-use tool has been developed to allow users to identify the best value offering for a given requirement under the Total Technology Solutions framework agreement.
Click here to discover more about the new Vendor Discount Matrix tool and how to use it.
Support Desk
Our Support Desk is the first point of contact for our customers, and our team strives to deliver the very best service. Over the last year, our Support Desk has received 4,788 enquiries, with 46% of these enquiries being responded to within an hour.
Accreditations
We continually demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with high-quality service across our organisation. We recently achieved ISO9001, a quality management system standard, and ISO27001, an information security management standard, validating our organisation and reinforcing our commitment to quality. We have also received accreditation from the Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CCIAF), demonstrating our commitment to improving the delivery of the best possible service to our customers. More information about these accreditations can be found in our ISO and CCIAF standards posts.
If you have any questions about our customer events, digital toolkit, Atamis, or anything else, please contact our Support Desk by email or by calling 0114 212 2122.