My name is Julie Viollet. I work for 180 Degree Consulting, Stockholm. Iām a Consulting Director. We're a student consultancy that provides management consultancy services to social enterprises or NGOs.
"Value for Money" should be read as "Value for Efforts" in the Score Details. ("Value for Money" is not applicable due to pro bono project)
What was the main business challenge you tried to resolve?
The idea was to broaden the types of projects that we offer to our student consultants. It requires quite a lot of time for us to research outside of Sweden and Stockholm. Also we don't really have the knowledge to do that or the network which CSRN has.
Did you manage to solve your challenge and how?
We've only been working with them for maybe two, three months, and we've faced some significant challenges with the project that we've undertaken together. But I think the fact that we started working with them also prompted us to think, do we need to be doing these kinds of projects abroad?
Why did you decide to do business with CSRN?
In both of our cases, we can have non-profit organizations. So there was no really financial compensation involved in either sides, which I guess might make it a bit easier than for some other businesses. But I think they offer the service that was kind of a no brainer to us.
Strengths
What did you like in dealing with CSRN?
They provide us with a list of potential clients and then they put us in touch with the clients that we're interested in. I think it was very nice that everyone we spoke to was very passionate about the organization and they always seemed to be willing to go the extra mile to help. They had good knowledge about the projects that they were proposing and they're very responsive also I think it needs to be dealt with. So that's been quite a good experience working with CSRN in that role.
What was unique/special about CSRN?
I really like the fact that they were quite similar to us. All the people who work there are also students which are passionate about social impact causes. They come from different organizations originally, but they all come together because of this kind of passion. I think that was nice. They're both kind of passionate and relatable, I guess for us.
Where did CSRN perform strongest and add best value to you as a client?
The responsiveness, especially since we went for like a bit of a challenge, was good, that it was easy to keep in contact with them. The person that I was working to, one to one, we also have a kind of a WhatsApp group for more general questions. I think that's been really appreciated that they are easy to reach when necessary. That it's been really great, I guess, to be working with CSRN, I think overall. I really hope that they continue to develop because I think what they do is really cool.
Areas to Improve
Did you miss anything in what CSRN provided to you?
It kind of started off very good and we were very impressed by how organized they were. Then I think a bit further down the line, we realized that, there's still a young organization. I think they still have some things that they need to figure out internally. But I think they're being quite transparent about it, which is nice. But I think for us to be topic where I would like to see some improvement is in the way where as client, we have very limited information about clients before we take them on. So CSRN provide clients to us, but we only get to read this very short brief before we meet the clients. In our case, it didn't go so well with the clients. It was kind of we realized that's a bit too late to be able to go back. I'm afraid I don't have very good, actionable solutions because I've been thinking about it. But I guess maybe some more information about the clients would be quite useful for us in order to make a decision. Additionally, I think if that's not possible, because I see that as probably not being possible, maybe some minimum requirements that should be met by all the clients.
What issues did you have in doing business with CSRN?
We had issues with clients that were not very responsive, quite difficult to talk to in meetings because they had bad connection, or they were on the phone next to a road and things like that. I think maybe some setting expectations on their part and maybe a checklist of things that each client should have could have been quite helpful.
Recommendations to others
What would you recommend to other decision-makers and why?
I would suggest to think about why you're doing it, because I think that's something that we didn't really consider at the beginning and also maybe like what else some deal breakers for you to get into these projects and maybe try to seek some information about those before you commit. If the information is not there, it doesn't mean that they don't have it. Maybe you just need to ask the right questions.
What are your learnings from resolving your business challenge?
I think maybe this time, the learning has been that sometimes outsourcing probably isn't the right solution here. But if you do outsource, I think it could have been better managed also on our side, because we went into a new type of project that none of us have experience with. So when we faced some challenges, it was also difficult on our sides, and I think CSRN responded quite adequately when these things kind of happened. Maybe it would have helped to build a closer relationship with CSRN before we started the project as well. But it's very difficult because we have many different stakeholders. I'm kind of the manager and then I have a team with a project manager and a team, and that kind of the manager and they have a client. So it's many people. But yes, I guess maybe this relationship building, which we ended up having because of the challenge, was quite helpful.
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