Relationship Optimisation

Getting the Best out of Each Other

Take advantage of a bespoke service that helps everyone involved in commercial relationships get the best out of each other. I’ve helped improve the performance of relationship owners in service providers and service buyers at, for example, Fallon, Kantar, Populus and KPMG.

My approach is flexible, robust and collaborative, based on a highly effective programme of client/customer interviews. The overall process tends to follow these stages:

  1. Orientation – briefing and agreement of outcomes
  2. Immersion – question set design and interviews
  3. Distillation – reporting and recommendations
  4. Implementation – actions and commitments

I deliver the significant benefits of experienced, expert, third-party intervention. I ask the right questions of the right people in the right way at the right time. I know how to listen and can interpret nuances and volume levels.

In talking to a credible, independent intermediary, and when temporarily released from the day-to-day demands of a relationship, those involved become more candid, expansive and specific.  In most cases, the process itself adds value to relationships, and can be differentiating.

Critically, what I do in providing intelligent, actionable solutions not only saves my clients money, it can also make them money.

Contact me and let Bigfoot help you get the best from your business relationships.

Testimonials

Before I started my new role I needed to know whether we (RBS) were getting the best out of our external partners and if not , why not. With this clear brief Paul set about getting an answer to the brief from all of our key partners and before I started provided me with a very thorough and professional report on each relationship. This really helped me hit the ground running. He understands the business of marketing exceptionally well, he knows how client agency relationships should work and he knows how to get people to tell him the truth.
He makes the complex simple and is very sensitive to people issues as well , above all a really good guy to work with. I recommend him highly and think he provides an invaluable service to both client and agency, happy to provide more detail to those that need it!

David WheldonCMORBS

In a recent project Paul yet again demonstrated the difference he brings. Discretion, wisdom and intelligence are great characteristics in a partner, finding all three is really rare. The interviews he conducted told us things we didn’t know and his ability to draw on previous knowledge provided crucial context. I was really impressed by how quickly he understood our business and by the sensitive way in which he carried out the project. I am very keen to find ways to work with Paul again and can’t recommend him highly enough.

Michael SimmondsCEOPopulus

In a world of well-meaning relationship consultants who haven’t themselves ‘served time’ in relevant shoes, Paul is that rare thing: someone who doesn’t just spot problems (and opportunities!) but knows what to do next and how to do it.  His agency experience stands him in especially good stead as someone who instinctively treasures long term relationships but also understands that mending is needed from time to time.

He is able to see patterns where others don’t and, in doing so, to help create a culture where relationships are prioritised and flourish.

He advised Fallon at a classic inflection point: a 10 year old creative boutique suddenly serving a dozen or so big blue chip clients. He helped us not just to navigate the falls but also to become more self-aware as a service business, to train some new muscles and to systemise our relationship-building.  (In the nicest way, I suspect he prides himself on never being needed again.)

Laurence Green Founding Partner101

Paul is the perfect third party to help you better understand and improve your business relationships. He puts people at ease and builds trust. His vast experience and positive attitude mean that his recommendations are informed, practical and constructive. At Kantar he provided an invaluable ‘state of the nation’ on some of our most important and complex client relationships as well as some really useful pointers for keeping the partnerships fresh and fully functioning.

Fiona McAnenaPartnerClearhound