Willem Aal, ANWB: 'The Summiteers team is noticeably personally connected'
ANWB Zakelijk offers assistance and additional services for freelancers, SMEs and large business customers throughout Europe. Despite the successful business model, the organization looked for better profitability. In order to achieve an optimal product portfolio and better returns, Willem Aal, director of ANWB Business, called in Summiteers. In this blog, Willem explains what Summiteers brought to ANWB Zakelijk and how the collaboration was enjoyed.
Successful business model
ANWB Business develops and implements, among other things, roadside assistance programs for various parties, such as car manufacturers, leasing companies, fleet owners and insurers in the Netherlands and Europe. In that capacity, we are part of the European network of ARC Europe. Despite our successful business model, we were still looking for better profitability. This was mainly because we provided a lot of customization and were constantly adapting to customer requirements. This makes it difficult to create a product that can be executed efficiently.
The rider experience first
To remain the market leader, we had to develop a standard portfolio of solutions. After all, a shoe store can also only be profitable if it offers shoes at a price based on production costs. Now, of course, a roadside assistance program is different than a pair of boots or loafers, but it's still about the customer's experience, about the right price-quality ratio. To rationalize and arrive at the right portfolio, we first had to thoroughly analyse the existing situation and identify where we wanted to go. What products and services will you use to serve the market of the future? How can you organize the organization as efficiently as possible to achieve the goals of business customers at the lowest possible cost? To answer these questions, we sought support from a strategic partner. Bart Loozen, director of Logic, recommended Summiteers to me. A hit, as it soon became clear.
Personal development
My first conversation was with Paul van Bekkum and Arjen Verwer. I explained the situation and indicated that we wanted to get more control over both the market and our own organization. They worked very hard. We started with a brown paper session. I can only say that the Summiteers team consists of extremely knowledgeable and committed people. They were able to create a very open atmosphere and asked exactly the right questions. As a result, they got all our colleagues along, even those who initially showed the necessary resistance. During the process, attention was also paid to behavior and the personal development of our employees. For example, everyone — including myself — has grown enormously in terms of content, which is a wonderful bycatch.
Content strategies, optimal product portfolio and the right dynamics
Summiteers helped us develop content strategies, create an optimal product portfolio and map out the right roadmap. Moreover, they had a very good sense of the underlying dynamic. The Summiteers team is noticeably personally connected, which is very special. Throughout the process, it looked like they were putting on their ANWB jacket in the morning. They have us to look at ourselves from a different perspective. Time after time, they brought us back to the core. Why do we do this? What's going on in the market? What are the internal bottlenecks? This is how we discovered our own blind spot and constantly stayed on track.
Tightly organized
I've worked with a lot of strategic agencies, but I haven't experienced any of them like Summiteers. I sincerely hope that they do not have the ambition to become just another strategy production company. With a relatively small team, they can help a large organization like ANWB, that's a gift. In the consulting world, you can really make an impact by focusing on the details. At Summiteers, everything is tightly organized. All agreements are correct, the pieces are always good, the energy is right and the people are fit to deliver and always go the extra mile. I bet every minute isn't billed. This is in contrast to many other agencies, where the counter starts ticking just thinking about them. Summiteers is a healthy consultancy company that offers value for money, and even more than that.
Business value and focus
The collaboration has brought me an enormous amount of business value and focus for the future. Now, together with ARC, I know where the train should go and what to focus on. We are going to earn back the money that has been invested twice and I can demonstrate this very concretely.
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