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In IT Procurement, Trust Matters More Than Ever Before 

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In a previous post we talked about how customer service agility during the crisis will affect how suppliers’ reputations will be judged when the dust has settled. In this post we look closer into the trust factor and how Markit and other reputable suppliers are building it. 

Companies who are seeking to reduce IT supply costs during the recession are naturally going to consider new suppliers, as well as possibly reviewing terms with existing suppliers, and whilst cost will be one of the determining factors, the credibility of the supplier will ultimately influence the decision in a significant way. 


Credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective factors but can include objective measurements such as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective characteristics of the supplier’s “quality” e.g., credentials, certifications or information/product quality.  

Trust doesn’t appear overnight; it takes time and repeated connections, and transactions to develop but when it’s there it can be the defining factor in supplier-client loyalty and can lead to innovations, better problem solving and a speedier route to achieving mutual goals. 

So how do we at Markit build trust with our clients? 

Our account managers and customer support teams go above and beyond traditional expectations.  

  • They are proactive. They call clients on a regular basis to understand their shifting challenges and customise our response as a company. 
  • They care. Genuinely. Empathy and kindness is written into Markit’s DNA and when you honestly care it shows in your face, in your tone of voice, in your body language. It can’t be faked. This level of caring allows honest and open feedback to flow between our teams and the client’s. This kind of open communication leads to better problem solving and engenders trust development. 
  • They understand that openness and flexibility are part of a successful IT procurement relationship. There must be give and take on both sides. With mutual development and tweaking of plans and agreements for a win-win scenario, trust grows. Yes of course prices can be negotiated but value creation, indirect savings, payment terms etc. must be factored in too. 

When we engage new clients, we don’t push our IT purchasing solutions however good they are and whatever our instinct tells us. We “move off the solution”. We listen and we ask questions. We try to deeply understand the challenges facing not just the CPO but their surrounding key stakeholders too: the CTO, the CIO, the CFO and of course the IT buyers and users themselves.  

Just because Markit is serving 9500 companies through our operations in 34 countries doesn’t mean we are right for everyone.  At Markit we trust each other too, to ensure that we really can save new clients time and money on their IT procurement on a long-term sustainable basis. If we find we are not the right fit, then simply it’s better to walk away and not just “take the business” with a short-term mentality. 

Trust isn’t built by grabbing deals left, right and centre. It is built by honest appreciation of a company’s IT procurement issues and speaking plainly, with empathy, and mutually discovering if our ability to solve their challenges is sufficient to meet their goals. 

Many of Markit’s client relationships embody high levels of trust. You can read more about our trusted clients and partners in our IT procurement success stories.