Advance Client Relations

Update: 2019-03-18

Consulting business faced many challenges and changes in 2018, such as technological disruption and cultural shifts, with a continued trend towards the short-term projects. Clients are more likely to engage experts with specific skills and knowledge in short, targeted project than to hire team of consultants for months-long work. We maintained a stable client base, continued cooperation with most of our long-term clients, successfully completed great projects that started previous year and continued positioning in strategic areas (being recognized as leader in consulting in CSR and Sustainability Management).

SDGs to which we contribute:

Key Performance Indicators:

44clients (-1)

52%of our clients > 3 years (+3)

71%client retention rate (+- 0)

Long-term Partnerships

Over two thirds of our 2017 clients continued cooperation through 2018, and more than half of 2018 clients were our long term partners with cooperation that lasts more than three years. Nevertheless, due to challenges and changes in consulting industry, but also within our team, fee income generated from cooperation with long-term clients slightly decreased and accounted for 77 percent and some of long-term partnerships were completed during last year.

Using Account Review System, we revise our cooperation on quarterly bases in order to constantly grow and improve quality of our services. In 2019 we plan to improve our processes that concern client relations and empower our teams in areas of project management and controlling. In the 2018 360° review, “Is enthusiastic about helping clients” and “Strives to achieve the highest quality” score the top of the team collective assessment.

Teaming Up for Joint Projects

Close client relationships are the best basis for excellent projects. Last year, we could team-up with several clients and achieve great results. Just some of them:

Integration of OTP and Splitska banka

During 2018 we consulted OTP Group in the largest ever bank merger ever in the country and creating the 4th largest bank on the Croatian market. The project was extremely complex and challenging in the areas of brand management, corporate culture, communications and stakeholder relations. We supported the bank successfully in all these areas, at the same time developing a new organizational culture and creating a very intense communications and stakeholder engagement. This project was a crown of our 17-years long consulting and executive support to the bank and the fourth large M&A process in which we supported this client.

EVN press study trip

The press trip was hosted by EVN AG in September 2018 and gathered Croatian journalists from local and national media. The press trip was organized to explain how EVN AG manages its energy mix in order to ensure security and stability of energy system. The specific aim was to illustrate how can two energy sources, i.e. natural gas and renewables play complementary role in an ongoing energy transition towards the climate neutral (low-carbon society) economy and society. The journalist were acquainted with different projects, such as RAG’s flagship Sun Underground Project, Zwentendorf NPP, and how EVN partnered with Brau Union Brewery Schwechat to power new residential district in Schwechat.

Croatian Natural Science Museum

Croatian Natural Science Museum launched the project which is combining culture and natural science to offer visitors new unique experience in completely renovated and upgraded Amadeo Palace. New museum will also host a new laboratory equipped with modern technology available to all users, especially business, scientific and academic community. All new features were presented on 14 November 2018 in Zagreb in the City of Zagreb premises. We also supported the organization of the event for citizens of Zagreb, organized on the Day of the Croatian Natural Science Museum, 18 December 2018.

With ASFINAG, the Austrian commercial operator and builder of motorways and expressways, we developed internal processes for sustainability management, as well as a new concept for online-reporting which allows an ongoing update according to the available data.

In the Croatian CSR Index, we have reached the maximum of 100 points in customer relations and CSR in the market in recent years.

Goals:

Engage clients in assessing their future needs
Upgrade project management
Team up with clients in joint initiatives

What do our stakeholders say?

“H&P has provided professional communications services to OTP Group since 2005. Besides their excellent local knowledge and highly market focused advisory aproach we benefit a lot from their deep understanding of OTP Group. This becomes an even more special asset when OTP Group acquires and integrates a bank in Croatia. OTP experts and managers always feel safe with H&P, both in terms of quality and deadlines of communications work.“

Bence Gáspár, OTP Bank Nyrt., Head of Communications and Public Affairs

“I really value H&P’s sound judgement and trusted and timely advice about our challenges.“

Branko Mozara, Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs Director, CEMEX Hrvatska

“Cooperating with Hauska & Partner makes us highly prepared for all kinds of communications challenges. Excellent professionalism and reliability of H&P team and dedication to our joint tasks makes us feel as if we belong to the same company.“

Slaven Celić, Splitska banka, President of the Management Board

“When you plan a journalist trip, even perfectly organized, you always face risks about the result: what will be presented in the end in the media. Having H&P with us, we totally avoided that risk, as our team leader played the key, pivotal role in the relationship management among the journalists, and between them and company representatives. We could have seen how the very different parts were connected in in a beautiful picture, providing all with necessary information and keeping same level of enthusiasm and spirit, despite certain uncontrollable events. This enthusiasm was in the seen in the media reports. H&P’s role was very important part of this winning combination.“

Vlado Mandić, EVN Croatia Plin, Member of the Management Board