We’ve reviewed the submissions and our committee has narrowed down the choices to these outstanding finalists for Solution Provider Partner of the Year! Sometimes, just having a great product is not enough. After all, what good is the product if there is not a strong partner to help you roll it out and be responsive to your needs for support? The best solution provider partners do not just understand their ROI, they know how to partner with you to help you communicate this to the business and they are there to support you, your team, and your company, should any need arise.
The Solution Provider – Partner category is intended to recognize outstanding performance by a specific individual and/or an organization. To be eligible for nomination, the Solution Provider must currently be, or have been, in the role for which they are being nominated, for some or all of the calendar year of nomination. Solution Provider – Partner nominations must be submitted by a retail client with first-hand knowledge of their contributions and performance.
AND THE FINALISTS ARE…
NOMINEE: Auror
Almost every provider tells you they care and that they are invested but the majority rarely show these qualities in tangible ways. This is not the case with Auror. There are multiple differentiators that I have experienced with Auror that sets them apart from other solution providers I have worked with. It should be noted that Auror, when I started my journey with them, was solely based in New Zealand and my company in Canada. I knew I had found one of those special partners from the beginning.
In preliminary discussions it was clear there were differences between North America and New Zealand. We were discussing a potential pilot, the two co-founders of Auror, Phil Thomson and Tom Batterbury, wanted to understand my challenges and my market. They booked flights from New Zealand and came and spent several days with myself and my team. They did this with no commitments or expectations. This was the very first indicator that Auror is different from many providers.
They want to understand and provide a solution that truly helps you. They value the customer’s input. Again, all providers say this, but Auror exemplifies this value. Over the year journey we have been on together there have been multiple suggestions and evolutions bubbled up from myself and my team. Auror has implemented the majority of our asks (at no cost to us), and the ones that haven’t, we have discussed and reviewed together to understand why, and what those outcomes could be. They have innovated throughout the journey to try and anticipate future needs and have features available before we even ask as they see how we are progressing.
Flexibility is another huge win with Auror. Working with their customers to come up with rollouts, training and billing that works for their customer. At times having to change plans at the last minute with no complaints and no penalties. They have made multiple concessions to make it work for us that I honestly didn’t expect them to agree to but has increased my appreciation for what this partner does for their clients.
Auror is actively working to support retailers across North America and support the LP community. From being the primary organizer and contributor to the Global Retail Summit in the early days of Covid, to continued sponsorship of working groups, LPRC, and ORCA groups. They are trying to change the way ORC is viewed, managed, and collaborated on across multiple channels and while they have a solution to help with this, they don’t do it just for the opportunity for new customers but because they are committed to making a difference.
On a personal note, what makes me believe that I am more than just a customer to Auror and part of their family. I recently lost my mother. Most of my providers heard about this. Several of my sales/account reps called me and offered condolences. Again, Auror was different, they took the time to get my personal address from our office so they could express their condolences. My account manager reached out as well, but not just him, almost the whole Auror team I have dealt with texted me, emailed me or called me and genuinely treated me as not just a customer but a person as well. The value of a partner developing these types of relationships is not easily measured but I can tell you it makes a difference in where I allocate my limited funds. All of the reasons listed above is why I believe Auror should be the Solution Partner of the year.
NOMINEE: ALTO Alliance
2020 has been unprecedented year for all of us and I am so grateful we had the partnership with the ALTO Alliance team. Right in the beginning of the pandemic they hosted a conference call with retailers from Europe that shared best practices for us 30-days ahead of time that were critical for keeping me and senior leadership appraised of what could be coming to the US. It provided me with critical insight and what to expect. They also provided proactive intelligence during the social unrest and partnerships with law enforcement, District Attorney’s and other community support systems. ALTO was an important part of keeping me and my team updated with information and support that they needed, when other resources and my team were stretched thin. Very grateful that we had this partnership that helped support our teams during 2020.
ALTO has done an excellent job of building partnerships between retailers and their counterparts in law enforcement and prosecution. Their efforts to solve pervasive problems with repeat offenders have proven extremely productive inside a vacuum where nothing else works.
NOMINEE: Agilence
Agilence has been our vendor for a year and a half and we are still impressed with the level of ownership they bring to our partnership. During our onboarding the implementations team was amazing. They hit every timeline and deliverable, something that does not often happen in the world of IT.
The Customer Success team has been absolutely fantastic since the completion of our onboarding. They’ve been an extremely knowledgeable resource and great help getting my team comfortable within the application. They’ve been receptive to all of our suggestions, asks, and challenges, often finding unique ways of using the application to get the info we seek.
We’ve found a long-term vendor that we look forward to working with for many years.
NOMINEE: Axis Communications – Hedgie Bartol and Rick Snook
At the onset of COVID and shutdowns, Hedgie and Rick created a weekly meeting (Axis Open Mike) to allow customer/retailers to share pandemic, protest and other best practices with one and other. What started as an informational/brainstorming session, became a community that continues to meet and help each other through any and all issues impacting the LP/AP world through these difficult times. Although many of us are competitors, the safe (and confidential) structure Hedgie and Rick created allowed us to share and discuss the common problems we all face and determine solutions.
NOMINEE: CargoNet
CargoNet has helped our company recover more than $200,000 in stolen cargo. They are quick to respond and inform law enforcement and they keep you posted with daily and sometimes hourly updates. Their extensive network of contacts has been able to provide me with other security professionals when I needed specific help in a theft case.
- CargoNet continues to be an important partner in our efforts to maintain an effective supply chain security program. In terms of intelligence, Cargo Net continues to provide reliable reports involving cargo theft trends and mitigation strategies which have allowed us to play offense in our efforts to protect our assets and create the appropriate level of awareness with our teammates and carrier partners.
For the past several years, and at the recommendation of CargoNet, our asset protection team has utilized 7p to live monitor all transload shipments throughout North America. By utilizing this solution, we have on several occasions, identified carrier/driver non-compliance which allowed us to quickly respond and ensure our cargo was secured without risk of loss. CargoNet has also been a great partner in identifying effective physical security solutions to mitigate the risk of loss while in transit. During a period of time in which our cargo was being targeted in transit, CargoNet quickly assisted in identifying a physical security solution which immediately stopped this trend. CargoNet’s willingness to go above and beyond for their partners is greatly appreciated, and has without a doubt assisted me in building out our cargo security program.
- CargoNet is such a good partner to carriers. They have law enforcement contacts which sometimes carriers do not have. They work diligently to help find trucks, trailers, and cargo back to rightful owners.
- The entire CargoNet team is available whenever we need them. Whether it is assisting with a load that is stolen, a fraud event, or questions about trends in our industry, they are always fast to respond with valuable actionable information. The event alerts they put out daily have assisted our company in preventing multiple losses and build up valuable data in our systems that prevent future issues.
- Best solution for cargo theft analytics and partnerships with retailers and law enforcement.
- We have partnered with Verisk for the past 5 years having them provide cargo theft intelligence to allow us to secure or product during transit. We utilize their quarterly cargo theft analysis reports, holiday cargo theft preparation, and truck stop theft data to prepare our shipping sites and forewarn our broker/carrier secure our biopharmaceutical products in transit. I use their data and analysis to brief our leadership to the real threat that exists in the United States of cargo theft and measures we can take to minimize this risk. CargoNet recently conducted a cargo theft response conversation with our GSOC and global security senior leaders on the methodology of responding to a reported theft to minimize time lost in coordinating with law enforcement to affect a recovery.
- They have been a key ally in combating North American cargo theft and prevention efforts. They are the source of truth for cargo theft data and intelligence. We are fortunate to have them in our wheelhouse and consider them a key strategic partner. Their data base, trim analysts, command center and analytical prowess are second to none.
NOMINEE: ThinkLP
ThinkLP solutions include incident and case management, safety, risk, compliance, audit, organized retail crime (ORC) intelligence, and prescriptive fraud analytics. One centralized platform at an affordable cost allowed us to unlock insights hidden in the data and operate the teams in whole new ways.
With ThinkLP we found the data we needed to analyze our business and pivot quickly making fast and informed decisions.
During Covid ThinkLP gave us the opportunity to quickly stand up audits that impacted our safety guidelines and ensure the execution of our policies.
- The needs of retail changed dramatically over the last year, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leveraging the flexibility of ThinkLP’s platform, we were able to quickly implement special audits, reports, maps and the platform helped us quickly take action and respond to the pandemic.
- Think LP as a solution partner is flexible and easy to work with. They will work other vendors to integrate and create a platform that works well for their client.
- ThinkLP is one the most responsive, innovative, and customer focused solution providers that I have ever worked with in my career.
- Last year was an unexpected struggle for many around the world. As an essential business, our stores remained open during the pandemic. With the help of ThinkLP we are able to leverage the flexible ThinkLP platform to create screenings for the associates to complete at the start of their shift. This screen was a vital solution in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our customers, associates, and their families safe.
HOW TO VOTE
DOWNLOAD THE LP PORTAL MOBILE APP FROM THE APPLE APP STORE FOR iOS, OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE FOR ANDROID. (SEARCH FOR “LP PORTAL”).
ONCE YOU INSTALL THE APP AND REGISTER, ACCESS “THE HALL” CHANNEL AND FOLLOW THE LINKS FOR VOTING
EACH CATEGORY WILL BE OPEN FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS OF VOTING – TELL YOUR COWORKERS, YOUR PEERS, AND YOUR FRIENDS – AND GET THE WORD OUT TO VOTE ON THE FINALIST YOU FEEL MOST DESERVES TO WIN!
Visit The Hall homepage to learn more about each of our categories and finalists