Business
Today I’m thrilled to be joined by Zip, the world's leading intake-to-procure solution, that provides one cohesive platform for employees to initiate a purchase or vendor request. The Zip solution is an intelligent purchase request flow that guides users, automatically catalogs and recommends your preferred vendors, and routes through all the necessary internal departments to control spend, assure compliance and reduce time spent coordinating approvals by half. Today Rujul Zaparde, CEO at Zip, joins me to chat all about the dynamic and fast-growing company; what they do; why collaboration and visibility are so important; and Rujul’s entrepreneurial spirit and what he’s learned along the way. IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [07.31] Rujul’s background and entrepreneurial journey. [10.03] How and why Rujul came to co-found Zip, and an overview of what it does. “Intake paradigms typically go one of two ways… so it’s sort of like ‘pick your poison,’ these days: upstream pain, or downstream pain!” [14.59] The experience of launching a new business during COVID, and the unexpected advantages. [16.45] A closer look at Zip Intake, and its benefits. “If you have all requests flowing through one system, for the first time, you have data on things like lifecycle times or bottlenecks.” [20.23] The implementation and onboarding process - and why simplicity for staff is key. “One of our core principles is that it has to be a consumer-grade product.” [26.37] The importance of visibility and collaboration. “The world has changed a lot – (in procurement) there are more stakeholders, more vendors, more teams – and it’s compounded how important it is to nail collaboration.” [30.08] Zip’s ideal client. [31.57] A customer case study: how Zip revolutionized one client's procurement practices and delivered impressive ROI. “The average request, for this client, was taking over 30 emails, and lots of manual back and forth. In less than 6 months, they’ve reduced their cycle times by 43% and improved compliance.” [37.05] The future for Zip, and for Rujul. RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED: Head over to Zip’s website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Zip and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, or you can connect with Rujul on LinkedIn. Check out our other podcasts HERE.