Claire
Kinloch

Who I help

SME’s. Large Organisations. Mid-market clients.

How I help

Stakeholder engagement. Strategy development. Change management.

Sectors/ support

Energy. Food & Drink. Technology.

“I strongly believe in the power of a team”

Claire Kinloch is a Principal Consultant in our Consulting Team. Based in our Edinburgh office she helps her clients understand, articulate and solve a wide range of business problems. This might be understanding their future value proposition, or it might be facilitating change across a number of different business-critical projects.

No matter what she’s working on, Claire’s aim is always to have added value for her clients, once a project comes to a conclusion.

Leading with integrity, clarity and accountability

“With my clients, I want to establish relationships that are open and most importantly have trust at their core. If a client doesn’t feel like they can trust us- how can they believe we have their best interests at heart? That we truly know what’s best for them and also understand their business and what their goals are? That trust doesn’t just come from nowhere, it’s something we have to be intentional about and create.

How do we do that? By establishing strong relationships, I pride myself on leading any and all client engagement with three things: integrity, clarity and accountability. The importance of clarity cannot be undermined. If I lead a project and just talk circles around the client, only using phraseology and terminology that they don’t understand, that’s not going to get us anywhere or it’s going to get us to a place where clients aren’t really sure what’s going on. Jargon for jargon’s sake is pointless in my opinion. I want to take my clients along with me and achieve their goals together- that means giving them all the information and ensuring that they fully understand, in the easiest way possible, what I’m telling them, so they can then make decisions that are fully informed.

For me it’s really important that I leave a project being able to see that I’ve added value for them- there’s nothing more satisfying in my opinion.”

Taking a flexible approach

“Never say never, but I can’t imagine a time when virtual will surpass the benefits we see being face-to-face with clients. It’s really important to get the opportunity to meet clients face to face so we can build rapport and begin to understand them and their business. There are just some things that are easier in person. For example, workshops can be conducted online of course, but we gain so much insight from being around a table or just all physically in one room.

That is not, however, to say that technology doesn’t play a part- it has provided us all with a helping hand. It’s made streamlining processes more efficient and given us access to communication much more readily than waiting for time face to face. As with most things, I believe it’s all about striking the right balance. It is when we utilise a range of ways of working that are available to suit everyone involved that we can deliver the highest quality service.”

There’s power in working together

“I strongly believe in the power of a team. I have never known a project to succeed without one. I also believe and have first-hand experience in the notion that rank, job title and experience mean nothing when it comes to generating great ideas. Brilliant ideas can come from anyone and in a team there’s a part for everyone to play. And the diversity of our team, is what I love about it.”

Clients see me as I am

“The greatest compliment a client paid me was telling me that “I’m straight-talking, clear thinking and inspire business leaders to make solid decisions”

A solution exists

“I strongly believe problems have solutions. That no problem can’t in some way be fixed. The answer isn’t always going to be obvious but, that’s when I’m able to use my strengths of tenacity and my drive to get things done to find that solution for my clients.”