“It's amazing how you can rise to the top just by doing what you say you're going to do and being honest about what you can't do.” - Anthony Clervi, Managing Partner, Una
In this episode of Provider of the Week, we talked with Anthony Clervi, Managing Partner at Una, to discuss how group purchasing organizations are evolving beyond traditional cost savings conversations.
What stood out to us throughout our discussion was the emphasis Una places on relationships, expectation management, and helping procurement teams navigate growing pressure with fewer resources. Rather than positioning themselves as a transactional intermediary, Anthony described a more consultative and empathetic model that blends advisory support with purchasing leverage.
What does Una do today, and how has the business evolved over time?
“Primarily, we're helping organizations of all shapes and sizes around indirect spend.
We leverage billions and billions of buying power. We have negotiated terms and pricing that are expected from our members and primarily work within enterprise, hospitality, and selected parts of healthcare.
The concept of GPOs has been around for almost 100 years, primarily initiated in healthcare. But it's been quite a journey trying to identify what categories could be the most helpful or opportunistic for certain members.
We kind of look at it in a tripod scenario. We've got the organization or healthcare entity that we're trying to help. We need to make sure we're bringing value there. We also need to make sure there's alignment with our supplier partner.
If there's alignment for both terms, pricing, and all the important details that go into that, especially across multiple locations, then Una wins.”
What procurement challenges is Una best positioned to solve?
“There's an aspect of speed to savings because a lot of the contract infrastructure is already built. There’s also a negotiation aspect because with indirect spend or tail spend, there typically isn't a lot of leverage for an organization.
What we've also found is that depending on the organization and depending on the supplier and spend, we can get creative.
Some of the negatives we've heard about GPOs are that it's boxy or that organizations lose control, and that's just not always the case. So we try to highlight speed to savings, transparency, and honesty about where we're best in class and where we're not.”
What differentiates Una from other firms in the space?
“I think Una's approach is a boutique firm approach. We're not backed by private equity. We've been doing this for almost 15 years. We try to take a consultative and advisory approach.
I've always used the metaphor of the butcher versus the dietician. The butcher just wants to sell you meat. The dietician wants to understand you better. What's going on with your body? What have you been eating this week? What has your exercise been like?
We try to take that frame because there are areas where we can be helpful, and there are areas where we're just not going to be best in class, but we want to talk to you about that.”
What role does empathy play in supplier and member relationships?
“Empathy is another word that maybe gets underused or overused.
I can think of a lot of our members where we've had an engagement in a category and then we try to come back to them on some other things, and there's just a lot coming at these folks. Especially if they don't have the resources for what they're being asked to do by the c-suite while budgets are being reduced and resources are being removed.
There’s a level of patience that's required, especially when implementation or change management is involved.”
What outcomes are customers most consistently achieving?
“There are three things that stand out. You've got supplier consolidation, which can be really important. You've got price reduction, which is table stakes. And then there's a reporting component around making sure they’re actually getting the value that was discussed.
There’s also a data component that’s critical. How do I make sure everything is happening like we discussed 30 days ago?
Then there’s supplier alignment. We’ve found that great supplier alignment allows these members to really flourish.”
What advice would you give organizations considering a partnership with Una?
“We recommend starting with one or two categories. Let's get to know each other. Let's crawl and walk together and show you from beginning to end how this works.
We’ve found that trying to climb the mountain gradually instead of immediately trying to go up Mount Everest leads to the most successful engagements.”
How is AI influencing the future of procurement and GPO services?
“AI isn’t coming. It’s here. Anybody that's in enterprise and not spending time with Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT should absolutely mess with it. It's amazing. I don’t think AI will reduce headcount. I think it will create more efficiencies. There will be things that come out of this within procurement and outside procurement that we never dreamed of.
Cost savings is kind of table stakes when you come to a GPO. But what other information can you provide me so that I can be more equipped to make better decisions and have a better handle on what I’m doing?
