citizenbay

Helping SMEs: Fresh Thinking Forum with T-Mobile and the Daily Telegraph

Coming to the end of the great 'Making Business Sense' project with the Daily Telegraph and T-Mobile.

They have kindly invited me along to the Fresh Thinking Forum tomorrow which takes place at the Imagination Gallery in central London.

I will be debating some of the key issues that face SMEs along with my fellow mentors, Mark Taylor and Peter Done.

Looking forward to meeting everyone who will be attending. Hopefully, it will prove helpful to everyone who has taken the time to pop along...

The latest write up in the Daily Telegraph was a daunting one. This was to be the one where Andrew Stone, the engaging journalist who covered this project, goes back to the companies to ask what they thought of the experts' advice and ideas. In essence, this was our Qualitative ROI.

Thankfully both Alistair Poulain, MD of Original Travel and Joy Montgomery, founder of Montgomery Ellis, seemed to have got something positive out of the experience and said some lovely things.

Here is the article for you to read if you fancy. Just click on it to zoom in.

Open UP!

I have been helping Brands, Agencies, Media and Content Owners be more inspired in their communication with customers.

Two key programmes are:

OPEN UP!

Open Up shakes up mindsets within a company in readiness for a more networked and connected world

We take a look into the shifting relationship between brands and brand users. We consider the role that mobile and social media can play as this shift gathers pace. We also refresh your approach to the value of sponsorship, and reconsider the relevance of 'old media'

From a single workshop to a programme over 12 months, OPEN UP is aimed at marketing teams, agency folk and content owners.

OPEN 1-2-1

I provide a one-on-one mentoring service aimed at those in the boardroom. This service draws from the Open Up sessions, but is refined to meet the pressures and needs of a boardroom member.

Helping SMEs with the Daily Telegraph and T-Mobile: Original Travel Case Study

As some of you know, I have been helping out the Daily Telegraph and T-Mobile with their great project (called Business Sense) to support SMEs with their pressing business challenges.

I was lucky to be placed alongside two top drawer experts. Helping the SMEs on their talent issues was Peter Done, co-founder of Betfred, and boss of Peninsular Business Services and a man with a wealth of experience in helping SMEs.

For financial issues, Mark Taylor (of M Taylor Consultancy) was on hand to help the selected SMEs and provided pertinent advice to both companies (more on that in a following post)

Next Thursday 16th September, T-Mobile and Daily Telegraph will be hosting the Fresh Thinking Forum in London. I will be therealong with Peter and Mark, plus Tim Campbell (winner of The Apprentice) and Mike Shirley (Head of Small Business, T-Mobile).

As we lead up to that event, I thought it of interest to share a bit more of how citizenbay has contributed so far. Let us start with the first company I visited.

Case Study: Original Travel

The first company I was asked to help was Original Travel, a company that provides top-notch bespoke holiday experiences for people who are looking for luxurious adventure.

The Challenge: Not what it first seemed

A critical issue for him was the lack of return on the investment they made into SEM (Search Engine Marketing). Their goal was to rise up the rankings of Google to increase their chances of getting noticed by online, but the investment didn't pay off at all. Alistair was looking to improve the value from this investment.

However, having spent a little time with the company, it was plain to see that company has success because of the trust that is built between the potential holidaymakers and the team who advise them. Alistair was rightly proud of the company's desire to deliver exceptional customer service and the personal touch. The knowledgable & customer friendly staff themselves are a powerful marketing tool for Original Travel. This helps customer retention and drives positive word of mouth.

So a focus on SEM seemed to be going against the philosophy of the business and the core strengths too...

Furthermore, this deep knowledge about the countries on offer could further help the marketing of the company via a more networked digital strategy to sharing this knowledge.

Given the company is based in an area of London that sits closely to wealthy areas of London, I suggested that a little more focus on a localised strategy could pay dividends too, especially if this was shaped as a concierge type service to individuals.

Learnings for other SMEs

I shared my thoughts on what other SMEs could pick up from my visit to Original Travel on a short video pulled together by the Daily Telegraph and T-Mobile. You will find the link here. 

How Big Brands can learn from Small Business: Les cycles de la presqu'ile in Pouliguen France

I was on holiday in La Baule (Brittany, France) for a while and spent a little time there cleaning up a rusty old bike. Call it therapy, call it weird, but it was my little summer project and I loved it.

The only thing is that I needed to help me finish the project was a new tyre...well actually two new tyres, inner tubes, WD-40, chrome cleaner, a couple of nuts, a washer or two and some grease for the bike chain...oh and those funny little levers to get the tyres on and off.

Not necessarily fascinating in itself I agree, but the people at Les Cycles de la Presqu'ile in Pouliguen, France made it so.

Every time I popped into the shop to ask for something else I discovered I needed, the staff there were absolutely fantastic. Time would be taken with each and every customer, no matter how busy the shop would be. Some might say this is not productive for the business. I completely disagree. People might not have time on their hands, but one thing that people appreciate from a business more than anything else is phenomenal customer service. 

One time I arrived at the shop with the bike, missing a tiny nut on the front brake...and I didn't have the correct spanner to undo the brake to make the adjustments. With a shop full of customers, the owner of the shop, Monsieur Bernard, came out, saw the problem, went back in, got the missing piece, came out and fixed the bike...and didn't charge. This only took five minutes, but this was five minutes on something he knew would not make money, whilst there were people inside who wanted to buy a brand new bike. 

When he realised the old bike I had was sold by a shop (long gone) called 'J Gonon of La Baule' his face lit up. That was where he served his apprenticeship. So for him the bike was like an old long lost friend.

I have not written this piece to highlight my DIY skills (near zero) or how a businessman potentially misses the opportunity of major sales whilst chatting about an old bike.

I wrote this piece because:

1    Les Cycles de la Presqu'ile deliver stunning customer service as do many Small Businesses

2    Customer Service is something that many big companies lack.

3    Customer Service is what 21st Century companies need to deliver to every single person who uses their services or products. 

4    Big companies should spend more time learning from Small Businesses on what Customer Service actually is.

As Big Business comes to terms with a complete re-structuring of how they serve their customers, a greater focus will need to be placed on building and earning trust between the user and themselves.

Whilst I was being helped by Monsieur Bernard at the cycle shop, EVERY OTHER PERSON WAITED FOR THEIR TURN. They, like me, had experienced the great service at Les Cycles de la Presqu'ile or sensed that it was worth waiting for. 

Outcome:

Monsieur Bernard lost no customers at all that afternoon. He might have even gained a few long term customers. One thing is for sure. I have two more bikes to renovate. I will be buying all that I need from him next time I am there.