People do business with people, so make sure you are talking to the decision makers and building the right relationships.

Conversation… are you asking these questions:

• Have your clients got any money to invest?
• Are you working in the right sector for your business?
• How are you getting your leads and is the conversion right?

Engagement… how I can support and challenge:

• Client target review, are they still right in the current market conditions
• Identifying new clients and why you should approach them, have they got an investment plan?
• Transferable skillsets, who else could you deliver for?
  – Why?:
  – Investment
  – Target individuals
  – Potential ROI
• Develop sales target that match your current overheads?
• Team building to maximise client engagement to drive new business
• Supply chain relationships analysis, who are they working for and who could they introduce you to?
• Quality of the bids, are you answering the exam question?
• Build profiles in the industry to support networking
• Networking target plans
• Event reviews and ROI
• Asking for work not waiting, how do we achieve this

Relationships are the backbone of every great business, but like a marriage they need love, care and constant attention…

Conversation… are you asking these questions:

• Do you know your best clients?
• Are you talking to the decision makers?
• What growth is realistic for your current clients?

Engagement… how I can support and challenge:

• Relationship plans to make certain the right people are being targetted
• Ideas on how to nurture current clients
• Investment plans in the right accounts to ensure ROI
• Client analysis to identify who you need to walk away from
• How to grow your client engagements without increasing your business development costs
• Monitoring and development of all accounts, past and present at the correct investment level of the teams time.
• Matching of internal personality and responsibilities in each account
• Identifying where your real turnover is generated
• Do clients recommend you? If not, why? and how can we make this happen
• Account management training – what makes a great Account Manager?

A great Bid is like wearing your heart on your proverbial sleeve… you gotta own it.

Conversation… are you asking these questions:

• Is your win rate good enough?
• Are you answering the exam questions?
• Do your bids reflect your brand and business?
• Do you know why you’re losing bids?

Engagement… how I can support and challenge:

• Bid qualification – managing ‘bid/no bid’ process for new opportunities
• Liaison with technical experts to gather the right information
• Copywriting and editing, ensuring questions are fully answered
• Challenging of content
• Desktop publishing to ensure impactful proposals
• Development of bid templates to convey a consistent message
• Development of CV and case study library
• External printer liaison for hard copy bids
• Bid feedback analysis

Do clients see your people as your brand? Or just someone fulfilling a role for the cheapest fee?

Conversation… are you asking these questions:

• Why aren’t you the first person a client calls when they need a problem solving?
• Why you’re missing out on opportunities because the market isn’t aware of your full expertise?
• Does your brand really reflect you and your values?

Engagement… how I can support and challenge:

• Maintain your brand in the current market conditions looking at ways to enhance your message.
• Develop the brand to attract new investment opportunities, you may need a rebrand if the service needs refreshing or realigning to your clients needs.
• Awareness of social media and how people interact with you.
• Client understanding of your brand and service offer, are you missing out on other opportunities because they are not aware of your full expertise.
• Industry standards that reflect your values, are you above or below your competitors? Are you creating value around your offer.
• Competitor awareness, how do they communicate, review and benchmark where you are regarding message and intellect.
• Is your Brand still right for your business now and for the future.
• All literature is in line with the services you offer.
• Client feedback on your current performance is so important, you may have the wrong people in place to grow your account. Understanding your client vision is key to your future involvement.
• Planned and proactive reviews to react to world and home influences. You must be ahead of the game to make sure you are proactive not reactive for your clients.

Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing. It’s all about PR.

Conversation… are you asking these questions:

• How do people get to know your brand?
• What is your company up to?
• Where can we meet you?

Engagement… how I can support and challenge:

• Maximising your brand exposure through the right channels – being visible is so important to a soft client awareness campaign.
• Increase industry awareness to attract new clients, I have managed media campaigns that promoted businesses through the appropriate trade publications and do the same for you.
• Social media campaigns to reach targets for Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram
• Thought leadership intellect via social media and events opens up new conversation in a very relaxed business way.
• Event management to ensure you are networking with influential business leaders
• Media relationship management, I have access to the top contentions in most publications to promote your brand when the right opportunity arises.
• Profile building for senior / account management. People do business with people they trust and enjoy working with.
• Identifying investment and sponsorship opportunities, you can waste a lot of money when you don’t monitor ROI.
• Experts to collaborate with will strengthen your probations when it comes to influencing new clients. My network of business leaders could help in most cases.
• Internal team building to get the company to engage and talk about all projects and services, celebrating success

Stand out in the crowd for the right reasons. Your message should be driving opportunities and new conversations, less fluff more substance!

Conversation… are you asking these questions:

• Are the right people aware of you?
• Do your sales teams know your strategy?
• What’s next and are you ready for it?

Engagement… how I can support and challenge:

• Interrogation and validation of what your current marketing plan. What is working and what isn’t
• What new ideas could support your current business plan
• Website review, what is it achieving for your business, do your client visit it? Who is visiting it?
• Analysis on how you communicate to your current clients/customers
• If someone reviewed your current marketing material, would they understand what you offer?
• Identify sales targets and ROI through campaigns
• 6 month marketing plan – from ideas to action
• Follow ups and reflections from internal and external representatives
• Values and vision check list, what do they mean to your staff and clients
• Networking strategy
• Bid literature in line with current service offer
• Photography to capture attention and drive inspiration
• Marketing training for staff so it becomes part of the culture

What is the point of recruitment if it isn’t strategic? To make a difference you have to understand the difference.

Having worked in the retail and construction industry for over 35 years, I have worked with some amazingly talented people. So if you are looking for a placement or full time individual then I could save you a lot of wasted time and disappointment by offering you someone I trust to deliver from day one.

This is not about a body shop or moving people around for a fee, it’s about seeing the right opportunities for the people that are not currently motivated by the projects or companies they are working for now. I know what it’s like needing to get up every day and feel part of a team that is inspirational and pushes you to be the best version of yourself.