During the initial decline and first bounce before the drag, businesses should look at their systems, processes and people to see where they can make savings and create efficiencies.

During the drag phase, i.e. NOW, businesses should be developing their strategy for growth during the upcoming growth period. Now is the time to be looking for investment, getting the growth strategy ready and starting to implement it.

Many businesses leave growth and investment until the recovery is already underway. However, with many strategies taking several months, sometimes even two years, to show a return, this means that a large chunk of the growth and recovery period has been missed.

Shirlaws have found that the second dip is a time when many companies fail, either because they have been unable to last the course or decide to sell/exit. This is a shame for those companies, as recovery and growth is just around the corner. However, for those companies that have streamlined, have put investment in place, have worked their growth strategy through, this is a time of great opportunity, with the chance to buy competitors or take up the market share of those exiting the market.

A key part of the investment and growth strategy should be sales and marketing. It is well known that companies that retain brand awareness and promotional activity during a recession are best placed to benefit from the recovery. Some statistics published by Business Week show that companies that did not cut their marketing spend during the 1974-5 and 1981-2 recessions had higher sales growth than those that did both during and after the recession.

So, the moral of the story? Don’t leave your recovery/growth strategy too late. Start today!

article-1-maximising-the-economic-upturn-june-2010

There are many aspects that are common and fundamental, whatever product or service you are promoting:

• Know your target market
• Understand what they want and need, how they decide who to work with
• Have clear and meaningful messages
• And, perhaps most importantly, know and communicate what differentiates you from the rest.

For professional services firms, this is supremely important - what differentiates your M&A team from those of the law firm round the corner? How do your management accountants stand out from the other firm pitching to the client?

Brand is an important aspect for every business. For a professional services firm, brand and reputation, often spread by word of mouth, go hand-in-hand and are the cornerstone of a firm’s ability to win business. Marketing activity should look to build and enhance reputation, whether that be through thought leadership, PR, viral marketing, or in-house gurus, for example.

A successful marketing campaign will seek ways to build and communicate this. It should be a two-way process, inviting dialogue and engagement. There may be a wide range of media used in the campaign, but the important thing is that the various activities are fully integrated and co-ordinated.

Your marketing director - either an employee of the firm or a virtual marketing director if you don’t need someone full time - should lead the planning of your campaign. I’d advise against leaving it to a media specific agency, as they will focus on their area of expertise - PR agencies will recommend press, events companies hospitality, advertising agencies ad campaigns, and so on. It’s unlikely to be fully integrated.

The last important part is engaging all the people in the firm to support the marketing effort and market one-to-one to their clients. But that relationship marketing will be the subject of a separate article to follow shortly.

Claire Scaramanga

My best day is so easy. Just after we got married, my husband and I decided to start a family. Five years later, it still hadn’t happened. This was a bit of a shock to me as I’d been pretty used to having a degree of control over my life - which of course I now know is a total illusion!

But after five years, it did happen, and naturally, which was even better. So the birth of my son was by far the best day of my life, followed by so many other wonderful days as I watch him grow, learn and develop his personality. As parents, we might provide context and guidance, but he’s a unique person, not a “mini me” - a fantastic journey for all of us.

The worst day? Well the one that I want to share is a bad day, not the worst day, but it happened only a week ago. It revealed my core process to me. I had pitched for a piece of work to develop a sales and marketing strategy for a company launching a new service into an industry I know and understand extremely well. The other company pitching for the work were a design agency - offering a brand for the new business, but not a sales and marketing strategy. In my opinion, how can you develop a brand if you haven’t worked out the overall strategy?

I lost the business to them. I don’t know anyone who likes losing a pitch (and if you’re relieved to lose it, then you shouldn’t have been going for it in the first place). But what made me cross was that I strongly believed the client had chosen the wrong route. I could have accepted them choosing a different consultant over me if they had been providing what I was convinced was the right solution - I’d have still been unhappy to have lost, but there would have been acceptance.

So, how does this lead to unveiling the essence? Or stripping something bare? Or going right to the core?

Well, I’ve realised that’s how I work. I push through the layers of crap - this is what we do, how we do, it’s the way we’ve always done it, it has to be that way, etc etc - and get to the heart of the business. I guess that, having learned about Simon Sinek’s “why”, this is what I’m looking for too.

Once you know that, then you can start to rebuild and rebuild based on firm foundations. This is so relevant and true for businesses. But I also work with individuals on their personal brand, especially small business owners selling their expertise, and the hardest part is helping them uncover the essence of who they are and where they want to be in five, ten years time.

Once you know that, whether as an individual or a company, then the building blocks to get there become blindingly and startlingly clear - unveil the essence and reveal the way ahead.

So, is there anything you can do to improve your chances of being the successful candidate?

You may have heard people talk abut personal brands. Personal branding is a term I use at Scaramanga to describe the effect you have on others and the impact you create, just as a product or company brand is designed to embody specific values and make you, the customer, respond to it in a certain way.

You can use the strength and power of your personal brand to market yourself more effectively and get yourself noticed.

Start off by looking really in depth at what your goals are, not just for the next twelve months, but look ten years ahead. Plot out your career path to achieve those goals and break it down into individual steps. These may be a level of expertise or responsibility, or getting experience in a certain industry, or even more training.

Once you know where you want to go, start to look at what strengths, expertise and experience you already bring. Ask what it is about you that makes you stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Then, ask the same question of your family, your friends, work colleagues past and present. Build up a good picture of how you see yourself and how others see you. Others will almost certainly say things that surprise and delight you – it is all too easy to be hard on ourselves, so feedback from others is invaluable.

Look next at how you can market the uniqueness that is you. What will the right potential employer value above all else? Bring these qualities to the fore in your CV and covering letter. Put across your personality and how you, as a person, are right for them.

Once in your new role, get to know the people who can influence your career and let them know about your strengths and success stories you are involved in. Write blogs, volunteer for projects, show willing and eager to progress, and, look the part. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

When you are building your personal brand, whatever you do, don’t pretend to be something you’re not. Others will sense there is something wrong and instinctively distrust you.

So, for a successful personal brand, set your goals, work out what sets you apart, communicate your uniqueness and promote your success. And don’t forget, you already have a personal brand, whether you are aware of it or not. The real question is whether it is working for you or against you.

Several research studies have shown that in 95% of purchase decisions the buyer chose to buy because of the person selling to them. So meeting people and building rapport is an important part of building a business.

I find networking to be an essential part of my new business mix. I do both online and offline networking, but shall focus on offline for this article and cover online separately.

I think the most important thing to bear in mind when putting your networking strategy together is to remember that this is a long term approach and is not direct instant lead generation. You are going out there to make contacts and build relationships, not give people a hard sell.

Think hard about who you need to meet, how they can help you and, equally importantly, how you can help them. Networking is, after all, a two-way street and the more you give, the more you should get back. Think about where you can meet these people and select the kind of events that will attract them. For example, if you are targeting SMEs, then Chamber of Commerce events are good; if you are after a particular industry sector, then their trade association events should have the right type of attendees.

There are also dedicated networking groups that meet weekly or monthly. Although they are focussed more on the SME market, there are sometimes larger opportunities, and, of course, all big businesses had to start somewhere!

Before you start, be prepared with your elevator pitch and know how you are going to introduce and present yourself (if you’d like to know more about developing your personal brand, click here).

When you meet people at events, focus on finding common ground and building rapport. It’s not appropriate to launch straight into a sales pitch; rather try to establish areas of interest and be interested in them and what they do in return. Exchange cards and stay in touch.

I don’t go to these events with a mission to give my card to as many people as possible. I go with a mission to meet interesting people who can possibly help me at some time and who I can also help. Quality not quantity!

These contacts will build over time into a strong network where others will be recommending you on to their network because they know you and value what you can offer, even if you’ve never worked directly with them.

It can be daunting walking into a room full of strangers, but it gets easier with time and the rewards are well worth the effort.

Claire Scaramanga MBA

Scaramanga Marketing Ltd

With a company or product brand it is relatively easy because the team in charge has the power to determine which values, messages, attributes, service levels, creative treatment etc, are to be associated with the brand.

But with a person it’s different. You already hold the values that are important to you. Your personality, attitudes and behaviours are well established, and have been since early childhood.

In that case, one might ask whether a personal brand is needed or even relevant. The answer is most definitely “yes”. In fact you already have a personal brand, whether you are aware of it or not. The real question is whether it is working for you or against you.

The personal brand development process is all about understanding who you really are – not just from your perspective, but also from that of the people who engage with you in many different ways. Then you need to set out your goals and work out which aspects of your personal brand you need to focus on and promote to help you achieve those goals.

It’s most definitely not about pretending to be something you aren’t. We can all think of people in the public eye who try to put across a persona that isn’t totally true to who they really are. Instinctively, we know there’s something “off” about them and thus distrust them.

If you would like to read more about setting your personal branding goals, please click here.

Claire Scaramanga MBA

Scaramanga Marketing Ltd

At Scaramanga Marketing I work with many people, both senior executives in large organisations and small business owners, to help them develop their personal brand and then promote themselves more effectively to achieve their goals.

Probably the most important aspect of this process is setting goals. If you don’t know what you want to achieve, then it is nigh on impossible to know how to promote yourself in a way that will help you to achieve them!

I ask clients to look at long, medium and short term goals. Then I explain that I mean ten years, five years and the next twelve months. That usually stops people in their tracks: not many of us think ten years hence! However, personal branding, when used effectively, is a tool to help you achieve your big goals in life and put you where you want to be.

For example, if you are a senior manager today and want to be a head of department in two years’ time, then stay there for the rest of your career, then that’s fine as your long term goal.

But if, after reflection, you realise you want to be the CEO in six or seven years’ time, then you need to be promoting yourself and positioning yourself at quite a different level and to a different audience, than if you goal is head of department. In this case, head of department is a stepping stone along the way, not the ultimate goal in itself.

Goal setting is not an easy process. It requires soul searching, honesty and vision, not to mention being brave and aiming a little bit further than you thought possible.

Claire Scaramanga MBA

Scaramanga Marketing Ltd

Marketing is such a people business. For one thing, it helps to be a good communicator! This is even truer when you are on the service side of the business in an agency environment.

As a marketing consultant at Scaramanga Marketing, the relationship management and account building side of the business is key. It also often brings me into contact with many other suppliers in the marketing industry, particularly creative services. And it amazes me how poor some of these people are at interpersonal skills and managing client relationships.

If you’ve come up through a large agency, as I did, handling clients will be second nature to you, but for those of you coming from the creative side and looking to start your own business, or if you’re looking to move into the agency world, here are a few hints!

• Don’t be precious about your creative work – the great end result will be something that meets your client’s brief
• Get the brief right – sometimes clients need some help writing briefs and it’s in your interest to help them, because then you can get your creative right
• Manage expectations – it’s always a good idea to under promise just a little, then over deliver. If you’ve hit a problem or a delay, let the client know in advance so they know where they stand
• The customer is always right – you won’t gain anything by telling them they’re wrong (apart from annoying them). Open up other possibilities for them to consider, point out consequences of what they’re suggesting, guide them to alternatives. This should help them move away from a wrong route, yet still think the choice was theirs
• No nasty surprises – always manage your budgets carefully and if there will be extra costs, let the client know in advance so they can agree it. Nothing leads to relationship breakdown more quickly than money disputes

Time spent in building the relationship pays many dividends, not least a more enjoyable working life!

These are the most common branding blunders I come across in my work at Scaramanga Marketing:

The brand is the logo – isn’t it?

No – the logo is an important visual element, but the brand is so much more. It is what the company/product stands for, it’s values, aspirations and relationship with employees and customers. It is the guiding principle for the business.

There’s no correlation between the customer experience and the brand promise.

If the customer experience is designed from a brand value perspective, then it has a much greater chance of delivering the brand promise and delighting customers.

The brand development process starts with graphic design.

The starting point should be the fundamental understanding of the brand essence and values. Once these are agreed then the creative treatment should follow.

The brand promise is only delivered at the point of sale.

How many times have we have felt let down by a company that promised so much when we were being wooed by them, then treated poorly when it comes to after-sale service? The brand promise needs to be delivered through the entire customer lifecycle through great customer experience design.

Brand values aren’t translated into behaviours and attitudes desired from employees.

Employees are a key part of delivering the brand promise – if they don’t get it, how can they deliver it to customers?

The visual identity changes every year or two.

Brand building takes time and is greatly assisted by consistency. Too frequent changes can cause damage to customer recognition. That is not to say a brand should never be refreshed or changed, but that it should be done for solid commercial reasons and not on a whim.

The business merely pays lip service to the brand values.

It the entire business is not living the brand values and delivering the brand promise through their people and customer experience, customers will soon see through you and may vote with their feet if they don’t like what they experience.

Using a myriad of sub-brands

Brand recognition is built over time through persistence and consistency. Sub brands dilute the brand and may cause customer confusion. 

Underestimating what it takes to build a brand.

It takes much time, effort and money to build a strong brand presence. But the rewards are well worth while in terms of recognition, reputation and customer acquisition.

The brand is the responsibility of the Marketing department.

No - every single employee should feel empowered and responsible for delivering the brand promise to their customer; just as the CEO and his/her management team should feel responsible for creating an on-brand workspace and culture.

Claire Scaramanga

At Scaramanga Marketing I often get asked by clients whether advertising will work for them.

Advertising is probably the oldest of the marketing communications disciplines around. However, it has been in decline over the last decade as the range of media available to customers has proliferated, largely due to the internet and satellite/cable TV. No longer can an advertiser place an advert on ITV during the news and expect to reach a large chunk of their target market as they could have done fifteen, twenty years ago. The same is true of press advertising.

The other main reason for the long term decline in advertising revenue is that we, the customers, have changed. We now want to be engaged with, not sold to. There is less trust of large brands simply because they are large brands, and more reliance placed on recommendations from friends, family, business networks.

Service businesses, by their very nature, offer the customer an intangible service; it has to be experienced to be evaluated. Many service businesses offer customers a service they don’t yet know they need, so customer awareness needs to be created before one can move onto creating desire to purchase, let alone action.

Service businesses are also very much about the people who deliver the service. Of course the other elements of the marketing mix need to be right, including the process and physical environment, but at the heart of service delivery are the people.

So, is it possible to advertise an intangible service, one that has to be experienced, delivered by people you haven’t yet met, who you don’t know if you can trust?

Certainly, there are big name service brands, such as management consultancies, who advertise, but their goal is more to build/maintain brand awareness, than to generate new business directly as a result. This is a luxury few service businesses, especially those at the smaller end of the market, can afford.

When advertising, you really need to run a sustained campaign over time to build visibility and therefore response. A one-off advert is more likely to only generate calls from other media owners trying to sell you more advertising space!

An advertising campaign also needs to be fully integrated into the overall marketing activity; it may need to be supported by a microsite, telesales, email marketing and perhaps a PR campaign, all running alongside to generate the impact and new business you’re looking for.

Your campaign also needs to be highly targeted so you can be confident you’re reaching your target audience, not just at company level, but also that the individuals using these media are at the level of seniority you want to reach.

Sounds pricey? It certainly can be. A service business should consider all angles with great care before embarking on an advertising campaign. Even search engine advertising, far more cost effective and very response driven, needs to be carefully planned through to ensure it delivers the click thru and value for money required.

In my next article, I will be writing about alternative ways of raising your company profile and driving new business, online and offline, through networking.

Claire Scaramanga