In recent months, we’ve been delighted to work with Hertfordshire Community Foundation on a pro bono basis. Makes Purple’s corporate social responsibility policy encourages team members to use their skills to benefit their communities, be it the community where they live, where they work, our industry sector, or other community groups in which they are involved.

Account director, Helen Page, lives in Hertfordshire and was introduced to the Hertfordshire Community Foundation and their work while Head of Marketing for a St Albans-based top 50 accountancy firm. She was moved by the Foundation’s mission to tackle deprivation in her home county and was keen to lend her support. Helen says,

“For sometime I had wanted to actively support a charity, but no time generally and the inability to make a regular commitment had stopped me. The ‘what to do’ was also an issue for me, as I’m not known for my cake-making skills!

“A conversation with David at the Foundation revealed that they could benefit from additional marketing support focused on key projects. By sharing my knowledge and experience with the Foundation, by doing what I enjoy and what I’m good at, I could save the charity money now and deliver the prospect of future revenue generation.

“Makes Purple’s CSR policy meant I could spend time during office hours on my charity work. Time spent supporting the Foundation benefited my client work, as David asked that I support a planning project for a future fundraising event, which was not only enjoyable, but refreshed my skills, as I hadn’t been involved in large scale event planning since my days leading Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year awards programme.”

David Fitzpatrick, former Chief Executive of the Hertfordshire Community Foundation comments,

“Hertfordshire Community Foundation, as a county charity, needs to ensure that it gets its message across in the best way possible, to a wide audience of stakeholders. We were delighted, therefore, to have received Makes Purple’s support for a major project.

“Having met with us, they provided an assessment of our key marketing requirements. In addition, and in close consultation with us, taking the time to understand not just our immediate needs, but our operational framework and sector challenges, Makes Purple undertook to deliver a schedule and planning timeline for a future major fundraising event. They offered advice on sponsorship development and made themselves available to attend planning meetings as an advisory consultant as necessary.

“It’s good to see a young, growing business invest their time and expertise in their community; organisations many times bigger can learn from their commitment and vision. Their skills and knowledge are unrivalled.”

To arrange a meeting to discuss your needs and how we might work together contact Helen on 020 3170 5599.

If recessionary concerns required professional services firms to reassess their marketing investment that’s no bad thing; campaigns must be launched with KPIs in place and full costings accounted for to allow a true assessment of ROI.

Should macroeconomics have encouraged improvements in client service (and internal communications on this topic), then again, this offers no cause for complaint. For many firms it is their quality methodology that positively influences clients’ buying and this, and other aspects of their culture, should infuse all marketing activities.

However, we all know that these activities are basic kit marketing-wise and more is demanded of firms seeking to take on the competition. Our feeling is that many firms see opportunity in the marketplace, but having reigned back their marketing activities they are unclear now as to the best way to re-pack their punch.

We work with professional services firm large and small, and very often their issues are the same – and perhaps the same as yours?

How much do you really know about your market (and what data and insight do you have to back-up your knowledge)? How are you segmenting your market and what differential investment are you applying? Your brand and its messaging; is it impressive, persuasive and consistent, and will it see-off the competition? Social media remains a hot topic, but don’t forget to consider this alongside the whole suite of channels available to you to present your firm’s messages. (That said, it surprises us that some firms are yet to take advantage of all that LinkedIn has to offer.) A difficult issue for many is the debate regarding partners and other professional staff and their ability to generate business and even cross-sell services.

What is needed for many is a kick-start to achieving BD best practice, often best provided by those who have done it before and can deliver fresh insight. There is no secret formula… just good coaching, a personalised training programme and practice. In our experience, so often the basics are overlooked, for example, partners knowing their markets (see earlier), having a meaningful target list, identifying their referrers (and staying in frequent contact) and formulating a persuasive message. The intervention of a professional marketing adviser can provide the carrot and the stick to making improvements, and put in place the processes and procedures to ensure good habits are maintained and are not left by the wayside when the market speeds up or slows down.

The outlook is good. In Makes Purple’s experience, professional services firms have excellent quality people; they are knowledgeable and personable. They deliver a first class service and care. Partners know their clients, their clients’ businesses and their other financial interests. It occurs to us that there are excellent firms out there that just haven’t reached their full potential; they have the natural talent and it simply requires appropriate direction.

Makes Purple provides business development and marketing coaching to partners, professional staff and marketing colleagues.

To arrange a meeting to discuss your needs and how we might work together contact Helen on 020 3170 5599.

Helen

We do this as a natural part of our delivery of our retained and project work for our clients, but we also do it more formally when we are asked to coach and mentor marketing teams. In addition I volunteer as part of a digital mentoring programme.  In our experience, the management and motivation of marketing teams can be somewhat overlooked. In-house this can be because non-marketers are managing marketing talent and quite simply don’t know how to get the best from and inspire their teams, and agency-side the issues often arise from agency management teams being specialists in their chosen craft, but not always having themselves – or experienced from others - strong management skills.

We work closely with our clients to help them engage better with their marketing teams, and we also work directly with teams and individuals to encourage them to take ownership of their own careers.

After hearing similar feedback from very different clients, we’ve created this summary of ‘tips’ we’ve advised individuals to consider when thinking about their place in a company and how they can own their own development and reputation. If you’ve got others we’d love to hear them.

Click here for PDF version: Own your reputation (PDF)

Sara

Our original article appears below:

Start-up tips for the would-be marketing consultant
from Big 4 trained and top 50 experienced Makes Purple

After several years as UK Director of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year awards programme, it was likely that I would develop my own entrepreneurial itch and earlier this year I joined established marketing consultancy Makes Purple, as shareholder-director with responsibility for its professional services business.

Makes Purple was founded by another Big 4 alumnus Sara Chandler to deliver what was lacking from would-be suppliers: inspiring campaigns with revenue generation goals at their heart, and consultants from B2C as well as B2B backgrounds who could implement, as well as strategise.

But getting the proposition right is only part of the start-up story.  How is life post-Big 4 and what recommendations can Makes Purple make to those seeking to set up in business themselves?

Don’t be afraid of the ‘phone

Unless you have an excellent network ready to offer you work, this is the biggie.  It’s a tough one for many, but it shouldn’t be.  I have had the same experiences as many of my prospective clients, so I try to hold onto the belief that while my timing might be bad, my content is always worth listening to.

Stick to what you’re good at

Don’t oversell; do partner.  If a journalist needs briefing, a market sector strategy finessing or a client interviewing, I’m happy to deliver.  But I know my limits and I will bring in experts where required.  Makes Purple clients enjoy a joined-up service delivered by a range of specialists.

Don’t lose sight of your worth

At the outset, it’s easy to accept anything offered, and at any cost.  Consider the value you can deliver when pricing each job and how flexibly the opportunity can be managed.  Don’t be afraid to turn work down if the client’s budget is too small for what they want to achieve.

Size doesn’t matter!

Your skills will be valuable to a variety of clients.  Don’t be afraid to punch above your weight in terms of size – Makes Purple has several multinational clients, for example.

Everyone is a potential lead

When starting out, it can feel pompous to let your friends and family, former colleagues, suppliers and broader network know of your achievements.  But inspiring news on how you’ve helped your clients could lead to a referral or a direct commission.  Do ensure you have a well-maintained and segmented contacts list; you never know who may have some work for you.

Stay true to your ethics

Do not to lose sight of your ethics and what you want to be known for.  Sara and I both have a strong belief in leaving a legacy and want to be acknowledged not only for delivering an excellent job now, but for improving the marketing of businesses even after we’ve moved onto the next job, be it in terms of a lasting operational efficiency, or individual marketers’ increased personal effectiveness.

You never stop learning

You may not have a large corporation to support your formal learning anymore, but your clients will rely on you to be their eyes and ears to the wider marketplace.  It’s never been easier to keep abreast of new developments and market initiatives; use your network, attend events, subscribe to newsletters and RSS feeds, learn lessons from your client portfolio and of course don’t forget the excellent PSMG resources.

Helen Page is a director of Makes Purple, which provides practical, hands-on marketing and business development consultancy to professional services firms and large corporates.  To speak to Helen or Sara about their own business building experiences and to find out what other businesses they’re helping to grow telephone 020 3170 5599.  You can read their latest news at www.makespurple.com.

Source:
http://www.b2bento.com/infographic-quickstart-guide-to-social-media-for-business/

Courtesy of Accountancy Age

However, my twitter timeline was full of commentary, so it didn’t take me long to find out that an Accountant was the first casualty. A blow to the reputation of the accountancy profession that I spend so much of my time working with was my immediate thought. However it seems the opposite may well be true as evidenced by the following article that appeared on industry website accountancyage.com the following day.

Has The Apprentice damaged accountancy’s reputation?
Kevin Reed

Overall, I thought The Apprentice was a good advert for the profession – albeit a net gain.

A great result, if you ask me.

Sara

Well, it’s simple really… it’s about the different skills and characteristics we bring to the table – some ‘red’ and some ‘blue’.

Red ones include passion, creativity, nurturing and an entrepreneurial approach. Blue ones include being methodical, driving efficiencies and having an eye for the detail.

We all know of the dangers of pursuing that ‘big marketing idea’ that delivers no benefit to the business and has no end in sight to its costs, and the waste generated by uninspired marketing that doesn’t engage clients or excite the team. Makes Purple brings the right combination of skills to overcome these pitfalls.

And – we consult and implement, as we provide clients not only with marketing plans to achieve commercial success, but also with the means to deliver our ideas efficiently and cost effectively.

Helen

Helen will lead and grow our professional services business.

Helen’s professional services credentials include the UK director role for Ernst & Young’s widely respected Entrepreneur Of The Year awards programme, one of the global firm’s largest integrated sales and marketing programmes.

She joins Makes Purple from Mercer & Hole, a regional chartered accountant, where as Marketing Director she achieved considerable success against public relations targets and led a refresh of the firm’s visual brand representation across platforms.

Helen’s broad experience above and below the line and in Big 4 to top 50 firms means she understands the commercial needs and working methodologies of the wide range of professional services firms.

Helen can be contacted at helen@makespurple.com or on 020 3170 5599.

Sara

There is no doubt that social media has changed the World – millions of us now use social networks that spread ideas with terrifying speed.

The power of it all seems awesome: new pop icons explode onto the scene from their bedrooms; companies pop into existence from nowhere; governments are toppled.

And businesses naturally seek to learn from the vanguard of the new order; to harness this power for themselves. But what should they take from everything “social” and how should they apply it?

Sharing Ideas
The good news is that the potential benefits are not imagined. In an organisation of thousands of people, employees can’t all know what each other is doing. Forms of internal social networks within corporations break down the walls of silos, spread ideas, ease communication, save wasted time and discover untapped opportunities.

Connectedness leads to collaboration, which in turn leads to innovation. Connections made across departments, or offices, or countries can discover a mutual interest or synergies or spark ideas.

Defining Your Culture
And then there are the less tangible benefits like employee engagement: given a less formal outlet for ideas (or even complaints) an internal network that is seen to listen can play a part in boosting morale and shaping a positive corporate culture.

So, if there is so much potential in these ideas, why are there so few obvious success stories? There are certainly plenty of products catering to the hordes of corporates rushing to make their systems “social”: Facebook-style staff directories, corporate wikis, internal forums, staff blogs, micro-blogs – you name it, you can get it. For the really unfortunate, Microsoft have even got in on the game with the almost universally hated SharePoint.

Know Your People
Here’s the rub – social networks are people-centric; they work because they cater perfectly to individuals’ desires to connect and share. Unless you begin by understanding the needs of the people at the centre of your social experiment, it is very unlikely that you will satisfy them. When a corporation selects and implements one of these products to satisfy the social urges of their CEO they often miss this vital step, and thus doom the venture to failure.

A coherent plan is needed for how the new technologies will first help your employees, and then the business. What information could people share? Where do people interact with it already? What kinds of connections is it useful for people to make with each other? How much freedom should people have? Should you restrict or police your network? Where can your social network live so as to seamlessly fit into people’s already crowded workspace?

The understanding of your people and their work, and the application of the ideas of the social web to their very specific needs is an absolute prerequisite for any venture into corporate social networks.

Stop and Think
Demanding questions also need to be asked about any solution that is considered. Are employees really going to regularly leave their normal workspace and visit an internal “Facebook”? Probably not. How likely are the majority of employees to start “micro-blogging”? Not very.

Seamless Integration
One of the biggest failings of products in this market is adding another never-to-be-used internal system rather than integrating with the important parts of the existing infrastructure. If I’m working with a client record I want to see who else has been dealing with the client from that record; if I’ve found a useful resource for selling a particular product I want to share it immediately. I never have the time or inclination to log into a very shiny, but completely separate social widget to perform these tasks – I need to be able to do it within the context of the information I’m currently working on, or I’m not going to do it all.

All of this of course makes solutions harder to find and implement: the up-front work of understanding your people; the technically difficult task of integrating a solution with disparate systems. The rewards on offer to businesses who sensibly incorporate the principles of the social web within their organisations are clearly attractive, but beware the rash and thoughtless experiment that scratches your social itch and achieves very little else.

Dave Fletcher is a Makes Purple Consultant. Dave specialises in advising businesses on how best to adopt technology to improve and transform their business activity.