Omobono explains how analysing SME relationships can improve the ways in which government and business communicate to SMEs to develop a win-win relationship.

1. 1
Earning the SME
dialogue
How analysing SME relationships can
improve the ways in which government and
business communicate to SMEs
Francesca Brosan, Chairman,
Omobono Limited.
March 2010
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
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2. 2
Analysing SME relationships can improve the
ways in which government and business
communicate with them
Introduction
A Business Relationship is “a The research focused on large,
dynamic link between at least complex organisations whose
two parties operating within a business relies on long term
given industry and expecting relationship building and
mutual benefits from each decision-making.
other... the quality and nature of
the relationship depends on the What was also revealed was the
quality of the interaction value of ERM as a mapping
process.” (Zineldin, 1995)1 process which can improve the
way in which big companies and
In summer 2009, Omobono government departments
partnered with the University of communicate with SMEs – the
Cambridge‟s Judge Business backbone of British Industry.
School to investigate the This is particularly pertinent in
theories surrounding Enterprise the current environment which
Relationships and Enterprise demands that businesses move
Relationship Management away from traditional mass
(ERM): the ways in which market driven approaches and
organisations in the commercial become more savvy about
and public sectors interact with marketing to SMEs.
their customers, partners and
This white paper explores how
staff. The Judge Business
business and the public sector
School investigated how
can communicate more
Enterprise Relationships are
effectively with SMEs to produce
used to achieve organisational
the nirvana of business
goals, to deliver to customers
relationships – a win-win
and create mutual value; and
situation.
how that is measured.
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
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3. 3
SME diversity and
commercial pressures Reaching SMEs categories will also be a wide
make them a difficult spread of activities. The
SMEs are the backbone of
Creative Industries sector for
audience to reach. British industry, accounting for
example covers businesses as
99% of all private sector firms,
diverse as art galleries,
50% of turnover and 59% of
architecture practices and
private sector employment
advertising agencies (and that‟s
(Source: BIS, Oct 09)2 making
just the A‟s).
them a hugely important target
for both government and You can talk, but will they
commercial organisations. listen?
Some SMEs are more equal 3. The third problem (as if you
than others. needed any more) is that SMEs
are notoriously hard to reach.
1. The first problem in
At the heart of every SME is the
understanding SMEs is that they
proprietor or director
are not a homogenous group –
themselves. Hard pressed,
the category officially covers
facing a tough market, their
businesses up to 250 people but
focus is on trying to do the best
there is an obvious, and huge,
for their business and their
difference between a well
people.
established business at the top
end of the spectrum and a self No matter how much a
employed carpenter, or PR communications plan may make
consultant who has just set up sense to commercial
on his own. organisations or government
departments, you have to face
2. The second problem is their
the fact that the people on the
sheer diversity. SME
receiving end of the messages
businesses cover every sector
have almost no time to consider
of UK industry, from
non-essential information.
construction to creative services
and within each of these
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4. 4
Successful
engagement with Successful SME communication But there is an alternative way
SMEs is more likely to demands a particular blend of to think about communicating
come via those with skills. Unless you are offering with SMEs however, which is to
them an opportunity to do look for those to whom they
existing ‘permission
business, getting their attention have already given „permission
to speak’. relies on the right combination of to speak‟ and use these
factual (no frills, no fripperies) channels – from trade
and emotional. The more associations to special interest
engaging (but not time-wasting) groups - to deliver your
it is, the more likely they are to message.
respond.
Response levels are more likely
Of course they will read and to increase for the simple
ingest the mainstream reason that they are more likely
consumer media, and there is to look or listen to the message
plenty of business media which if it comes via someone they
also reaches them. already interact with and are
more likely to trust.
But because of the diversity of
type, sector and stage of Identifying these audiences,
development many of the and their role as future
broadcast messages are highly ‘carriers’ is therefore vital.
wasteful unless they are literally
applicable to all.
Gaining ‘Permission to Speak’
To truly engage with SMEs, as
with any audience, it is of course
essential to ensure that the
message is highly pertinent.
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5. 5
Identifying the
stakeholder channels
Peter Haigh, former B2B This approach is as relevant for
and their potential role Marketing Director of E.ON, government departments tasked
as future carriers is an referred to this some years ago with communicating with SMEs
as „the Fish Friers Strategy‟. To about a range of issues, as it is
essential part of
reach fish & chip shops across for commercial organisations,
communicating with the country it makes sense to from banks to professional
SMEs. find out the main associations advisors and energy companies.
that they would belong to or the
main trade publications they
would subscribe to.
Subsequently, you work with the
“Fish Friers Association” to
provide their members with
benefits which are not available
to those outside the group – an
advantageous energy tariff, for
example.
This gives the SME a direct
benefit (cheaper energy), the
Association a benefit (members
get perks, which encourages
people to join or to maintain
their membership) and the
corporate gets the advantage of
reaching a highly relevant target
group via one single channel –
despite the fact that they might
be spread across the UK from
Scunthorpe to Brighton.
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
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6. 6
Relationship Mapping
In partnership with the Judge Mapping these connections also
Business School, Omobono enables companies and public
has developed a specific sector marketers to evaluate the
approach to mapping the strengths and weaknesses of
relationships held by business. the communications links, both
direct and indirect; identifying
Our Enterprise Relationship
how best to use them.
Mapping process allows
companies to analyse SME Digital and social media
relationships and the roles they connections can also be
have in reaching SME mapped, although SMEs and
management (see Fig.1) their associations are
capitalising on the opportunity to
connect in this way much slower
than corporate brands, as a
recent survey from Sage UK3
revealed.
FIG. 1
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7. 7
Understanding SME
influencers – the ERM Reviewing the business The ERM approach maps points
exercise. relationships which SMEs of interest and groupings not
manage reveals both the necessarily obvious when
influencing factors upon them looking at a business from the
and the channels via which they outside.
might be reached. For example,
At the heart of this analysis is
those with significant work
the belief that they will be more
forces will need HR advice, and
open to messages which come
may well connect with
via those to whom they have
Government HR resources or
given permission to speak and
trade associations.
in the places that they naturally
Those who don‟t buy directly gather and show an interest in.
may be reachable via their
suppliers; distributors of office
supplies, food service or
electronic components.
Are they a service business with
a strong trade press or are their
services intermediated via a
brokerage service such as an
online portal or agency?
What is their relationship with
Government? Do they operate
in a business in which the
original thinking is driven by
academe?
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
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8. 8
Understanding the
stakeholder agenda One essential implication of this But your agendas may conflict –
is a core element is the importance of gaining the and who owns the relationships
buy-in of the influencer or can become a thorny problem.
in communicating
intermediary. These people are
effectively with SMEs. Stakeholder communication
the stakeholders from the wider
(See Fig. 2) therefore becomes
world of business and
an important element of the
government, who communicate
Relationship Mapping process.
with SMEs as they set up, grow
and flourish – in order to help
them while finding benefit from
the process themselves.
To successfully use those
stakeholders as a
communication channel means
developing mutual benefit for all
parties. There must be a benefit
of carrying your message to the
stakeholder as well as a
potential benefit of receiving it
for the SME themselves.
FIG. 2
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9. 9
Top Ten Tips – a recap 1. Communicating with SMEs is 7. Invest in engaging work
actually likely to be a two stage which reflects positively on your
process- one direct and one via brand and the stakeholder.
stakeholders.
8. Promote it so people know
2. Identify the key segments it‟s there.
you wish to attract and prioritise
them.
9. Identify success. Traffic,
uptake or referrals? Clicks or
3. Map their key relationships behaviour?
and the stakeholders who
influence them.
10. Remember that content is
only as good as the last
4. Identify the stakeholder’s update, which has implications
own agenda and look for ways on how it is managed.
to align yours with theirs.
5. Communicate with
stakeholders as actively as you
communicate with SMEs.
6. Create valuable content
which provides a service to both
SME and stakeholder.
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
T +44 (0)1223 307000 | F +44 (0)1223 365167
info@omobono.co.uk | www.omobono.co.uk

10. 10
Conclusion
Traditional thinking would have
you believe that reaching SMEs
is volume-driven activity, similar
to consumer communications
which rely on sending out vast
numbers of communications in
the hope of a low level return.
But the current environment
suggests that businesses and
government need to become
more savvy about marketing to
SMEs to ensure that their
budget is spend on building
ongoing value for audience and
stakeholder alike, rather than a
one way flag waving exercise.
Viewed in this light,
communicating with SMEs
should become part of a service
– a service which produces
mutual advantage for all players,
not just for the biggest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1. Zineldin, M. (1995) “Bank-company
interactions and relationships: some
empirical evidence”, International
Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 13
No. 2, pp. 30-40.
2. http://www.berr.gov.uk/index.html
3. The Sage Group plc, Sage (UK)
“Connecting With Your Customers:
a guide to social media”,
http://www.sage.co.uk/PDF/ACT201
0_Social_Media_Whitepaper.pdf
4. Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, D.H. (1994)
“The Commitment-Trust Theory of
Relationship Marketing”, Journal of
Marketing, Vol.58 (July 1994), 20-
38.
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
T +44 (0)1223 307000 | F +44 (0)1223 365167
info@omobono.co.uk | www.omobono.co.uk

11. 11
Relationships drive
your business.
We drive your relationships.
ERM® helps world class
organisations drive value from their
business relationships by
examining the ways they interact
with their customers, partners and
staff; and how that is measured to
help achieve organisational goals,
deliver to customers and create
mutual value. We look largely at the
contribution online technologies can
play, and how companies can
maximise value from the
infrastructure put in place over the
past 5 – 10 years. By exploring
alternative approaches to improving
B2B marketing effectiveness, ERM Francesca Brosan is Chairman
enables us to think about marketing and Founder of Omobono Limited,
differently, to put it back to its the digital communications services
original place; where marketing has company. A former Board Director
a meaning and purpose beyond of WCRS, her career has spanned
communication and becomes a consumer advertising, PR, live
business essential, not a business events and digital. She now
expense. focuses on B2B strategy for the
agency’s corporate and public
Omobono targets SME businesses
sector clients. Francesca is the
for clients including regional and
author of 3 IPA Advertising
sub-regional development
Effectiveness Awards and is a
agencies, government departments
regular speaker and contributor
and commercial.
to marketing forums.
uk.linkedin.com/in/francescabrosan
OMOBONO LTD, THE WAREHOUSE, 33 BRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1UW, UK
T +44 (0)1223 307000 | F +44 (0)1223 365167
info@omobono.co.uk | www.omobono.co.uk