Our Report Card: You Talked, We’re Listening. Here’s What You Told Us.
1. Our Report Card:You Talked, We’re Listening. Here’s What You Told Us About BurntToast®. 22 August 2011
2. You talked, it’s time for us to listen. As you know, I recently asked your opinion on what we do well at BurntToast®, and on what areas you think can be improved. I’m pleased to say the results are now in and as a thank-you for participating, it’s time to share the outcomes with you. Here’s a quick reminder of what we asked you last month: What made you decide to work with BurntToast? What's one thing we do better than other Marketing Consultants? What's one thing that we could improve on? If you were to refer BurntToast® to someone else, what would you say? What services would you like to access through BurntToast? So what are the most consistent factors that came through? You believe we excel in our communication and service, which I have to say is delightful to hear! According to your feedback, we show a genuine interest in you and your needs, and take more time than others to get to know your business. In terms of improvement, we need to work harder at helping you uncover and act on opportunities. You would also like to see a regular newsletter, greater clarity on our services, and greater participation from me at social events. The rest of the findings are on the following pages. While it will take some time to action all the changes, rest assured that your comments are noted and have been listened to. Thank-you again for contributing – your honesty is appreciated. Wendy 2
14. How You Feel We Can Improve Question: What's one thing that we could improve on? Share stories about other small businesses – examples of how other people approach their marketing. Be more proactive in driving project implementation – ensure clients follow-through with marketing recommendations. BTM’s branding and corporate image – what can you do for my business? It’s not really clear to me. More assistance with proofing documents and reviewing advertising opportunities. Listening more intently to other people’s perspectives. Introduce a presence on Facebook. BTM’s website – text heavy and not enough images, the site is quite flat. Increased participation at networking events and local business functions.
15. Where You Think We Truly Excel Question: If you were to refer BurntToast® to someone else, what would you say? Experience and knowledge – BurntToast® is immersed in the industry. Strategic thinking – long-term approach to marketing recommendations. Innovative thinking – ideas that help your business to grow. They take the time to develop close relationships. Practical advice – recommendations that are easy to implement. They have a genuine understanding of small / micro business needs and limitations. Responsiveness – they listen and interpret the needs of your business before offering ideas and assistance.
16. What You’d Like To See More Of Question: What services would you like to access through BurntToast? Increased access to mentoring and advice on an as-needed basis. The establishment of pre-planned (monthly, quarterly or bi-annual) review meetings to keep me on track with actioning recommendations. Assistance with staff training, for example customer service, selling techniques and marketing concepts. Where strategic partnerships are being used, an option for more hands-on project management and implementation (for example, overseeing Graphic Design, Email Marketing, Web Design and Advertising services).
18. Redefine our Services In light of your feedback for greater clarity on what we do, we have redefined what we stand for and our service has become more focused. With an emphasis on market research*, our specialities are as follows: In-House Marketing Workshops to clarify your goals and uncover opportunities for your business. The result will be a Marketing Action Plan that you can easily implement, with or without ongoing support. Regular Marketing Support viapre-scheduled monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly review meetings. Designed to help keep you on track with achieving your marketing goals. Marketing Coaching, conducted in-house on an as-needed basis. Tailored to suit the needs of you and your staff. Customer Research to help you uncover opportunities for growth. Using tools such as video diaries, online surveys, customer interviews and focus groups, we’ll look at what your customers want, then turn this into plans you can use to help you grow. *We will update our website to reflect this change in focus. In the meantime, if you’ve seen something you’d like to discuss, please phone us on 07 4034 1026 or email wendy@burnttoast.com.au.
19. Communicate More Clearly You’ve told us you’d like to hear from us more often – as long as we are sharing information you can use. So here’s what we’re planning to help keep you in the loop: As a thank-you for your support, we are working on a closed-list newsletter that will be shared with clients, close associates and partners only. Issued monthly, this eNews will feature marketing tips designed for small business, plus case examples sourced through our networks and industry reading. The first issue will be out on Monday 12th September. We will continue to shareindustry news through the blogs on our website. These are open for general reading and simply highlight what we see that is of interest to us each month. In case you’d prefer an email, we’ll add an eNews sign-up to the blogs so you may choose to subscribe and receive an inbox summary once a month. To help you choose the right options for your marketing, we’ll review all the content on our website to ensure it reflects our new direction and focus. You’ll be the first to know when the changes are complete.
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21. Continue to Build Expertise You overwhelmingly told us that knowledge and expertise are what make us stand out from competitors. We work hard to maintain that edge and will continue to do so. Here’s a small example of how we’re going about it: We are active within key industry groups, giving us access to professional networks and a range of specialist knowledge when needed. We develop fresh thinking by engaging with business leaders and attending reputable marketing events at state and national level. We are working to build the next generation through Lecturing at JCU* and speaking with senior students at Cairns High. We drive high standards for the profession by representing the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) in Cairns and encouraging other marketers to obtain their certified status. * In June 2011, Wendy was invited to join the JCU School of Business as a sessional lecturer. She is currently delivering Services Marketing to 3rd year Hospitality, Marketing and Commerce students.
22. For those who love the details. The information contained in this briefing is specific to BurntToast® Marketing. We are sharing it with you as a thank-you for your honest contribution to our online survey, and to show we are committed to listening to your needs. Below are the details of our survey participants. Total Responses: 16 responses from a maximum of 24 (66% response rate) 10 female (62.5%) and 6 male (37.5%) Industries: Tourism and Hospitality x 3 (18.7%) Retail / Consumer Goods x 2 (12.5%) Professional Services x 11 (68.8%) Sector: Government Sector x 2 (12.5%) Private Sector x 14 (87.5%) Relationship to BurntToast® Marketing: Current Clients x 5 (31.25%) Former Clients x 6 (37.5%) Strategic Partners x 5 (31.25%)
