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People & Team
Article
Our appraisal process left us struggling to compare employee performance
Preston-based firm Suresite realised that its staff review process was too vague to provide any real insights on company-wide performance.
Define 'good' performance using clear performance metrics
Sales & Growth
Article
We identified a target audience and found a global market to tackle seasonality
Cocofina found it challenging to maintain consistent sales throughout the year because of its issues with seasonality – sales suffered in the winter.
Identify target markets
People & Team
Article
We stopped trying to crowbar people into a role needing filled
Rattan Direct had been guilty of shoehorning someone into an in-house role they don’t really want or settling for a new hire who lacked the right skills.
Recruit to succeed
Digital Readiness
Article
We couldn’t build any further without developing our business data
Users of the ShopAppy website were dropping off as changes were based on one or two opinions, rather than prioritising based on user business data.
Develop the use of business data
Leadership & Strategy
Article
As the company grew, we stopped talking about our business values
Accountancy firm The Wow Company found that as the company grew, the visibility of company values suffered and it began hiring what looked good on paper.
Communicate vision and values
Digital Readiness
Article
Digital apathy stopped our business moving forward
HR firm Jaluch found it challenging to increase digital skills into the business. Digital apathy meant efforts were efforts were greeted with groans.
Build digital skills
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Suppliers provided the magic to develop the impossible ice cream
Corte Diletto took an innovative approach to product development – using external help to develop the idea after manufacturers thought it wasn't possible.
Develop external contacts with the aim of developing new products / services
Planning
Article
To take on a British giant we focused on solving customer problems
Hometree realised early on that it would need a key point of differentiation to tackle competitor British Gas – truly addressing customer problems.
Create a distinct offering
Sales & Growth
Article
Staggering hires helped us do marketing properly
Forecasting firm Futrli found it hard to coordinate marketing with no dedicated team and little budget. Those without the right skills were plugging gaps.
Set a marketing strategy
Sales & Growth
Article
Building business relationships helped us conquer the education market
When it came to identifying growth channels, Show My Homework turned to building business relationships as a way of knowing when and where to sell.
Build external relationships
Sales & Growth
Article
We lost sight of how important managing customers proactively is
When customer issues started slipping under the radar, Arthur Online took a proactive approach to their customer service.
Manage customers proactively
Sales & Growth
Article
We had to hire local talent to expand successfully
When Vuealta started global growth planning the amount of information available was overwhelming. It's solution was to invest in local support and talent.
Prepare for expansion
Sales & Growth
Article
We invested in after sales support to create a sustainable business
Car repair marketplace whocanfixmycar.com faced the challenge of building a sustainable business in an industry with a high customer churn rate.
Maximise effectiveness of your salesforce
Digital Readiness
Article
Using a spreadsheet to manage stock was not working anymore
Cheeky Chompers relied on Excel to manage stock, manufacturing and customer orders. This made for a complex supply chain and was hard to keep on top of.
Digitise your supply chain
People & Team
Article
Diversifying our incentives helped keep staff motivation high
Consultancy firm 383 faced a battle to keep staff motivation high and see important projects through as they gravitated towards comfort zones.
Provide staff with recognition, and experiment with non-financial rewards
Leadership & Strategy
Article
We rolled out a profit share scheme to reward staff commitment
MI Supplies wanted to find a way to reward staff commitment and help them place long-term relaionships over short-term profit. It settled on a profit share.
Reward commitment to vision and values
Digital Readiness
Article
We found a digital solution to reduce our drivers’ fuel wastage
Reducing fuel wastage across a large fleet of drivers comes down to changing driver behaviour. First Mile turned to technology to help.
Digitise your internal systems
Planning
Article
We took a risk and changed business direction
To succeed in a new market, Natterbox needed to create fresh goals and ensure staff were invested enough to buy into them across the different departments.
Ensure employees buy in to targets
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Our business is global, but managing a team working remotely is tough
As Formula Botanica has grown it has struggled to find people who won’t “wither” working remotely across England, Belgium, Slovakia and Brazil.
Support your employees
Article
We overhauled how we handled staff requests to fight innovation inertia
Fast Web Media needed to re-engage employees in innovation process after frustration had set in and staff had become fed up with the rate of progress.
Planning
Article
My technology failed because I didn’t think big enough
When Formula Botanica realised early on that its technology wasn’t keeping pace with growth it put in place a plan that would provide peace of mind.
Invest in new technology
Leadership & Strategy
Article
We invested in marketing technology to drive business growth
With greater insights needed to make informed decisions, Blue Bay Travel realised its basic digital approach needed help from marketing technology.
Master the digital basics
Leadership & Strategy
Article
We had to build machine learning capabilities without sector expertise
Streetbees believed machine learning could unlock the value of the market research it was doing for clients, but didn’t have the sector expertise needed.
Establish R&D budget and strategy
People & Team
Article
Our positive performance reviews helped quadruple business revenue
Birmingham-based virtual assistant service Time Etc realised it had developed a culture of low performance and hardworking staff had become demoralised.
Review staff performance twice per year