We’re celebrating International Clients Day, not as just another commercial event in the calendar year, but because we truly believe in customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Beyond quality and experience clients are looking for strong, valued relationships, based on mutual trust. We spend a lot of time and energy finding out what our customers want, getting to know them and understanding their brands. Clients need to know, like and trust us – they are trusting us with their most valuable commodity; not just their product, but their brand and reputation.
I’d like to share with you how we at PRG spend time getting to know our clients and demonstrate that client relationships really are our biggest and most important asset.
Understanding and getting to know our clients
There is nothing we enjoy more than helping clients launch a new company or product, creating a brand from scratch; brainstorming a new logo and look and feel, researching the market, and really getting under the skin of our clients and their company.
In 2013 we helped Asset Skills Training launch their new training company. After spending a day with colleagues in Exeter, we uncovered their brand values, and what they really wanted the new company brand and logo to represent.
We have continued to work with Asset Skills Training, developing and launching their parent company The Building Futures Group.
Julie Freemantle, Commercial Director at Asset Skills Training, had this to say about PRG:
“We worked with PRG on the launch of our new training company. Their professional and creative approach to all our marketing and PR was instrumental in its success and the team at PRG are a pleasure to work with”.
Our secret to a successful ‘business’ marriage
This year celebrates our longest working relationship of 20 years with David Bailey Furniture Systems – longer than many marriages! And just like a marriage it needs hard work and love to survive. We work hard, not only on their marketing strategy, but investing time outside the office with them nurturing the relationship, including the odd game of golf!
Trevor Gillman, Managing Director at David Bailey, had this to say about our relationship:
“PRG’s insight and enthusiasm for what we do and understanding of how we work as a company has been hugely valuable in creating a marketing approach that works for us.
“PRG has designed four iterations of our website – which started as a basic brochure site and is now fully responsive – has helped us launch into new sectors and even played a part in getting our products on TV!”
Client entertaining – making friends and influencing people
It’s difficult to make friends in the boardroom, but easier to make friends having shared an experience, and it’s easier to do business with a friend’.
We are now in our sixth consecutive year, selling the corporate hospitality packages for the Aegon International Eastbourne on behalf of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). We believe tennis in Eastbourne offers the perfect, relaxed environment to entertain your clients, and strengthen your working relationship – not to mention exceptional views of world class tennis.
Mike McSweeney, Head of Sales at the Lawn Tennis Association, had this to say about our offering:
“We have enjoyed working with PRG. Their staff give a professional, friendly service, coupled with a genuine passion for tennis and have continued to exceed sales targets in 2015”.
Nurturing media relations
One of our biggest relationships is, of course, with our media partners. We invest a lot of time building, fostering and maintaining beneficial relationships. Successful media relations efforts allow the best and most accurate coverage for our clients. We need the media to trust us and we work hard at our interpersonal communications, ensuring we keep in close and regular contact with them.
We invite them to all our creative client launches and events both in the UK and abroad, just a sample include: a chiller launch for McQuay UK Ltd in Italy, the launch of a £3million eco-friendly Hillier garden centre in Eastbourne, a private flight down the Thames to help Fire Protection Ltd with its PR and marketing strategy and even to meet everyones favourite weatherman Michael Fish in a bath tub to launch East Sussex Energy Partnership’s solar energy campaign.
We understand the balance of power has shifted towards customers; the internet and social media has facilitated this and we understand customers now not only have more information, but a greater choice of suppliers. Effective client relationship management is the key to our success as a business – we want to be our customers’ genuine first choice.
We would like to take this day to sincerely thank all our clients both past and present, for their on-going support, and to quote John F Kennedy: “as we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”.
