MEMBERSNEWS
BitesizeNews Kent’s best kept technology secret? Avocet Strategic Resourcing specialises in the supply of IT personnel. Its expert consultants have more than 50 years’ specific industry and one aim – to attract Kent-based IT talent for Kent-based IT positions. Its team passionately believe in getting the recruitment process working effectively. For them, people are the heart of technology. How do they support their clients? • Sourcing elusive technical skills – the team may already know the person it’s difficult to attract • Saving precious time and money • Presenting a small number of suitable individuals • Offering access to a Kent wide network of IT professionals • Only charging fees on successful placements • Discretely approaching passive candidates on a client’s behalf, offering anonymity The company recruits permanent and contract personnel and offer Chamber members a 20% discount. Working with Avocet allows clients to concentrate on what they do best – their core business.
GeoMedia award-winning design consultancy GeoMedia has been awarded the Creative Business of the Year at the Kent Independent Traders Awards. According to the company: “We were incredibly pleased to win the award. Over the past five years, we have worked very hard to integrate into the local community and to build a reputation for extremely high quality design, so we are proud to finally have the recognition and to be an award-winning agency. “We see that Kent has a lot to offer and is full of opportunities. Over the years we have been working with some great companies based in Kent. “Unfortunately, people’s perception is that you have to go into London to get truly creative design work, but we know that there is talent within Kent that should be being utilised and kept here in Kent. We
are making them aware that design in Kent can rival London agencies, as well as being cost effective. “GeoMedia’s success is down to the passion with which we approach every project. Our aim is to increase the value in a client’s brand; to achieve this we create original design that is truly versatile, producing solutions that are exciting, fresh and memorable. We take great pride in being a part of the development process of businesses, helping them to grow and in turn contributing to the development and prosperity of Kent as a county.” To find out more about GeoMedia you can view their website: www.geomedia.co.uk or Contact Simon on info@geomedia.co.uk.
Your customers or your business – who do you serve? Once the darling of the stock market, Ryanair have been forced to admit that their unfriendly and unhelpful customer service practices are affecting their business.
Contact Karyn Dooley on 0845 4590085 or visit www.avocetrecruiting.com New Parent Portal technology helps schools communicate with parents An exciting new internet solution is proving popular with both staff and parents at large independent school ESMS. Kent web development company mso.net developed the solution, known as a Parent Portal, to solve a problem often experienced by schools: inefficiency in handling communication with parents. mso.net director Adrian Brown said, “By using this Parent Portal, both parents and the school save valuable time and effort.” Parents log in to view information about their children and to book activities and events. The portal is integrated with the school’s management information system (MIS), meaning that data is retrieved and updated instantly. For more information visit www.mso-education.co.uk
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ThinkingBUSINESS December 2013-January 2014
The statistics are clear. It costs 5-10x to acquire a client and 1x to keep them. But if a client is lost through poor product or poor customer service then it is 50-100x more costly to get them back. So the mantra here is this - look after your existing clients! Ask yourself these questions about how you treat your customers: • Do you know who your top customers are? • When was the last time you saw them face to face? • Do you understand their business pain (how can you solve it)? • Do you know what business service delights them? • Do you know what they hate (in regards to business practices)?
• Are they likely to recommend you to someone else? • Would they still do business with you if you messed up? • Do you have a customer satisfaction process in place? • Do you find out why customers leave? Talk to us about how we can help your business to grow through looking after your clients. Our clients have won18 business awards over the last 4 years for growth through our approach. You can too! Dr Wayne Wright – Managing Partner [W]sq solutions W: www.wsqsolutions.com E: info@wsqsolutions.com