We have a new starter, Noel, the Business Development Manager, responsible for sales basically. Had a lengthy introductory discussion with him on Thursday 24 April. Interesting.
He identified many of the issues that I have been trying to deal with for years, most importantly, the degree of difficulty of getting a straight answer from the CEO to questions about the applications, development plans etc. Says that the CEO is very technical and all he wants, to present to clients, is plain English. Noel stated that even after reading the company brochures he didn't really understand what we were about. His theory was "web development". Asked me - I said the same, but that we couldn't really say just that as that does not differentiate us from the many other similar companies... and this contributes to it all stalling - we don't know how to say what we do - in fact we don't even really know how to answer the question "what does your company do?". A worry!
I have already been working on a New Client Welcome Kit, but upon discussing where this is up to with Noel we have expanded this so it can be given to prospective clients - something to grab their attention. The trouble is, that we need the CEO's input and approval (it is his company after all!). And that has not been forthcoming at all - and I have been requesting for 6 months - requesting until I give up and just get on with my core role - Education.
However, the Welcome Kit is extremely important as a tool for prospective clients, for obvious reasons, and we need the information quickly. It is even more important so that we know what is planned - in language that we can understand and pass on to clients where appropriate. But we don't know, and haven't been able to elicit this information.
I'm thinking that perhaps I'll need to spend more time in the office for a while, to "touch base" with the CEO. Imperative, as the CEO moves to the US in a couple of months and these informational gaps need to be resolved.
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