Why should I use Scott Douglas Group to help me to grow my business?
Do you charge us for initial meetings?
How do you charge us for your training services?
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:22:21 : How do you charge us for your consultancy services?
Can I get a grant to pay for your services?
Do you have to know our market sector well to be of any use to us?
Apart from giving us advice what else do you do?
Do you only work with business owners and senior managers?
What qualifies you to advise us?
What is your Gross Prophet Programme?
Did you use to offer a telemarketing service?
Who is Douglas?
Why should I use Scott Douglas Group to help me to grow my business?
The best people to answer this are our existing customers. Take a look at our testimonials (LINK) to start with and then take a look at our recent projects (LINK)
We do have a lot of experience of working with family businesses and we do offer you a guarantee that we will repay your investment in us if you are not satisfied.
Do you charge us for initial meetings?
No. We will always give you a quote for any work that will be chargeable. All initial meetings up to that point are free of charge.
How do you charge us for your training services?
As a delegate on an open training course you will pay a fixed fee before the course starts. For in house training we ask for 50% of our agreed charge before we start and the balance on completion but only subject to your satisfaction.
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:22:21 : How do you charge us for your consultancy services?
It really depends on what you prefer and the type of work we are doing for you. We do have a daily rate but often think that you get better value if we agree a price for a job. If we are working together under our GROSS PROPHET (LINK) programme, we have a fixed payment schedule for initial work and ongoing support which is linked to our guarantee.
Can I get a grant to pay for your services?
From time to time there are grants available from Business Link and Train to Gain. We are accredited suppliers to these organisations for both consultancy and training provision and will be eligible to deliver work that is grant funded. We keep a close ear to the ground and will be able to advise you about availability and eligibility.
There are also a number of other sources of grants - from local authorities and MAS for example - and we will look into these options for you.
Do you have to know our market sector well to be of any use to us?
You will see from our list of recent projects that we have worked in a number of sectors and many more that will not be listed as recent. However, I most situations we do not need specialist sector knowledge to develop a marketing plan for you or to train you to be more effective at selling. You will know enough about your business to answer the questions we will put to you but if we do need additional resources we usually know where to go to find them.
Apart from giving us advice what else do you do?
We take our responsibility towards you very seriously. Whilst we do offer advice, we do that mainly in the context of a well thought out and researched marketing strategy leading to a logical action plan.
We do help you to get things done by preparing information briefs for suppliers of other services such as websites, graphic design, telemarketing and PR. We can introduce you to suppliers that we have worked with successfully in the past or help you to select from a selection of your own. We liase with those suppliers on your behalf and where invited, will manage your projects.so provide ongoing help and support, often on a retained basis.
Do you only work with business owners and senior managers?
No. We work with all or any members of your team depending on what is needed to get the best results for you. At the early stages of planning we do think it is important that owners and senior managers are involved in the strategic decisions, but fully expect and indeed encourage delegation of work to other members of staff.
What qualifies you to advise us?
Experience mainly. Lots and lots of experience. Experience gained by making just about every mistake in the book and unforgivably making some of them twice! We do learn eventually and pass on that learning in our training workshops and consultancy. We have formal qualifications, are members of professional institutes and keep up continuous professional development through reading and attendance at seminars and courses. Every day we learn something new and if we think that might be useful to you we publish that on our Insights page on our website. If you would like insights sending to you by e mail - please click here.
What is your Gross Prophet Programme?
We have always believed that Gross Profit - defined as selling price less direct labour and direct materials - is one of the most important ratios in business. If you have annual sales of say, £200,000 and can improve Gross Profit by just 1% you will add £2000 to your net profit. If you have a 40% Gross Profit and increase sales by £5,000 you will also add £2000 to your net profit. We are in business to make profit because profit gives you choices.
The Gross Prophet programme looks at ways of increasing sales of more profitable products and services, increasing prices, increasing productivity and reducing material costs. We provide long term support and offer a guarantee that you will increase your gross prophet by at least as much as our fee.
Did you use to offer a telemarketing service?
Yes. In fact for nine years we operated a business to business telephone marketing service and eventually sold that part of the business. We did gain a great deal of experience of running direct marketing campaigns in that time though! We also learned a great deal about running a business and all of the issues that many small business owners deal with daily.
Who is Douglas?
He's just this guy , you know
