Conference

Change is inevitable - How you prepare for it is not!

Keeping Marketing and Business Development at the heart of transformation is essential. But how do we change the relationships between our partners, clients and peers to fuel success, increase growth, and cement our professional standing? We start by leading and informing that change. Because without it, becoming obsolete is perhaps our greatest threat.

Culture is like the air around us. It’s invisible, yet its effect can be seen and felt. When the wind is blowing in our direction, it makes for smooth sailing, but when it is against us everything is more challenging and unsettling.

As the global community emerged from the pandemic, business leaders had to lay foundations for organisations to thrive in a different world. It’s widely believed Covid accelerated three types of transformation: the adoption of digital technologies, the development of new business models, and the implementation of new ways of working.

Most companies are now engaged in one or more of these types of transformation. Businesses that aren’t — whether because they have ignored the signals or have failed to adapt quickly enough — soon risk becoming irrelevant or even obsolete as are the people within.

While most leaders recognise transformation is imperative, how many really understand the necessary connection between it and culture change? Companies cannot realise the true potential of digital transformation, embrace new business models, or implement new ways of working without supporting changes in organisational behaviours.

This is a hugely exciting time for marketing and business development professionals as we find ourselves at the meeting point of technology, data, business processes, procurement, intelligence, communication, and client experience.

Join us to see how we can position ourselves to influence and leverage the myriad different business lines to help define a firm’s identity, both internally and externally, and remain relevant long into the future.

Don't become obsolete. Be the change you want to see!

Business Development and Data Analytics for the professional services marketer

Data analytics is a topic that should be at the top of every M&BD leader’s mind and agenda but making the most of the intelligence on hand is easier said than done.

Big Data has revolutionised nearly every industry and has given its’ business leaders unprecedented access to the most in-depth information including that of its clients. Such data can only improve business development efforts provided we know how to gather it appropriately and put it into action in a meaningful way.

Big data is more than just a trend, it can be truly innovative and when used correctly it can help us develop strategies, practices and products which will lead to?a growth in business.

If we gather more valuable in-depth insights, we will be in a much better position to make informed decisions on how to support existing clients and the targeting of new business. It will also help our efforts to support efficiencies within our own firms.

Organisations that treat data as exclusive property and do not share it across the board are missing out on a huge opportunity to generate revenue, create efficiencies and develop products.

Capturing the potential of data analytics, therefore, requires the solid building blocks of any good strategic transformation. It has to start with the clearest of plans, it should be seen as critical to the success of the business and become a core business plan.?

Driving the use of analytics should also be seen as a critical business objective, adopted at the highest level, and rolled out across the whole organisation. It should not sit solely with an analytics team.

Our purpose, therefore, should be to transform the data into insights that can support, prompt and drive actions, which will lead to better decision-making in the businesses that we support.

If we unlock more value from our own data whilst taking advantage of the enormous volume of externally sourced data that is readily available, the rewards will follow.

But good data is more important than big data so are you capturing and sharing the data that matters and using it to answer the questions that make a difference?

“The future is still so much bigger than the past. Data is a precious thing and will last longer than the systems themselves”.  

Tim Berners-Lee