B1 Solutions
“Sophie made more sense to us in three Marketing Clinic sessions than anyone had ever done.”
With the help of Sophie from Your Marketing Doctor, B1 Solutions was able to completely revamp and simplify their proposition, dramatically reduce their marketing spend, and develop a clear direction of where to take their business next.
Project date: November 2021 – Present
About the business.
B1 Solutions Ltd is a software company in Wakefield, specialising in the deployment and ongoing support of business management software, known as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Their core customer base is centred around the fashion industry, but they work with any small to mid-sized business in the manufacturing, retail, warehouse and distribution, wholesale, and technology sectors.
With a simple product portfolio offering just two SAP systems, B1 Solutions can focus its attention on a particular size of client across multiple sectors. It’s a small team with a very efficient sales and after-sales process, meaning their service and customer loyalty is on point!
“When we met Sophie we were at a bit of a loss. We didn’t know what to do next – and I was losing my faith in marketers because of all the bad experiences we had in the past. The Marketing Clinic made everything very clear, and there was no stone left unturned.
“I have put my faith in Sophie to help manage delivery of the marketing strategy over two years. We are one year in, and I can see we are making great progress on tactics we had never tried before. For the first time we are getting organic enquiries – without burning money on things I don’t understand!”
Ian Forsyth, Managing Director
The problems.
Coincidentally, we first met MD Ian Forsyth at a business conference looking rather downbeat. He and the Business Development Manager Julie had been on their feet all day with not a single lead to show for it. Not only was the messaging on their stand really confusing, but they should not have been at the conference in the first place – it was not the right audience. Post conference, we had a discovery call to decipher their problems.
The symptoms.
- They found it difficult to explain what they do
- They were paying a marketing agency and not getting the service or deliverables promised
- The company had no internal marketer – the previous left after a short period, and Ian decided not to replace them (during the pandemic)
- Previous employed marketers only seemed to spend vast amounts of budget with no strategy in place
- They were burning a lot of money on data, telesales, PPC and LinkedIn advertising – with no leads to show for it in 12 months
- No plan of action or strategic direction
- No idea what to do next
We started with a Marketing Clinic, run on four days spread over four weeks. We worked through the Six-Step Strategy process, analysing the market and customer journey. The key area of concern was how to reach the core audience, then coax them through their consideration process on such a high-stakes investment.
Getting the brand message right was key, so we spent a full day in a Proposition Clinic to completely rethink how to speak to, and hook in, the right customers. As B1 Solutions are an SAP Silver Partner, they are allowed to use marketing collateral created by SAP. However, SAP is a multi-national German corporation – and doesn’t quite have the same values as a small, Yorkshire-based business. So, it was important to go against the grain of SAP and find the right message for B1’s core customer group.
Through this process, we were able to home in on the problems faced by the customer. Why should the customer put such large investment into our business management software? When we uncovered the simple answer, we had a lightbulb moment. This simple proposition statement helped drive forward a robust marketing strategy.
“Sophie made more sense to us in three Marketing Clinic sessions than anyone had ever done. We realised we’d been led down the wrong path multiple times, and we now understand that effective marketing for us doesn’t mean spending vast amounts of money on things like telesales and LinkedIn ads!”
Julie Knowles, Business Development Manager
The outcome.
The Marketing and Proposition Clinics delivered three initial outcomes:
- A clear brand message and proposition statement (what to say)
- Clear market positioning and core strategy (who we say it to)
- A simple marketing strategy, with a tactical plan (how we say it, who does the work, and how much will it cost)
This simplified, yet well-rounded marketing strategy highlighted gaps in the B1 team. They needed to recruit a marketing assistant to help deliver the plan – but most importantly, they needed a strategic-level marketer to take charge and hold marketing accountable.
As a result, B1 Solutions dramatically reduced their marketing spend down and invested in the long-term help of Sophie to drive the strategy, and recruit (and manage) the right person. B1 now has a Digital Marketing Apprentice working under Sophie’s wing, and between the two they are working through a two-year strategy to grow organic enquiries.
The renewed proposition.
[the problem] “Most manufacturers are losing profit through outdated systems, spreadsheets and manual data entry.
[the solution] “With a free diagnosis, we show you how our business management software can…
[achieve success] …save time, reduce errors and help you make more profit.”
Other case studies.
Let’s chat.
We always start with a Free Marketing Health Check. This is a one-hour call to uncover your top-level problems and frustrations with Marketing. From this you will receive a few pointers – and a realistic estimate of how much a Marketing Clinic will cost you.
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