Companies urged to exploit communications revolution for growth
COMPANIES in Birmingham are living through a ‘communications revolution’ which is transforming the way they have to do business, business leaders have been told.
Sales and marketing expert Grant Leboff told a great200 leaders event in Birmingham that the business landscape had changed fundamentally in the past 15 years and businesses were facing “information overload”; as such it was vital they had proper communications strategies in place.
“Businesses are in a marketplace where there is an abundance of information out there yet a scarcity of attention and that matters when you’re in business because the one thing you really need to do is get people’s attention – but it’s harder than ever to do it” he said.
great 200leaders is a personal performance and business growth scheme, which has been created by Birmingham City Council as part of the Business Development Programme (BDP).
The scheme being delivered by business improvement consultancy Winning Moves, is a programme of inspirational speakers, high calibre coaching and stimulating events with a peer group of like-minded business people. The 12-month initiative is aimed at 200 business owners and directors.
Companies at the event were either going through the programme or considering joining, and the audience heard testimonials of the success of the scheme so far.
“The ramifications of this communications revolution are enormous – for the first time in history, everyone has a channel. We are in a world with so much information, yet often we just don’t know what to do with it,” said Leboff.
“Social media is important whether you are Coca Cola or whether you are manufacturing ball bearings in Sutton Coldfield. Businesses in the West Midlands need to embrace social media because increasingly it’s the communication tool of choice – often the phone is now the last resort. Twitter now breaks more news stories than any other platform and I challenge firms in this region to think about how they communicate with their customers – do you do it through ‘publication’ or ‘conversation’?”
Leboff said in a world where everyone was mobile, everything was done in the moment, including purchasing decisions.
Cllr Tahir Ali, Birmingham’s cabinet member for development, transport and the economy, said: “great200leaders provides businesses with a unique opportunity to access industry experts who have their finger on the pulse and the programme is proving to be a real benefit to participating businesses.”
The great200leaders initiative is part of the Business Development Programme (BDP), managed by Birmingham City Council on behalf of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) and designed to help more than 400 qualifying existing SMEs implement their growth and expansion plans.
The Business Development Programme provides coaching and mentoring to existing SMEs, together with financial assistance. BDP has received £3.9m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is available to businesses throughout the GBSLEP area which includes Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Redditch, Solihull, Tamworth and Wyre Forest.
