Consensio’s foremost differentiator is its attitude to business goals. Whilst many small businesses are run fairly efficiently without the use of strategic plans because the owners are technically good at their jobs (see the E-Myth), there comes a point where technical competence is not enough to grow or sustain the business any further without the knowledge and implementation of more complex business processes.

At this point business owners turn to either University courses or consultants for advice. At Consensio we add value through the experience and knowledge of our consultants who are technically good in their chosen professional fields, but are also guided by current business theoretical knowledge.

We like to be told about our client’s business. We immerse ourselves in the job, no matter how big or small, to connect our clients business objective with the market need. We make market segment background checks, before we visit potential clients and we are open to be taught about the ‘ins and outs’ of the client’s business before we recommend or implement any of our work.

We grow with the complexity of the project at hand. We are no large consultancy behemoth! Our clients don’t pay for large agency overheads or commissions. Consensio is small and agile and operates only with the required number of consultants on every project. Work rates are either hourly or by fixed negotiated contract.

What we offer for SME’s and Departments of larger organisations :

Strategic Planning – whether your company grows, consolidates or is at start up – we facilitate workshops, write strategic documentation and offer to implement Marketing and HR strategies.

Marketing Development – your brand and products need to stand out from the market crowd. With Consensio, you go from idea to market, using every step in between to your advantage.

Human Resource Services – when you prepare for growth and establish structures with HR policies and implementations. Consensio HR advises on talent and recruitment & retention strategies. We offer performance management documentation, remuneration and benefits structuring, position classifications, position description documentation.

Drop us a line, if you would like to know more or have a specific question about how we can help your business.

However, sometimes this book wanders the gaps between ‘how to’ and ‘theory’ too close to the edge. As a theorist, I don’t believe in SWAT analysis and certainly don’t need a template of it in the back of the book. As a practitioner, I am looking at the Boston Matrix and shrug my shoulders. But this is far as my critique goes on the detail of providing the reader with enough background. In detail, the book is thoughtfully written.

In service marketing, the actual experience is created by customer/client word-of-mouth (WOM). According to Young, the client is ‘able to feel a sense of relief’ (pg.26) through the service experience that fixed his/her needs and wants. Young argues that the professional firms are increasingly in need of in-house marketing staff, however, the classically trained ‘goods marketers’ skills belong to a different set of marketers. In short the author identifies that service firm marketers should have the stamina to cut through office politics by

• in-depth knowledge of service marketing
• partner level support from stakeholders in the firm to achieve process integration

Young goes on to identify strategies based on the size of the firm from sole traders to boutique and large organisations.
The chapter on segmentation focuses on what the differences really are between service and product marketing. It really means- honing in on the customer as individual. No more old school ‘industry’ and the ‘age, sex’ segmentation categories. It seems to me, the arrival of Generation ‘C’ is written all over professional service marketing.