Carol Rogers wanted to grow her company, Millennium Payroll Solutions, LLC, a payroll and benefits administration firm based in Little Rock, Arkansas. She and partner Neil Denman had bought out a third partner and were looking for ways to increase their visibility and attract new business. The majority of their existing 200 clients were the result of word of mouth referrals.
The Challenge: While Millennium was stable, it wasn’t growing like Carol and Neil knew it could. The company had earlier invested in marketing materials that did not reflect the current business philosophy. Carol feared their fancy look and feel might, in fact, be scaring off potential clients. “Our brochures looked really, really expensive,” says Carol, “but our service is very affordable.” When Samantha asked Carol to imagine the kind of car her company would be, Carol chose a Honda – reliable, high-quality, and affordable. “We looked like a Mercedes,” says Carol. Millennium needed a new image and a new marketing action plan.
The Process: Over the course of several planning meetings, we not only came up with a new look and logo for Millennium but also developed a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan that Carol and her staff could implement over time, as the business continued to grow. We created a marketing calendar – a series of action steps designed to increase visibility and land new clients. This included simple activities like sending Thanksgiving cards and having a system in place to stay in touch with each and every client on a regular basis with a newsletter, personal correspondence, phone calls and lunches. As part of this process, we crafted a new tagline for their business – Hassle Free Affordable Payroll Solutions – which is short, memorable and descriptive.
The Results: Millennium is spending less on printed marketing materials and attracting new clients with their updated look and revamped website (“In the past it never attracted new clients”). They are also getting a lot of mileage from staying in touch with existing clients. “Working with Samantha not only saved us money, but helped us see things we didn’t know. I’m an operations person, not a marketing expert,” says Carol. “The little things we put into place have had great benefits. We’re seeing results already.” Carol remembers being pleasantly surprised to find that Samantha showed a genuine interest in Millennium. “She really cared that our business grew. We had one logo designer before who didn’t listen to anything we said. Samantha built a plan around what we wanted to achieve. That was big for me,” says Carol.
Carol Rogers, Co-owner and Operations Director, Millennium Payroll Solutions
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