PositiveVision is one of the leading providers of information technology software for process manufacturing businesses in the greater Chicago area. The team at PositiveVision values honesty and integrity above all else, and at all times operate with their clients’ business objectives in sight. It was this culture that helped build PositiveVision into a successful company as most of their business came by referral.
PositiveVision Starts From Scratch with their Marketing
With a change in the economy and a recent departure of an internal sales person who was not holding up to PositiveVision’s standards, they needed to build a marketing program that would feed their sales pipeline. “We had nothing other than a small foundation,” recalls Bob Baran, Co-Owner of PositiveVision. “We had a logo and a website, but had no image or branding, no way of keeping in touch with our current clients, and worst of all we had no list of potential leads.” His wife Linda, Co-Owner of PositiveVision added, “And what we had wasn’t very good… in fact, we were embarrassed to direct people to our website.” With nothing but business cards, a tagline, and a brochure for a crystal reporting class – PositiveVision needed to start from scratch. Bob reflects, “Actually, it was worse than starting from scratch – it was like we were running a deficit in our marketing.” Bob & Linda knew that they needed something better, but didn’t know how to get there.
A Chance Meeting and Perfect Timing
Unbeknownst to them, help was right around the corner. Armed with the desire to create a new marketing strategy, coupled with the approach of Insights – Bob and Linda Baran were headed straight for a more positive outlook. “We signed up to take a class on the first day of Insights, 2008 called the Sage Value Partner Workshop, which was taught in part by The Spectrum Services Group. During the class the facilitator, Karen McNeill, Sr. Marketing Consultant for Spectrum was speaking on foundational marketing and the benefit of developing a Value Proposition statement. “I knew what I wanted to say but I could not get the words right on paper,” remembers Bob, “That’s when Karen came up to me, listened to what I wasn’t really saying very well and said, ‘Oh! What you mean is…’ and put my thoughts into the words I was searching for.” Linda added, “Karen was able to pull words out of his mouth and communicate with him…maybe better than I do!” After that, it was an easy decision – The Spectrum Services Group was exactly what PositiveVision needed to get their marketing on the right track.
Renewed Marketing brings a More Positive Outlook
“As the owner of a company, you’re responsible for everything. You’re the accountant, IT guy, HR manager and the marketing department. It can be overwhelming to keep all of the different plates spinning at the same time,” said Bob, which is why he is so thankful to have Spectrum take the marketing ball and run with it.
Karen reflects, “It’s really important to us to get to know each client, what their needs are and create a tailored marketing program for them. Bob and Linda at PositiveVision have taken advantage of all of our services, and are now so much better off than they were a year ago.” Bob added, “With Spectrum’s help we were able to completely re-build our website. In addition, we now have a marketing calendar, a consistent nurture program that allows us to stay in front of our existing clients with success stories, newsletters, training programs, a referral rewards program, sales kit, testimonials and we have done three lead generation campaigns utilizing Spectrum’s TeleServices group. You could basically go down their list of services and check each one off! We’re using every tool they provide.”
A Clear Vision Forecasts a Bright Future
With an increased sense of credibility and visibility with their new and improved website, not to mention sales of several upgrades attributed to the nurture marketing efforts, Bob is beginning to see the results of his marketing. “One thing we always did well was take really good care of our clients. We are always careful to listen to and stay focused on their needs while also staying in touch with their vision, budget and requirements. But now we look as good as the service we provide. We realize that we picked the world’s worst time to start from scratch, but we firmly believe that our efforts now will put us at the front of the pack when the economic turnaround comes. Our only regret is that we didn’t meet the team at Spectrum earlier!”
In the future, Bob and Linda hope to increase their marketing, and grow their company far beyond what it is now. “We’d like to have a bigger company, more employees and tons of clients!” exclaimed Linda. “After all, helping businesses succeed with the best software solutions available is our passion.”
The Spectrum Services Group 