Tag Archive for 'report'

You only do it once a year. The Annual Report

Standard Annual Reports

Standard Annual Reports

Every year, you have the opportunity to put the case for your company, to analyse its trading position and the measures it is taking to ensure continued profitability and growth. There’s no question that the Annual Report is an important document.

It will be of vital importance to shareholders and other investors too, if you have them, but many other groups will study the document, for reassurance or the reverse. Your staff, your customers, analysts and journalists, members of trade bodies, those who supply you with services and products – these are just some of the possible groups who will be interested in what you have to say and how you make your case.

Wild West has worked on annual reports for two of the largest and most successful organisations in marine insurance for some years now. The Standard Clubs of London and Bermuda provide mutual insurance to a large percentage of the world’s shipping, making sure that international trade can continue to thrive.

We’d like to think that our design and presentation input has helped these organisations – and the company that manages them, Charles Taylor & Co – to grow and thrive.

Web Site Statistics – A New Twist

Putting privileged information on your web site, probably in a password-protected area, has advantages beyond treating special clients in a special way. Because each password is linked to a particular person or company, you can track very closely statistics like:

- how often did each one visit the site (if at all)?
- what files did they download? (and so what are the hot topics for that individual?)
- what pages did they visit?

These kind of statistics can be interesting when trying to assess how and why shareholders, investors, journalists and others behave as they do, and can be important for your sales and management processes, as well as providing valuable input to a sales team or marketing campaign.

Can Research Help You Build Market Share?

Sometimes, research is a powerful tool. Think about this as a model.

You start by asking questions about an issue that is live in your market. You give respondents the option to remain completely anonymous when they fill in your questionnaire. But, if they wish, they can leave a name and address and receive a full copy of the report when it’s complete. Give respondents an incentive to respond in the form of a donation to a charity.

Now, get the results in and compile the report. It should look credible and properly presented.

You can deliver that report to all the people who wanted it. You can feed the report into your PR campaign. (”Here’s what 200 managers said about…”). You could host a reception or seminar to tell clients or others about the results. You can use your web site to display headlines from the report you’ve written.

Do this once and it gets you noticed. Repeat it, and it begins to demonstrate your leadership qualities, and starts the all-important dialogue with potential clients that leads to new business.

We’ve successfully completed this programme with a law firm and a software company. It works!

Thinking about Response? Think about Charity

Hardwicke's report on direct access to barristers

Hardwicke's report on direct access to barristers

If you’re looking to increase response from direct marketing or perhaps an email campaign, involving a charity can add a lot to your credibility, and increase your response numbers. We helped barristers Hardwicke to get response from a notoriously difficult legal sector by offering to pay a pound to charity for every one of their market research questionnaires which was returned.

 

Those questionnaires were an important way of introducing Hardwicke to a broad slice of their potential market and helped this young and energetic chambers put itself on the map, as well as gathering valuable research which in turn helped to fuel a PR initiative. Find out more about Hardwicke Building, and the expertise of this London barristers’ chambers at www.hardwickebuilding.co.uk

 

Mutual Insurance Works for Ship-Owners

The new annual report for the Standard Club, designed and produced by Wild West

The new annual report for the Standard Club, designed and produced by Wild West

Charles Taylor and Co are one of the world’s leading managers of mutual insurance syndicates or clubs – schemes in which those looking for heavy-duty insurance effectively insure themselves. The company manages The Standard Club, one of the most respected of these organisations, and a Wild West client for many years now. The Standard Club’s annual report was published this week. Designed by Wild West, it’s theme was the powerful forces of the sea. www.standard-club.com/knowledgecentre