Portfolio
Leek Gears
Embracing the future
A heritage engineering business was bought over by a private investor, who was looking to secure the business and prepare it for the digital era.
Leek Gears is a gear-cutting and precision engineering specialist firm. The business required improvement on CX and sales channels to prepare for taking on more contracts. To raise the profile of the business, the branding was refreshed. Digital presence was amplified to provide the grounding for new sales and marketing strategies.
Industry
Software Engineering
Categories
Consulting
Branding
Web Design
Social Media
Leading the way
Leading the way
Keeping heritage at the heart
Still trading as Charles Leek and Sons, this business had a long history as expert gear cutters, going back to the early 20th century. The new owners wanted to take the skills of this established family business, and combine them with a forward-thinking and customer-focused outlook. This would deliver a bigger market share.
Discovery session
We began the project with our discovery workshop that involved owners, management and staff. We investigated the business set up, and the best approach to make the new strategy a reality. Insider knowledge gave us better understanding of key areas; customer experience, sales channels, staff culture, and brand management.
Driving change forward
Our aim was to build a future-focused business with a growth mindset. We created plans with clear actions and accountability to drive the changes forward in the key areas. Actions were reviewed and a new set of tasks issued on a monthly basis. This ensured that the change was driven through the business quickly and on budget.
Growth culture
We conducted staff interviews to obtain employees insights on potential growth areas, new products and wider improvement ideas.
We then initiated practical changes to support a growth and teamwork culture. We advised owners on the introduction of weekly team meetings and team building strategies to facilitate collaboration and communication throughout the company. We also encouraged the introduction of branded uniforms and the upgrade of staff areas to ensure a strong sense of team cohesion.
insider knowledge
Harnessing key insights to move business to the next level
building the future
Ready for future generations
integrating business
Precise, effective, efficient
Delivering Solutions
Expertise and proven quality
Making business visible
New audience and opportunities
Sales and Marketing
Leek Gears were known as expert gear cutters. They also, however specialised in precision engineering. We helped the company to explore new potential and offerings to progress them as core services. The business could now offer a wider range of complementary offerings, including gear refurbishment.
From here, a data-driven sales strategy could be designed and implemented to include upselling to existing customers, and attracting new customers to broaden the customer base.
CX Review
Customer experience was largely unknown and unexplored. The first priority was to gain insights into the customer journey and experience. We conducted customer site visits, collated feedback and analysed where the CX could be improved. As part of the review, a new role of a dedicated account manager was created to manage customer satisfaction.
Keeping customer engagement in mind, the premises were refurbished. The reception area was changed from an extension of the workshop into a welcoming customer waiting room. An unused utility area was transformed into a meeting room.
Brand management
In order to reflect the fresh approach to the future of Leek Gears, we undertook key changes to brand management. A refreshed logo allowed the business to present the broader spectrum of offerings, of gear services but also precision engineering.
We also proposed changes to their existing website. This included introducing professional imagery of work and refreshed staff biographies. It was important for us to build on the business heritage and reflect the company profile as local, part of the community for generations, and a family-owned business. We also wanted to highlight the positive culture and teamwork.
In addition, we established a presence on a key social media platform. This would support raising the brand profile. All relevant groudnwrok was done for the marketing plan to be put in place.
The results
The brand now represents the breadth and depth of their capabilities and reflects a historic firm’s move into a new era. The staff are fully engaged with the growth strategy.
There has also been an increase in the order book and customer base. The team is growing and taking on new apprentices to prepare the business for the new generation.
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