During one of THECUBE’s Platypus events Jonny Weston from It Could Be Like This asked about how to keep client’s interested after the sales cycle. It is a really good and valid question and one that we all face.

3 Things to do in between sales cycles

1. Keep Clients in the Loop with interesting information that is tailored made for their needs. Yes, newsletters are great, but think about other information they will find useful, which will aslo compliment the service you already provide. For example, if you offer a web design service, give client tips on how to keep their SEO well tuned, take the time to really research the information and offer advice that they cannot get anywhere else.

2. Create thoughtful events which will help continue to build your rapport with your client and to introduce them to new services. Many times SME’s get frustrated that they are pigeon holed by their clients to do a certain type of job. To avoid this create events that showcase your knowledge in other ways, for example if you are a PR company that would now like client’s to pivot to digital PR, host a Q&A about how this area of PR works and how it helps brings new business. This will let stay in touch with your clients, offer them something they will value, and pivot your expertise.

3. Make them part of your team and don’t think of your clients as being on the ‘other side of the street’. Entrepreneurs often think that they have to create clever ways to lure costumers in, when if fact clients should be on the same side as you; all you have to do is communicate with them. Ask them what kind of services would support the product/service you already sold them? Have complete interest in the brand, not just in the area that you are working on. Send them emails now and again to see how they are progressing with your product/service, do they need additional help? Retention is not about finding other ways to sell to them, but a genuine interest in their company.

About THECUBE

THECUBE is a coworking space in East London for idea and enterprise. We offer an onsite consultancy called Idea Engineering, which helps members move from Idea into Enterprise. There are also the usual office space services such as virtual office, wifi, deskspace, and meeting hire.

THECUBE will be hosting an new platform for graduates called INCUBE8. The idea was created by Richie Manu, who runs the respected portfolio night, Consurgo as well as being a professor at Central St. Martins.

Objectives

To give Graduates a process and a platform from which to interpret briefs, produce ideas, and create innovative solutions for clients.

Graduates need to be sharper than ever and learn from inception how to be innovative thinkers to prepare them for an ever changing economy.

Outline

Graduates will be given industry briefs, which they will create solutions for. This is a week process and will end with a presentation on the Friday to a selected panel.

The Team

Richie Manu: Interpreting the brief

Alison Coward: Founder of Bracket Projects will be guiding Graduates on how to collaborate and the commercial value of their idea.

Araceli Camargo-Kilpatrick: Founder of THECUBE and a partner of Idea Engineering will be guiding Graduates on Idea Generation, Implementation, and Idea Economy.

How to develop ‘tone of voice’ for your business

11 August 2010 13:00-14:00 in the Boardroom Space

Smart, sassy, sophisticated or sultry – every brand needs a personality. At Incontext, we help to create and maintain a company’s tone of voice across all communications.  In this session, we can help you to identify the right tone of voice for your company.

So, what exactly are tone of voice guidelines? Basically, they’re a guide to help you to identify the core values of your brand. They outline how you write, what you write, and even regulate your use of grammatical tools like contractions and pronouns.

Establishing tone of voice is hardly a new phenomenon, but it is now getting more of the attention it deserves. More companies are realising that the words you use, and the way you use them, are just as pivotal to your brand as the colour of your logo.

Established in 2001, Incontext is a niche copywriting agency serving international clients ranging from Coca Cola to Microsoft. With ten years of experience in the industry, this session will be led by Marcie MacLellan, Managing Director of Incontext and lecturer for the London School of Marketing.

to RSVP please email info@thecubelondon.com

Why! is a community led agency which connects fresh ideas makers with diverse creative projects. We are burgeoning professionals, graduates, and students coming together for one common goal of creating new opportunities.

If you are student or graduate

The Guardian gave some gruesome statistics on graduate employment and without being alarmist it will continue to get worse towards the middle of next year. However, you can either see this as a time of difficulty or a time of change and opportunity. The rules for the economy are yet to be written and the leaders yet to be elected, so why not capitalize on what graduates do best …. CREATE IDEAS?

As John Lennon said once in an interview ‘ there is nothing rock n roll about doing what some else has done’. This new era of economy will be driven by new ideas, creativity, and innovation. People are desperate for them as a matter of fact, which puts young fresh minds at a total advantage, you can either compete with industry or enhance it,  either way Graduates stand to win. Well, those that have the insight to start their own idea.

THECUBE has several Graduate enterprises such as WHY! and The Gateway, who started an enterprise based on needs they observed within their peer group.

Our Graduate Packs, offer meeting space hire, 5 hours of coworking usage,  and virtual office services.

5 Things Graduates should be doing

Create new industries
Instead of waiting for one to come along which is going to capitalize on all your new found knowledge, start one of your own. Think Facebook ( social networks). One of the next industries will be collaborative software, there are many software developers creating new on-line tools to help entrepreneurs communicate and share ideas on-line. There is also coworking spaces, which will be the future of working and networking. What is other industry can you start?

Create Think Tanks with other Graduates
Right now your network of people is at its tightest, so use that to start something. Form a diverse and interesting group of people and really push diversity, the last thing that you want is a room full of the same type of people thinking the same thing. Push away from your comfort zone, knowledge, and capabilities to a create a group of people that will create interesting ideas. Meet up every week and start thinking, observing, creating, prototyping, and discussing.

Create Partnerships
Once your ideas have flowed, start to create partnerships with other Graduates and start an enterprise. Create something that is lean and can be implemented straight away, this way you will not need to rely on investment or resources. The best resource will be the strength of your idea and the people that you have partnered with.

Turn your industry upside down
What are they not doing? Is it a saturated industry ? Where are they failing their clients?  Can the industry be better as a hybrid?  Does your industry need to pivot? Are there markets that your industry needs to reach?

Move away from the crowd
Leadership never occurs from moving with the crowd, observe what all other people are doing and move away. Most are going through graduate training programs, dead-end internships, or simply sitting in isolated rooms sending one faceless CV after another.  So, look at opportunities observe the world around you and create something new or contribute to companies that are starting up to gain experience.

And now many of us are craving the reverse of abundance; we are looking to simplify our lives. We have begun to consume goods from local retailers, want to know where our food is coming from, like to stay in small boutique hotels, and seek authentic travel destinations over corporate resorts. The growth of minimalist design is increasing, and we are waking up from the American dream. A renewed sense of community, even in big cities, is on the rise.

The Signs of Change

In his book The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge tells the story of how the entire population of a Gypsy nomadic tribe in the Indian Ocean survived the 2004 Tsunami. How did they do it? The tsunami caught many people by surprise, and caused a shocking amount of damage. When Doidge spoke with the tribe leader he explained his reaction with a simple metaphor: most people were looking at the squid, while the gypsy tribe payed attention to their wider surroundings. In other words, whilst most people were just looking down at their catch of the day, this tribe observed the subtle changes around them. The detracting of the ocean, the small ripples, the elephants going inland, the dolphins swimming upstream, etc. After they observed all of this they decided to change their course and avoided being caught out by the Tsunami.
So what does this teach us? We have to start observing the subtle changes that are happening if we are to create successful businesses and communities and not become a casualty of today’s tempestuous business environment. Consider that:
•    Big corporate pillars are falling. There is no longer a company that is ‘Too big to fail.’
•    The increased use of social networking sites to build new virtual communities. People want to be connected to other people that have common needs or wants, regardless of where they live.
•    Corporations making huge mistakes and having a slow reaction time to solutions. BP’s recent oil spill disaster demonstrates that a big company is not infallible or even always resourceful.
•    Political language of transparency and change.
•    Studies focusing on ideas and a new age of enlightenment- working to create little to no waste.
•    Graduates declining jobs that don’t fit their life ethos ( yes, this is actually occurring.)
•    The rise of at-home restauranteurs providing home cooked meals for patrons.
•    Neurologists rejecting the hardwired model of the brain and opting for its plasticity.
•    Countries which once were dogmatic of corporate life (like Japan), now having to make redundancies for the first time in their corporate history.
•    Migration out of cities and the growth of rural areas. The emergence of urban farms where industrial factories used to stand.
•    Collaborative tools being developed to help people work more nomadically and rurally.
•    Countries like Italy being short of a corporate workforce due to less births.
•    The bankruptcy of entire western countries such as Iceland and Greece.
•    The challenge of industries like Newspapers, Movie Rental Chains, Automotive, and Music Dubai, where a lot of investors were excited at the prospect of a ‘Golden City’. It seemed that Dubai could not build it fast enough, or big enough, or luxurious enough. Indicating that fast and unregulated growth is not sustainable.
•    There are also the American rustbelt cities that have industrially collapsed due to the demise of big industry and the local population not knowing how to react.
•    People are increasingly interested in how to make things sustainable and green.
•    People are investing more money to buy locally sourced goods.
•    Eco-tourism is on the rise.
•    The social enterprise sector is becoming increasingly economically sustainable.
•    People are looking for fulfilment, happiness, and health more than ever before. Sectors related to these needs are on the rise.
The Process of reaction
No one is an expert on millennial change as not many have been alive long enough to have reference to the 20th century turn over. However, we are going to make leap at a process, which can be implemented in any industry.
•    Observe how the Signs of Change which will impact your industry. For example, if you are running a luxury brand, is there something in your communication strategy you can change to fit with the pivot in buyer psychology?
•    Does your business need to pivot and if so then in what direction?
•    Integrate your business with your local community and listen to their needs.
•    Observe your clients and see if they will experience new needs and find services/products that will suit these needs.
•    Innovate- look for the non obvious solutions.
•    React quickly- the faster you move on from the problem to the solution, the quicker you will create a new economy.
•    Create a prototype of the solution, so you can start testing it sooner.
•    Stay lean and simple. In a period of change the last thing you want is to add chaos, so staying lean and simple will create clearer solutions rather than confusion.
•    Measure the economic space of the new idea.
•    Ask empathetic questions about the changes occurring.
Reaction Tools
The use of the internet continues to enable us to communicate faster, and we have access to a wide range of information, and can create international communities.
•    3D printing.
•    Social networking sites.
•    Community-led events.
•    Coworking spaces.
•    New software (keep an eye on what’s coming out).
•    Open-soure collaborative tools and wikis.
•    Online spaces to exchange ideas.
•    ThinkTanks.
•    Idea Engineering or other innovation processes.
•    Innovative conferences.
•    ‘Pop-Ups.’

Who is reacting?

Below is a list that has been at our fingertips, but by no means is it complete.
•    TED
•    Launch48
•    Rewire London
•    Blank Spaces – LA
•    THECUBE – London
•    The Hub- International
•    minimoko
•    Bracket Projects
•    WHY Create!
•    Matthew Miller
•    Ackenhurst Consultants
•    IDEO
•    Smart Car
•    Ford
•    Tesla
•    Launchlings
•    Rosen Hotels
•    Berlin
•    NYC
•    Boulder, Colorado
•    Copenhagen
•    Word Press
•    Skype
•    Google
•    E-Rejuvenation
•    Founders Forum
•    Kauffman Group
•    Y combinator
•    The Enemy
•    Radio Head
•    The Loft
•    Meet Up
•    Bistrotheque
•    Not Just A Label
•    Bill Gates’s Intellectual Ventures

Innovation Across The Board

It’s not just about commodity-based innovation, it’s about creating innovation that will lead to a vital foundation and sustainable society. It will be created strong enough to be recession-proof.

The only reason we as a society are recession prone is because collectively we have let a small group of people (corporate and political leaders) take control. We don’t work as a collective to create economy equally amongst all sectors; however, now that enterprise has become more accessible, this will change this.

In today’s society, many talented university students turn to the Finance sector for their careers, rather than science and research, rightfully assuming that they can play the game and potentially create vast wealth. Western societies need to pivot to support and encourage growth in science, research, and engineering, where innovation is created.

Education

There needs to be more education about the benefits of studying engineering and science as we are loosing a generation of innovators and inventors. We need to inculcate the interest from an early stage as kids are loosing interest in these types of industries. There is also a need for more neurological based education, teaching tools on how to think better and problem solve.
Agriculture
Create seeds with minimal elements, which can be used in any soil and climate conditions to help developing countries that have stark climates. Expand our indigenous variety of food, to import less. Re-introduce produce that has gone out of ‘fashion’ to increase diversity in our diet to reduce our dependency/exploitation of certain foods. Encourage urban farming, support local produce, and personal cultivation to reduce local poverty levels.

Manufacturing

We need intelligent manufacturing; one that is creates smart, sustainable, innovative products. We need to return to products and manufacturing to balance off service based companies, which will help create employment. However we need to produce products that are based on societal needs rather than commodities. For example focusing on manufacturing more green technology based products.

Hiring green engineers to teach factories how to we make less of an environmental impact, whilst still providing high levels of manufacturing.

Engineering

Industries need to pivot the use of industrial engineers to create more efficient, lean, less wasteful, and innovative enterprises, ones that will make a difference to the profit margins, society, and environmental impact. For example in India, engineers created a system to deliver lunch for students for $28 a year. They steamed the food to retain nutritional integrity. Some of the process was automated and trucks were used to increase the capacity of delivery and decrease the chance of the food being scraped. This programme is not just feeding a lot of kids, but it also gives them a nutritional diet, it’s a win/win.

Enterprise

By definition enterprise is the start of something new which will take high quantity of innovation therefore we should move from creating ego based enterprises and from saturated sectors. Entrepreneurs need to ask themselves following questions: Is my product or service going to make an impact in my industry or am I just another number? Is my idea a reaction of a need or anticipation of one? Can my idea help the economy both locally and nationally? Will my idea make a social or societal impact? Could someone else produce my idea better? Do I have strong community link? Have I valuated my idea within my community to ensure that it has an immediate economy? Are you just repeating jargon or are you starting something truly innovative.

Social Enterprises and Not For Profits

They need to be more economically sustainable, administratively leaner, less bureaucratic, and community led. They also need to follow the same formula as a regular enterprise; how innovative is your idea? Have all the right observations been made? Has the sociology of the local community been observed and respected? What are the cultural customs of the society your social enterprise is looking to impact? How do you create long lasting innovation and sustainability after your programme has finished? Are you creating independence? Are solving a problem or alleviating a symptom? Is long lasting economy being created?

Inclusive Intelligence in Human Resources

Employees sharing mindfull intelligence amongst one another o create a more aware corporate community. Employing a person gives them the resources to pay their bills. Even though employment is crucial, it should be held hand in hand with enterprise. By creating partnerships with your team members, you empower them to gain a better understanding of the business, industry, or project at hand, and in turn they become a more beneficial collaborator for the entire entity.

New types of Economy

Circular Economy

This is a great growth strategy for start-ups, economy is not just about money, and especially not in the beginning of an enterprise. As most entrepreneurs who start a business post employment have great contacts, we believe that it is more valuable at the start to create economy for each other based on contacts. For example, you are starting a business in fashion and you have great fashion industry contacts, you meet a young fashion designer that has developed a great software programme for the industry, which you need. Instead of paying them for their time, why not connect them with valuable industry contacts in exchange for their time. This way its a win/win, you help each other by giving a service but also creating a potential economy. Of course there is the option of referral however in this way you create a partnership with a contact based currency, allowing start-up enterprises

Communal Economies/Economy Clusters

As technology and coworking spaces continue to make enterprise easier and less expensive, many people will opt out of employment more so than in past recessions. There is no longer the need for huge start-up costs and large employee pools.
We believe this is going to cause people to create more partnerships, expanding and contracting as needed. However, the rise of the one person enterprises or partnerships will create a new type of economy. One cluster of collaborators selling to other cluster of collaborators. A bit like in the hunter gatherer societies, there were no employees, just partnerships for the greater economy of the community.

The End Of Corporation

If these new economic clusters work and create sustainable economies, we will see the end of the monolithic corporation. However, it is important that rewired innovation takes its place, its not good enough to just state their negative effect.  All of the signs of change point to a society that rejects the corporate structure both as a consumer and as an employer. We have observed in our own coworking space, THECUBE that people who leave the corporate world are doing so to create a more meaningful life. This tends to lead them to revaluate their whole life structure, creating fundamental change in their lifestyle. From the way the consume, travel, to the type of enterprise they set-up. Little by little these new entrepreneurial structures will take over the once all mighty corporation.

However, this does not mean that there will be less money to earn or that we have to curb our ambitions, it just means that there were be more competition and money being made by a lot more people. It will also mean that we will have to find economy from different industries instead of depending on one, making us more dexterous and innovative.

The question now lies with you, how will you react and how fast?
Written By: Araceli Camargo-Kilpatrick
Edited and Brainstormed By: Idea Engineering Team
Idea Engineering Team
Araceli Camargo-Kilpatrick
Bethany Betzler
Daniel C. Gutierrez

12 months ago when THECUBE coworking space was just an idea, we got in touch with Katy Cowan, who had just set up Creative Boom, so we sent her an email about our idea and the rapport grew from there. We are now seeing the progress of her vision and dedication to the online magazine and has become a staple read amongst creatives.

Creative Boom London was given over to THECUBE, which soon passed it on to Russell Thomas to edit and take it forward, he has one of the most imaginative and killer voice around.

His interview technique shows his dedication to getting the most interesting parts of a persons thought process, making his pieces more like a piece of art than just a write up.

He has some interesting ideas for CBL, including the addition of Anna Lincoln’s screen printed flyers, which look stunning enough to collect.

To link to Creative Boom London follow the link,

We have finally put all the final touches to Idea Engineering and we are now ready to start the prototyping process before our official launch in October 2010.

THECUBE coworking space will now have an in house idea consultancy, dedicated to helping members come up with ideas, develop them, implement, and create a long lasting economy.

Cubers will now have 30min access to IE, every Friday as part of their membership, to take advantage, please set at time up with Araceli info@thecubelondon.com.

For non members we are looking for interesting case studies to produce, so if you have an idea or looking for one, please get in touch, we are interested in anything unique, Social Enterprise, Product, Finance, Design, Engineering, etc.

Itcouldbelikethis specialises in branding and graphic design for print and web, led by a former brander and marketeer. We are a creative studio – plus.

We believe in creating striking, functional products that allow you to communicate more effectively with your audience. We’re talking publications, websites, press adverts, annual reports, mobile apps, and exhibition materials. Our clients include NHS Trusts, Orange & T-Mobile and Business in the Community.

We know it’s still tough for many of you – and we can help you do things differently and sustainably. Get in touch and tell us what you think itcouldbelike.

THECUBE is a coworking space in East London, established to create opportunities for people with ideas. Having a great idea is just the start of the enterprise journey with our in-house consultancy THECUBE is able to help any idea grow.

The launch of our in-house consultancy is what makes all the difference with our coworking space. Not only do our members get the advantage of all the other services such as virtual office space, a well designed space, meeting room hire, but also a process that reduces risk during the idea implementation stage. Making enterprise a little bit more tangible, stress free, and resilient to failure.

THECUBE is always evolving and changing to better serve its members by observing their needs and adjusting. If you would like to join the community or would to learn more how Idea Engineering work give us a call.