Customers Views Helps Firm Find New Revenue!

Customers Views Helps Firm Find New Revenue!
Author: Robert (Mr. Bob) Cassels View other articles by this author here. Discuss this Article For more details click here.

This article is based on an interview with Joan Milne of the Taylor Enterprises by Editor George Appleton, Appleton Communications and accurately relates her comments and sentiments. Printed in Business Bits'N'Pieces Magazine November 1995


Taylor Enterprises sells business management services to associations. When its President, Joan Milne wanted to evaluate how those services were being received, she did not go to her own staff. She hired Bob Cassels of The Cassels Corporation.

Milne says, "You get better feedback if somebody feels they can be totally honest with the answers. Perhaps, to us, they might hold back a bit."

Milne describes Taylor Enterprises' services as everything needed to make a non-profit organization run smoothly.

She says the results of Cassels' survey showed the company was already doing a good job. Milne says the survey provided an opportunity to sit down with board members from the 20 associations Taylor has on contact.

Milne says, "We brought all of our clients together. They all sat around a table and talked about what they do, what their association is all about. Then we had a think-tank on how you attract new members. It was very interesting to see the directors actually helping each other. They actually came up with ideas that Taylor could use to help them more, which would ultimately give more fees as well."

Milne says the exercise yielded very positive results. "I think what came out of it, more than anything, is that the associations want us to be more proactive and that's the one single thing I found out about the survey. A lot of times we are reactive because of the business we are in. We are dealing with volunteers. We are having to pick up a lot of things that have been allowed to fall through the cracks by the volunteers. We put everything together so it seems like everything ran very smoothly"
She says she had some concerns going into the think-tank but adds they didn't last long. "I don't need to be afraid of bringing our clients together in one room. It is a positive thing. It is good for the clients to speak to each other and get a better feeling that Taylor is the focal point of success for their organization."

When asked if the same results could be reached without the Cassels survey, Milne replies, "I have to honestly say I don't think so. If I hadn't had the survey, I would never have brought the associations' board members together under one roof to have the think-tank session. All the reports I received from them were that it was dynamite."


She says Bob Cassels brought a great deal of valuable experience to this project. "Bob has worked as a volunteer in a lot of associations. I think that Bob's background within the volunteer sector made him able within the volunteer sector made him able to come up with the sensitivity needed and the right questions to ask."

Milne says she is very happy with the results of the Cassels survey. "It was very beneficial. It was certainly a worthwhile exercise to go through and it is something I will probably do again in a few years."

The Cassels Corporation helps organizations grow and prosper by meeting their needs in an affordable and efficient manner.