Strategiq are an integrated marketing agency I worked with consistently last year. Sarah Smith is the Managing director there, and runs the business with her husband Andy and they have been established for 7 years. With two offices, one in Ipswich and the other in the Midlands they have 41 staff.

What are her challenges?

One of the main points she makes is the importance of a solid business plan. She laughs as she says she had 15 on the go at one point, but that ability to flex between one plan and another has given them an edge. They have looked at all the scenarios as best they can and recognised two things matter: knowing their numbers, and where they want to take the business. Their direction hasn’t changed but some of the process as to how they achieve that, has had to alter given the ever-changing landscape at the moment.

The other point is that they’ve recognised what their own values are. One of which is ambition so although some clients have needed to check their budget and direction right now, she counsels that short-term cuts may not benefit clients in the longer term. Those that do want to grow have benefited from Strategiq’s progressive thinking and integrated approach.

What do they try to achieve?

Strategiq work to a three-month plan. They’ve asked themselves and their clients what they need to do for them right here, right now. That determination has kept them flexible and able to offer a service that works as well as they possibly can.

They have always cared about their staff and clients recognising that just as some staff need more support right now, so do some clients. My involvement was to run a well-being service which we offered monthly to all members of staff.

It began because I ran a workshop for them called ‘Taking the Stress out of Leadership’ and this led to the 2 day/ month in-house coaching programme we co-designed. As Sarah says, feeling equipped to handle any, and all, situations in life isn’t easy but using tools to manage what you can, helped everyone. Andy and Sarah wanted to offer a more personal, bespoke service especially for a young team who may have lacked more experience of life, change, and business. The Agency was very fast moving so managing change was vital

The benefits of a learning environment

It’s a learning curve understanding business and the right approach to take. The identification of a client’s needs and delivering a high-end service, isn’t a quick process to acquire. It takes skill and emotional intelligence to assess that. Their Agency positively encourages learning and personal development for that reason

Now Sarah does the coaching for the staff. She has taken the time to sit on a 1:1 with everyone regularly so that they discuss where they are at, what they need and how the business can encourage them to improve.

Interested in coaching?

If you’re interested in discussing the Well-being coaching I helped introduce to staff at Strategiq, please get in touch sue@suefirthltd.com