SERVICES
NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
We find that often clients have creative ideas that result in new products, but that often they lack the understanding of how to take the product from conceptualisation all the way through development, production, manufacturing and placement. We are able to use our knowledge and experience to establish potential market responsiveness as well as to outline and implement a strategy to launch the product into the market place.
SME GROWTH REVIVAL
In today’s current economic climate, SME’s in particular are feeling the strain of trying to compete under ever more volatile market conditions. A common mistake that SME’s make is to eliminate their marketing efforts in order to try to cut corners. Unfortunately however, if you are not visible to your clients, you can be sure that your competitors are! As a result of these sort of ad hoc manoeuvres, the effects of the downturn are intensified and profit margins suffer. We offer a solution to this complicated problem by providing a service that analyses existing marketing conditions and trends and your product/services’ theoretical position relative to this information. We also use this information to define your product and or company in terms of its “points of difference,” or defining characteristics that set it aside from your competitors products (this is a very important aspect of market penetration as it serves to highlight your product/company and make it appealing as well as memorable.) We are also able to take representation of your product and physically head out into the market to introduce it to the identified targets armed with a clear understanding of the industry climate and a firm grip of the products features and capabilities (which we gain from you through more technical product knowledge via mail.)
In addition, in order to accommodate the small marketing budgets which often accompany small businesses, our fees are charged at an hourly rate and all of our packages are individually designed to facilitate the needs and budgets of each individual client. This is obviously highly beneficial for SMEs in that they are able to dictate their budgets with us and avoid the hefty costs associated with hit-and-miss print forms of advertising, as well as the risk, expense and HR issues of hiring a permanent representative. Due to the delicate nature of the information we handle, we also include confidentiality agreements to ensure our clients that their data is treated with the utmost sensitivity and is kept strictly confidential.
REMOTE MARKET ACQUISITION
Companies outside the Durban area who don’t necessarily have offices or permanent reps here but who would like to gain or increase their share of the Durban market may also employ our services. We offer a representative function to these companies where we act as an extension of our clients by taking their services/products to their target clients here in Durban. In this way our external clients are able to access a portion of the South African market that was previously unavailable to them without incurring the costs and frustrations of setting up offices here and hiring additional permanent staff.
CLIENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
This aspect of our business is aimed primarily at larger companies who face the problem of customer migration! Often a substantial part of a company’s client base is susceptible to poaching by competitors, especially when customer satisfaction levels are low due to perceived neglect or negligence. We specialise in managing these relationships through a balanced system of customer research coupled with relationship development skills, in order to prevent migration and also to stimulate increased expenditure through existing channels (which is often more effective in plumping sales than acquiring new business!)
IMAGE ANALYSIS & BRAND BUILDING
In addition to our four main areas of specialisation, Cassel Consulting also provides analysis of corporate images to ensure that they are in line with the target market, as well as design/redesign and printing of existing images, stationary, business cards, marketing material and websites where necessary.