Brian Timperley, MD and co-founder of Turrito Networks and MD of Cloudware Technologies:
One of the biggest differentiators that we have noted with DUO is the fact that they sink their teeth into our business. They genuinely understand and buy into our business’ value proposition. It is one of the reasons they are so good at what they do – they believe in what we do, and what our businesses stand for.
We get the impression from the leadership team, that if they don’t buy into a potential client’s business or brand, that they won’t take them on as a client. It is important for them to find the enticement, the reason to believe. For us, this has resulted in a level of passion for our business, not just an interest in promoting it.
The DUO team is all about hands on – they don’t operate at a distance, as merely a supplier. They have entrenched themselves into our business and we see them as an extension of our team – we could imagine them sitting alongside our sales team, in-house, selling our services, products and solutions.
The beauty of working with the DUO team is that they accelerate whatever needs focus, and they ensure that less important elements are managed appropriately, without neglecting the client service experience.
From a feedback and reporting perspective, the monthly reporting document that they provide, which contains everything from insights to actual media clippings, has become an essential part of our monthly board meeting with our investors. At no point do our board/ investors feel they aren’t up to speed with how our PR efforts are tracking, or the momentum that we are achieving.
“We have a lot of customers, suppliers and even competitors asking how we get so much media coverage. DUO has ensured that our presence exceeds our size tenfold”
The lesson I have learnt through this experience is that small businesses and even start-ups should not underestimate the value of PR.
Entrepreneurs are often advised of things you should and shouldn’t spend money on. Things like good staff, training, suitable offices (not the over the top lavish ones), and technology to enable your business to run are always on the absolute essentials list. PR is rarely included here. I would unequivocally disagree with this approach – as long as you have the right partner, with the right skills and experience, PR can be one of the best weapons at your disposal in any business.
We trust DUO to do what they do, they are our partners and an extension of our business.
