HR consultancy - target SME's

[Munchbox]

Hi,

Not sure if this post is best placed here or in marketing, hopefully someone can point me in the right direction...

Im starting my own HR consultancy in my local area, I have extensive HR experience, fully qualified etc but having worked all over the country, my contacts in this area are limited. I live in a very industrial town/small city so I think there is plenty of places to target that dont need a f/t HR professional but ad-hoc and project hr support.

Im hoping to target the SME market, but wondered how best to approach this. I've written a very simple letter of introduction whcih Im happy to share privately (if that makes sense) to amyone who has expertise in this field. Is this the best way? Is there any organisation that keeps records of SME details, number of employees etc?

Thanks in advance,

Jenny

 

[S-Marketing]

You can send me the letter if you want an honest opinion.

Pm me for my e-mail address if you want me to take a look.

 

[Alan]

@MunchBox, look up your local chamber of commerce, a large % of chamber of commerce members tend to be SMEs, and the chamber of commerce will have marketing channels available between members.

 

[sjbeale]

You need to start attending business networking events in your area and promoting what you do. Get some nice business cards to take along with you. Organise a good website - perhaps you might meet someone at a networking event. Just talk to lots of people and eventually things will happen.

Make connections with organisations you have worked for - you never know they might need some project work doing.

I have been an independent HR consultant for 10 years and have learnt a lot along the way.

Good luck!

 

[finleydesign]

There are quite a few companies where you can pay for information on companies and employee numbers etc, but you'll need a decent budget

Networking probably is the more cost effective way of meeting new companies in the are, back this up with a simple slick website and away you go

 

[maxine]

Hi Munchbox

Good luck I'm happy to help with some free data counts for you if you just want a bit of analysis at this stage of industry categories by size in your geographical area.

Once you know this you can have a good think about your approaches

Agree with Sandra about networking but I'd also say to be careful that you don't waste too much time at events that are mostly frequently by sole traders that have no employees

Some data providers collect info manually on employee numbers so this is useful where it is not ordinarily disclosed.

Social networks, blogs, giving advice online can be good too.

There's also telemarketing too and we've done a fair bit of this for HR Consultants but before jumping in it's good to have very clear pricing so that people can compare value easily. Having an offer of a small, free piece of work or a giveaway can be great to demonstrate expertise, professionalism and win trust

Other collaborations such as with payroll companies might be worth thinking about too

Good luck again

 

[businessfunding]

I would suggest that 'SMEs' are too large a sector to target

Refine your targeting - by area, turnover, sector, headcount etc - that way you can personalise your letter and create relevant benefits.

I'm sure you are aware that response rate to letters (particularly one-off letters) is extremely low - do you have a follow -on strategy?

 

[Alan]

Yes, I would say SME is pretty broad!

SMEs = 4,787,650
Bigger Firms = 6,455

Source Department for Business Innovation & Skills, Business Population Estimates 2012