New case study : Klaxon is a growing UK-based business-to-business marketing and lead generation agency. Led by its founding directors Andy Bargery and Clare Boldurmaz, Klaxon collaborates with small and enterprise tech companies to create effective online and offline campaigns.
Flexible strategy – Balancing technology with attitude Since forming the business in 2006, Klaxon’s directors have actively sought to grow the company in a way that would enable both themselves and their team to work flexibly, balancing work-life commitments while also expanding the business.
Using this successful strategy, Klaxon has been able to build a team of highly-skilled marketing professionals who mostly work remotely. This has not only allowed for significant cost savings but also enabled Klaxon to tap into a growing pool of talent who are looking for new ways of working. Online remote collaboration technologies including Citrix GoToMeeting have played a crucial role in facilitating this transition.
“Part of the reason I started my own business rather than joining another agency was to better manage the balance between my work and family life,” said Andy Bargery, director, Klaxon.
“In most offices, people are expected to work between standard set hours, which doesn’t give them much flexibility to juggle the demands of their job and the rest of their life. In setting up my own business, I didn’t want this for myself and I didn’t want it for my team, either.”
As well as finding the right technology tools to make this flexible format work for the business, Klaxon’s directors took the decision to implement an aggregated agency model, working collaboratively with a close network of like-minded individuals with complementary skill-sets.
“Because of the way we operate, it’s crucial that our team has the right attitude as well as skills,” said Bargery.
“Most freelancers and ‘solopreneurs’ understand that if you don’t turn up, you don’t get paid, which is an important mindset to have. We’ve found that we can trust our team to get the job done without any hand-holding. As directors, this allows Clare and I to concentrate on making sure projects are delivered on time and to a high standard.”
Professional image: Better client interactions with GoToMeeting
When building up its toolkit of remote working technologies, Klaxon tried a number of different conference and virtual meeting tools but struggled to find anything that satisfied all of its requirements, especially when it came to delivering presentations online.
To meet this requirement, Klaxon turned to Citrix GoToMeeting. Using the conferencing tool, it not only achieved the high degree of professionalism it needed when delivering presentations but also discovered that GoToMeeting offered other benefits.
“The fact that we operate as a remote agency and don’t have teams of people all sitting together in an office means it’s especially important to convey a high level of professionalism when we interact with our clients,” said Bargery.
“As long as I have a Wi-Fi connection and my laptop, I can use GoToMeeting to make a professional client call. It’s the next best thing to actually being there.”
As well as presentations and conference calls, Klaxon has also made good use of the GoToMeeting recording feature. “On one occasion we were scheduled to record a podcast and our sound engineer was unfortunately taken ill,” explained Bargery. “Rather than cancel the session, we recorded it using GoToMeeting, exported the sound file and successfully turned it into a podcast.”
GoToMeeting has also proven especially helpful in building relationships globally. “When it comes to working with international firms, the fact that it is online brings the added advantage that clients don’t incur high call charges.”
Evolving working practice and technology to meet business need
To support their work running a busy marketing agency, Klaxon’s directors remain open to the possibilities and flexibility offered by other online technologies. In the near future, this could involve using Citrix GoToWebinar for lead-generating online conferences.
Similarly, the need to stay on top of developments in technology remains critical to keeping Klaxon’s agile virtual operating model running smoothly.
“Being a dad with young children, I find being able to work flexibly is a massive advantage,” said Bargery. “As a business owner, our model also delivers in helping to keep overheads down. With the mix of online technology and high-speed broadband now available, the reality is that people no longer need to be in the same room to work together effectively.”
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