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What's New with EQUS:
IT
Budgets and the Current Economy: EQUS CIO Forum Fall 2008
EQUS is
releasing findings of its recent CIO forum on IT Budgets and the
Current Economy on November 10, 2008. For more information, or
to arrange an in-house briefing or teleconference, contact
Meadow Nichols, Client Development Manger (meadown@equsgroup.com)
EQUS Vision and
Values:
We are a
distinctive and exciting marketing services company focused on
delighting our clients. We are highly valued by our clients,
employees and shareholders, respected by our competitors and
prized in the business community for our vital contribution to
the field of marketing.
We
believe, above all, in total commitment to our clients, their
projects and the delivery of superior, timely output on every
project we undertake.
We
hold the highest regard for all individuals who contribute to
our vision and recognize that our most valuable asset is the
intellect, imagination, hard work and dedication of our people.
We
are committed to constantly improving and innovating our
processes and methodologies. Every client project is an
opportunity to surpass ourselves.
We
are thankful for the opportunity to demonstrate our talents and
abilities and make such a vital contribution to the businesses
we engage with
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Al's Corner:
EQUS and the
Current Economy:
Analyst Shawn Fisher interviewed CEO Al Nazarelli, asking
questions similar to those we asked in our CIO Forum to be
published November 10. Following are highlights:
Shawn: What are EQUS' strategies in the current economy?
Al:
To continue to serve our clients with the passion we have for
our work and our contributions to making them successful.
Continue to see ourselves as solvers of business problems and
not researchers. Continue to live our vision and values, now
more than ever. In fact, I want to include a copy of our vision
and values statement as a reminder of what is most important to
us.
Shawn: What advice and pointers do you have for EQUS staff and
how we serve our clients?
Al:
I know we have built a great culture here that fosters and
recognizes individual talent in service to our clients' needs.
There are a couple of things we need to do even more of in this
tough market climate.
One, we need to focus even more on our clients' articulated and
unarticulated needs, ensuring that our group processes and
individual efforts maximize return on investments clients make
with us. Help them realize more than ever from the money they
spend. Solve more problems. Invest more individually and as a
team in understanding their current challenges and aspirations
and helping them get there.
Two, due to hiring freezes and budget restraints, our clients
will be called upon to do more with less. How do we find ways
to help them accomplish more with less? Uncover solutions we can
deliver cost effectively. Find ways to have direct and short
term impacts on revenue and profit generation for our clients.
Can we help maximize response from marketing campaigns? Increase
sales velocity? Help clients hold on to and capture market
share? Identify ways their sales team can create ways to keep
customer initiatives and plans to adopt their solutions vibrant
and compelling.
Shawn: What about the competition? How do we stay ahead in a
tough climate?
Al:
My response is "What competition"? EQUS has always focused on
playing our own game. The best companies do. Our best clients
do. We never benchmarked our offerings to competitors but to
client needs. Our focus groups are the best in the technology
sector. Our reports contain more insights than any of our
competitors due to the deep investments we make in understanding
our clients' businesses and the fact that we do not dabble in
sectors other than technology. We do one thing and we do it
really well. The common refrain from many clients I talk to
about the research industry is a wish for more insightful
analysis and interpretation of data and their strategic
implications. Clients are drowning in data generated by research
firms and short on implications and execution direction, the
reason they spend money on the research process in the first
place. This never has been, and never will be, a gap in EQUS'
output. We do not have this problem because our staff is in the
technology domain. We do not have consumer goods or fashion
apparel analysts making interpretations on complex adoption
challenges of a technology solution. Looking at the competition
for us would be going backwards.
Shawn: How do we prepare for the turnaround?
Al:
Keep building. This is a great time for a company like ours to
make investments in our future. Do not back off on our bold
plans. Continue to develop the new solutions we have launched
such as our e361® customer intelligence dashboard offering. Do
not back off our plans and ambitions. Continue to work with our
signature short term impatience to get things done while
cultivating a long term persistence and patience for results as
the market turns.
"Aging
wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." General
Douglas Macarthur |
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