Empowering a developing company to reach its ambitious growth plans

The challenge

iKoustic are an established provider of soundproofing systems. They have developed their own range of products to very high specifications, which they offer alongside technical advice that makes a real difference to their customers.

In 2020, the team recognised that they wanted to change their gradual growth plan to something more dynamic - and this meant a new way of thinking. By making contact with InnovateUK, they learnt about Management Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (mKTPs).

iKoustic wanted to achieve significant growth over the next two years. They recognised that, to do this, they would need to make a number of strategic changes. Their challenges included:

• Empowering the team to widen decision-making, and reduce their dependence on the Managing Director/Founder, building a strong, cohesive leadership team with clarity of vision and values
• Reviewing the strategic marketing for the business, which was previously managed by an agency, and bringing it in-house
• Developing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to maximise the impact of commercial and marketing campaigns, and collect accurate data
• Developing new products and determining future markets for the business
• Reducing pay-per-click (PPC) spend, enhancing search engine optimisation (SEO) and the website, and reaching a wider number of customers and potential markets.

The approach

The initial focus of the academic team, with Associate Ruth Denwood, has been to develop the strategic marketing by analysing existing products, markets, and the routes to prospective customers.

Academic lead, Dr Catherine Ashworth, has been guiding the strategic approach of the project, identifying iKoustic’s competition, their customer relationship-building, and defining new approaches for iKoustic to consider.

Tackling the HR elements of the business, Dean Horsman has looked at the people, development of key policies and processes, where the skills of the team are, and where the skills gaps were.

The focus has then moved to the sales and commercial strategy, with expertise provided by Paul Rhodes and Dr David Andrews. The work plan has changed and developed as the team recognised the need to focus on the commercial interface with customers. With the academic expertise at Leeds Business School, iKoustic have developed their customer personas, running two sales training sessions to enhance the sales team’s skills.

The impact

Ruth facilitated the recruitment of a marketing expert to the iKoustic team, allowing the business to move away from reliance on an external marketing agency, and resulting in a bespoke focus on SEO and the launch of a new website.

Other initiatives which Ruth has led include a successful application for a match-funded digital voucher, which has been used to invest in a new bespoke CRM system. This has streamlined the approach of the sales team, and given the business valuable customer data that will be used to inform future marketing campaigns. Ruth and the team at iKoustic have also successfully applied for the Fast Start Innovation Grant which is being used for New Product Development.

The mKTP project focus on continuous improvement and transfer of knowledge and skills into the business is already starting to make an impact - the commercial team now has a more focussed approach and the website is driving more online traffic. Individual team members have clarity on their roles and responsibilities and are receiving the development and coaching to deliver key results.

Improving and adapting recruitment processes is a key objective of the project, including the completion of an HR Audit, enabling iKoustic to focus on the most urgent and important policies and processes.

The two-year mKTP project began in October 2021.