In the twelve months from April 2012 – March 2013, Speed Medical’s delivery of fruit has contributed 336 fruit trees to the campaign for growth in Malawi, Africa.

The campaign is aimed towards helping individual households to plant 35 trees each, in order to provide household woodlots which in future will produce sustainable firewood for cooking and fruit trees to provide valuable nutrition for the families.

Speed Medical will continue to use Fruitful Offices in order to support the families
in Africa, and to provide the team at Speed Medical with fresh fruit on a weekly basis.

Employees at Speed Medical (the UK’s largest independent provider of medical reports and rehabilitation services in the UK, producing over 90,000 medical reports a year) named Lancashire heart failure charity Pumping Marvellous as their Charity of the Year for 2013. 

Their first fundraiser, held last month, raised enough to buy a heart defibrillator as part of a project to help save young people’s lives by creating a network of accessible emergency equipment for local communities to house in public buildings across the region.  Staff raised the £900 by each paying £1 to wear red to work, taking part in a quiz, bake sale and raffle to win an extra half day’s holiday. 

The machines will be mapped by the North West Ambulance Service so that operators will be able to direct individuals who have dialed 999 and the emergency services to the nearest defibrillator.

Speed Medical’s Managing Director Graham Pulford has also invited Pumping Marvellous and NWAS to come in to their Matrix Park offices to teach employees basic life support skills like CPR and how to use a defibrillator.

It’s estimated that 12 to 16 young people die every week due to cardiac arrests – that’s more than 800 deaths a year.  It can happen to anyone – whatever their age or however fit they seem.  60,000 people a year have a cardiac arrest outside hospital.  Only half are treated by medical services and only 2% to 12% survive.  Access to defibrillators and the promotion of emergency life support could vastly improve these figures. 

MD Graham Pulford says he’s determined to help prevent needless deaths from cardiac arrest in Lancashire. “I was shocked to find out how many people of all ages and fitness levels die after cardiac arrest.  Pumping Marvellous and NWAS are doing great work here in Lancashire and I’m so proud of our staff for playing their part in helping to save lives of people in our local community”.

Pumping Marvellous was set up by a Lancashire businessman Nick Hartshorne-Evans who was diagnosed with heart failure three years ago aged 39 after he contracted a virus.  Pumping Marvellous delivers support to sufferers of heart failure, their carers and families to self-manage their condition. The charity also works with NHS bodies as a patient and public representative across the UK.   

Nick Hartshorne-Evans said:  “In working with us, companies like Speed Medical assume a leadership position within their local communities.  By constructively and actively getting involved in raising funds the management and staff are demonstrating their social responsibility and emotional intelligence.  We need as many of these machines in the community as possible because they increase the typical survival rate from 5% to up to 50%. The more defibrillators we buy and place, the more lives we’ll save. It’s that simple.”

Speed Medical are nominated in the ‘Online Initiative of the Year’ and ‘Associated Industries team of the Year 100+ employees’ award categories and hope to see many familiar faces on the night.

We would like to wish all who have been nominated good luck and we will see you in May.

The exclusive partnership, the latest of an additional suite of added-value services being developed by Speed to sit alongside its core reporting work. The tie up enables Speed to offer exciting immediate opportunities to firms looking for new ways to market their wider portfolio of legal services and personal injury specialism.

The new commercial arrangement revolves around CI Claims’s Excess Waiver Voucher Scheme operating in motor dealerships and bodyshops nationwide. Upon registration, a newly insured person agrees to their details being shared with a local solicitor who is then able to proactively contact them to introduce their wider portfolio of legal services. Currently, there is a pipeline totaling around 20,000 registered individuals yet to be allocated to a local source of legal advice.

Ian Buckle, marketing director, for CI Claims says: “We are very happy to be partnering with Speed Medical. Its reputation for service, like ours, is unrivalled. Our joint experience, and industry contacts, combined with an ability to think a little differently, will benefit those operating within the motor, insurance and legal professions as well as members of the public who’ll save themselves money and receive great, local legal help.”

Chris Chatterton, Speed Medical’s commercial director, adds: “Evolving a broader range of services alongside our core offer is a key priority for us. Joining the select group of suppliers preferred by such a well-regarded operation as CI Claims, and launching this exciting sales promotion to our legal contacts, is further proof that we are challenging the traditional industry norms. No longer can businesses continue to do what they have always done. The world we operate in, in particular, is changing fast and we aim to be a catalyst for that change wherever possible.”

From April, reforms will have been enshrined in law and firms will find themselves competing for business, like never before. In a referral fee-free world, the onus will be on solicitors to proactively market themselves. And, in true Darwinian style, only the fittest are destined to survive.

Of course, some firms are already geared up for the changes to come. They have integrated multi-channel marketing campaigns in place. They have invested in building their brands. They have employed professional marketing staff and they may even have formed advantageous strategic alliances in order to secure their future pipeline of cases. But most haven’t. Many aren’t even sure where to start.

So how should those increasingly anxious solicitors, particularly the ones operating at the small to medium sized end of the scale, go about competing with their already more organised peers and newly formed ABSs. Clearly, they can no longer afford to sit back and wait for Joe Public to walk through the door, or rely on the phone to ring or the email to ping with a host of leads?

It may sound obvious but the first thing to do is accept that the competitive landscape has changed. Partners need to take stock of their individual situations: what marketing activity they already undertake, what expertise they have in-house, what budgets they can make available and what help is available to them externally. A review of previous cases should help establish areas of experience and expertise that can be exploited promotionally. It can also help identify the typical recipient of legal services in the past. Knowing what kind of person to target with what kind of message is absolutely fundamental to any marketing programme.

Here at Speed Medical, in response to demand from customers, we’ve started to run regular marketing consultancy sessions ourselves. The lessons learned in building our business from scratch, implementing innovative marketing activity, and our objective analyses are helping firms wrestling with issues like how to generate fee-free leads, whether or not to invest in brand building, how to counteract the might of larger competitors’ budgets and, at the most fundamental level, how to change cultural thinking so that what was once a client is in future regarded as a customer with all the attendant shifts in perception that brings.

One of the common things we’ve noticed is a tendency for firms contemplating genuinely proactive marketing for the first time. Their focus is almost exclusively on new leads from new customers. But what about previous customers? Firms need to consider ditching their transaction-based attitude to the delivery of legal services in favour of a more relationship-led approach.

Most industries place as much if not more emphasis on customer retention, loyalty and recommendation because maintaining relationships with happy former customers is less expensive than searching out brand new customers in the long run. And it can multiply a firm’s marketing programme exponentially. A little research into what people liked about the service they received, regular communication that adds value for the recipient or an incentive for repeat business and word of mouth recommendations could just be the foundations upon which many firms build their ability to continue competing successfully.

That said, there is always a place for new lead generation and searching out customers of the future will be harder than ever for firms having to compete vigorously on facets of their service, costs, and brand for the first time. Pencils will be sharpened and efficiency will be improved. They’ll have to be. The abolition of the payment of referral fees to solicitors should lead to an increase in the number of innovative marketing programmes with the more creative and entrepreneurial spirits reaping rewards, however, even the most confident of the participants we’ve seen in our marketing consultancy sessions hesitates when it comes to taking on much bigger consumer-oriented brands.

For many less experienced marketers, the whole concept of branding is daunting. What is a brand, how do you build one, how can we compete with established household names and is a brand worth investing in anyway?

At Speed, we deal with hundreds of solicitors from two partner high-street firms to those at the very top of the UK’s league tables so we understand the complexities involved in building, maintaining and competing on brand. We’ve also been through a major re-branding exercise ourselves in the last couple of years so we’re acutely aware of what it can cost but also what it can add to a business.

Of course, as a trained marketer, I firmly believe that a brand has its place. In essence it’s the emotional and psychological connection an organisation has with its customers. Love them or loathe them, the likes of Google, Starbucks and Tesco are instantly recognisable and prompt an instantaneous reaction, a gut feel for or against, in the vast majority of people.

Britain’s legal market is worth £25 billion and yet it’s a landscape still devoid of household names.  That might well change post-Jackson with supermarkets, roadside recovery services and even online search and solutions software giants likely to grab a slice of the action for themselves.

Put yourself in Joe Public’s position. He’s just been injured in an accident and through no fault of his own finds himself recuperating at home. Who does he trust? A large well-known brand who are offering a 7 day a week, fixed fee service? Or a firm of specialist solicitors who can tell him their hourly rate but not how many hours they’ll need to charge for?

Ask any marketing expert and they’ll tell you; the reality is that big brands have a head-start, of course they do. Nationwide outlets, their frequent interaction with potential customers, impressive advertising campaigns, catchy jingles and real economies of scale, plus the expertise and experience to deal with the inevitable challenges that any business faces, will guarantee that. But as well as having their pros, big brands have their cons too.

A smaller brand costs less to create and maintain but can be equally powerful. It can provide the platform to broker a deal that may not be possible with a bigger brand. And it can adapt to new surroundings, opportunities and changing consumer demands much more quickly than its often cumbersome competitors – it really is true that dinghies do have some advantages over oil tankers!

The important first step is to think and act like a bigger brand. What do your competitors do well and what do they do badly? Learn from the experts when it comes to customer service. What’s really important to your customers? Ask them. And what they are willing to pay? If you know the value an individual places on something and you know that your competitors have a weakness when it comes to providing it, you immediately have a potential source of competitive advantage to exploit.

Solicitors need to think differently and they need to start now, if they haven’t already, not in April when more enthusiastic competitors will have stolen a potentially critical advantage. Our experience tells us that there are many intelligent, business savvy people already working for the firms we deal with and that, amongst them, there’s lots of talk about focusing on customers rather than clients, service rather than hours, and fixed fees rather than estimates as long as the proverbial piece of string.

Now really is the time to turn those words into action, to decide if you’re a do-it-all practice or a specialist with an exclusive offer like personal injury or family dispute resolution. Being pro-active about the marketing challenges ahead will be the key. The consequences of doing nothing to adapt and survive will be all the motivation you need.

“We raised our game considerably last year on all fronts. We know, because you told us. Our annual customer research returned terrific results proving that our service continues to exceed expectations; that you trust us and prefer us as the safest pair of hands for your clients.  It also underlined that our core business philosophy, of putting people at the heart of everything we do – the human touch, resonates increasingly strongly with both existing and potential customers.”

“Sustainable business growth in uncertain times is an ambitious objective but, with your help, and invaluable feedback, we’re making that goal a reality.  External validation of our efforts to lead rather than follow came with national and local recognition through the Deloitte UK Futures 1,000 Report and the Lancashire Business View Top 500, which held Speed Medical up as a fast growing role model for the rest of the UK economy.  And for the first time, we entered and were shortlisted for the Personal Injury Awards eventually finishing up as runner up in our category.  Not a bad first effort but we can do better.”

“With clouds of uncertainty hanging over the industry we sought to partner more closely with our existing customers, market more effectively to prospective partners, to broaden our portfolio of added-value services and to explore new strategic channels so that we can improve efficiency and satisfaction levels even further. We made new appointments, extended the sales and marketing team and delivered dedicated account management across all areas of the business.”

“On the technology front we launched our custom-built physiotherapists’ portal, online appointment tracking and management, and we improved system-to-system integration.  In terms of efficiency, everyone has clearly benefitted.”

“We developed an enhanced product suite and new fee-free referral models, including some which help with customers’ wider business growth objectives. We’ve won more business; we’ve raised more money for charity than ever and last but not least, not if your feedback is anything to go by, we’ve introduced this monthly newsletter to keep you, our key stakeholders, abreast of all these developments.”

“It certainly was busy. Rewarding and fun too. Now we’re ready to do it all again!”

So what exactly does the future hold as we accelerate into 2013?  There’ll be lots more to come from Speed, of course, with new technological solutions, a broader range of ancillary services and greater emphasis on genuine partnerships at the heart of plans for the coming 12 months.  But what about customers; how are they feeling about the year ahead?

Carl Waring, of leading non-fault motoring accident management company Impact Assist and a qualified solicitor with more than 20 years’ experience in the field of personal injury and motor vehicle accident claims, told us how he sees 2013, enthusiastically pointing out that it won’t all be doom and gloom.

“It would be all too easy to dwell on the negatives surrounding the Claims Industry as we enter 2013. And there are plenty.  Key amongst them is the fact that the government, urged on by Insurers, seems intent on rushing though a plethora of ill thought out reforms without giving any consideration to what is really important – access to justice for the public who are injured or otherwise suffer loss as a result of being involved in accidents through no fault of their own.”

“There is no doubt that all industries benefit from some pruning, encouraging healthy businesses to flourish whilst removing some of the ‘deadwood’, although that premise is based on the supposition that the pruning is done in a fair and equitable manner.  We shall see.  For our part at Impact Assist we see the reforms as a challenge, as opposed to a problem,  and are ready to seize the opportunities that we believe will present themselves in the coming year.

“Buoyed, we hope, by an improving economy, and sensible reforms, here at Impact Assist we have high expectations for 2013. With our national credit hire fleet and credit repair facilities, we believe our services will be in greater demand than ever once the civil justice reforms take hold. Our ability to offer a superb client experience, refined over the 14 years that we have been in business, coupled with our excellent commission structures, is proving to be the perfect fit for businesses as they remodel themselves in anticipation of April’s reforms. Our approach has delivered strong growth over the last 12 months and is continuing to do so in the early weeks of 2013.”

One thing that everybody involved in this industry can be sure of is that 2013 will be a year of change.  Significant challenges bring with them significant opportunities but one constant will definitely remain: Speed Medical will continue to focus on what it does best – delivering a service that is second to none!

In addition to this, Speed Medical was also placed at number 66 in Lancashire Business View’s ‘FAB 500’ which is a unique measure of the 500 businesses generating the biggest revenues in the country.

A great start to the year that will hopefully continue throughout 2013.

Chosen for its technical expertise, unrivalled service delivery and commitment to putting people at the heart of the personal injury process, Speed joins a select group of exclusive suppliers that are preferred by Go Compensate for its nationwide panel of solicitors.

Chris Chatterton, Speed Medical’s commercial director, comments: “We are delighted to have been recognised as a fellow catalyst for change and to be partnering with such an entrepreneurial operation as Go Compensate. The way it has met the serious challenge presented by the forthcoming referral fee ban head on and created a proactive marketing opportunity, at such low cost for solicitors, is to be admired. There are ways to maintain a healthy pipeline of referrals without having to pay the traditional fees which are soon to be banned. All you have to do is think differently.”

Go Compensate’s managing director, Simon Oates said “We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Speed Medical and selected the business as our preferred medical reporting partner due to its reputation for excellent customer service, full UK operational support and innovation in adapting to the changing legal environment. As Speed Medical is the largest independent provider of medical reports, it sits perfectly with our model to connect personal injury and medical negligence claimants with regional specialists.”

The human touch is at the centre of everything we do at Speed Medical and our signup partner LPC Support is no different. With LPC Support, all appointments are face to face, not online. This approach aids engagement to the process and removes client apathy.

For further information, including how to take advantage of the promotion please call 0844 4129 368 or email sales@speedmedical.com

*Subject to terms and conditions

After a dash around the shops and over 50 toys, Sam dropped of the bags of presents at Asda in Horwich. This year the toys donated by the local community will be passed out by The Bolton Lions to children in the area. We think this is a fantastic cause and plan on supporting it again in the future.