With coast-to-coast account management teams, synergy and communication act as a driving factor to success.
For Brafton, the new year will mean a strengthened focus on key performance metrics that drive client results, as well as tightening up our onboarding and training processes to give our new strategists the tools they need to fuel customers’ success, alongside their own.
Here’s just a few ways our team plans to keep the momentum high in 2014:
Strengthening through education: Building communal knowledge & expertise
Vice President of Account Management Sarah Cugini described 2013 as Brafton’s year of enhancements: With a strong foundation in place,the team bolstered project management and matured strategy. In addition, positioning several layers of management support for strategists gave Brafton the opportunity to better serve our client base and enhance our customers’ experiences.
As we continue to build our education base, content marketing strategists have taken their knowledge to a new level. Through peer-lead presentations, strategists are responsible for sharing new concepts, tips and best practices. This training not only keeps the team up to date with the latest marketing trends and success factors for clients in different industries, but also allows individuals to showcase their expertise.
Also critically important to company-wide synergy, content marketing strategists host and attend training sessions with other departments. Having a strong grasp on the content marketing process from inception to production is critical for strategic planning, while allowing departments to feel a connection to the company’s wide success.
Creating better communicators: Brafton introduces Kobayashi training
Innovation has always been a Brafton strong point, so it’s not surprising that Content Director Francis Ma came up with an idea for employee development while doing something not quite related to the content marketing industry: watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Ma created a role play training scenario based on the Kobayashi Maru test that fosters critical thinking and broadens communication skills, ultimately strengthening both client and cross-departmental relationships.
Following her Kobayashi training, Content Marketing Strategist Colleen Grogan said the session made her strive to be a better communicator, both with her clients and her fellow Braftonians.
“I don’t know if it was the realistic approach, the constructive criticism conveyed, or maybe it was a mix of both with a sprinkle of humor that drove home the lessons I took from that session, but what I can say is, I would recommended it to anyone,” she said.
Like a strong content marketing strategy, each training session has been uniquely optimized to meet not only a particular department’s goals, but also the goals of each individual on the team. Thus far, creating distinct training sessions has made Kobayashi training a universal success in the office.
Keeping employee satisfaction a high priority
Alongside crucial implementations to benefit Brafton strategists’ workflow and client relations, employee satisfaction remains a key component of Brafton’s new year’s goals. An updated peer evaluation system, continued transparency about company health and a growing list of planned conferences, tradeshows and seminars aim to foster strong internal relationships. Braftonians will also take the New Year as a time to strike a healthy balance of work and play.
For Chicago-based content marketing strategist Terez Baskin, her whirlwind first week at Brafton was focused around intensive training sessions with Content Marketing Manager Keyan Kehani, who laid out what Terez described as “the perfect foundation for the process and lifecycle of client management.” And for our Windy City new hire, a visit to our Boston quarters was made just a little more flavorful thanks to a Celtics game with the team and Brafton’s East Coast holiday party.
“Employee satisfaction and customer experience remain two very important commitments for us in 2014,” Sarah Cugini said. “When we have happy employees, we have happy clients!”
Brafton has content marketing positions available in Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. Head to our Careers Page for more information.
