Regaining Control in an Uncontrollable Situation: Thoughts from Geoff Neal Group’s CEO Sam Neal

Geoff Neal has been open and manufacturing all the way through the pandemic, supporting our clients when they needed us most.

I am very proud of my team for the way they have conducted themselves. I am both relieved and proud, that due to their diligence, we have had no cases of the virus within our business.

Our office and factory are COVID-19 secure and it is now second nature to my team to adhere to the new rules and safe social distancing measures. We are ready at Geoff Neal Group to support you and your business all the way through the post COVID-19 economic recovery.

There are now signs of increasing consumer confidence and spending. There are some green shoots of hope and recovery. A degree of normality is returning. The roads are busier. There are opportunities around, more are going to follow. 

The last three months has been an incredibly hard time for everyone, personally, socially and financially. It is also true that every storm will pass. Whilst this has been one of the worst storms the World has experienced in recent times, it has also given us additional time we would not normally have had. This time has been an opportunity to evaluate, adapt and evolve.

I normally have a degree of control and influence over my company and its performance (well I like to think that I do!!). As the Coronavirus pandemic started to take hold and as lockdown was imposed I, like many others, felt rather helpless. I felt out of control. This was a scary and unknown feeling.

The only way I could deal with this was to find things that were within my sphere of influence. What could we do to make us better to drive us forwards.

So often internal projects are delayed by external pressure. This was the ideal opportunity to drive these forwards at a greater pace using the additional time afforded to us by lockdown.

Geoff Neal Group has invested ￡500,000 in the last two years in technology and systems. 

The investments and commitment have yielded results. We have just had our most productive printing shift in our 43-year history: 46 make readies and 106,000 good sheets in a 12 hour shift running at 2.5% waste on fine art quality.

We are faster and so more competitive than ever with no compromise on quality.

In order to drive the business forwards more effectively we have appointed a group of keen, dynamic, driven and respected individuals to take on leadership roles within the business. These individuals have been pushing for responsibility and deserve their opportunity through hard work and outstanding performance. They have all shown loyalty and commitment. The business and I are lucky to have them onboard. The vision and skills they have will have a significant impact on our business going forwards.

We have also used this time to re-look at our customer experience.

We have created our Golden Rules for Success and a new Customer Service Charter. 

Everyone in the business has signed up to these two simple but powerful commitments.

We will relentlessly pursue improvement. Everything we do and say will be aimed at improving our customer service levels, our quality and efficiency even further. We are all ready, excited and committed to fully support our clients as we seek out opportunities together, so that all of our businesses can flourish again.

We have kick started a really exciting idea to develop a completely new way for us to deliver innovation and customer service to a Global audience – more on this to follow in the coming months.

It has also been a good time for networking and catching up with old colleagues, clients and partners. This has been very enjoyable and there is great value in doing this too. It has also been a good time to start up new conversations with people who have had more time on their hands than normal.  

COVID-19 is undoubtedly going to change some of how we do business. Video calls and working from home are going to become far more prevalent. But the fundamentals of business will remain the same:

• Trust and relationship are everything
• Knowledge and expertise are fundamental
• Communication is key
• Flexibility is vital
• Speed is crucial
• Innovation must be relentless
• Quality is a given but Geoff Neal quality is out of the top drawer
• Price has always been and will always be an important factor in any decision making process; but results, customer experience and value for money are still more important than price alone

Geoff Neal has always sought to combine the very best of a family business, traditional values at its core, with the very best of technology and systems to be an efficient, modern print manufacturer. 

The power and value of print is absolutely still relevant in the “new-normal” World. Print is trusted. Print delivers results. Print offers cut through. Print is personal.

The power of Digital is not in question. However, it is a very congested channel. 

Print is going to be instrumental in engaging with customers going forwards particularly with so many more people working from home. Direct Mail offers to cut through the noisy media space and delivers impact.

So please, when you commit your budget to print, make sure you consult and work with the creative print experts – print with us, print with Geoff Neal.

#PrintPerfection https://geoffneal.london/pursuit-of-perfection/

We are more than a creative production house. We are here to consult, design and help you deliver outstanding printed communications, right from the start of the project.

Our dedicated Direct Mail team can help you create an innovative communication that fits your budget, delivers your message, the return you are looking for and achieves the best postal discounts.

We are are looking forward to working with you, excited about being better than we were before and being that trusted and valued supplier, who is there by your side, as we all put our best feet forward together, so that we all succeed.

Sam Neal

CEO Geoff Neal Group

#PrintPerfection #GeoffNealGroup