1 Month After its launch Market Square Group is already seeing a high volume of traffic as the economic conditions dictate a closer focus on the profitability of business activities.

The Market Square Group Website aims to provide:

a meeting place for market and festival traders, town centre managers, event organisers, event service providers, product wholesalers and businesses involved in corporate hospitality.

• What They Are Offering – Events, links, contacts and information that will benefit a range of individuals and groups all of whom need each other to grow and promote their businesses.

• A Forum – As Events Organisers ourselves we recognise the pressures on promoters, traders and service providers alike. One secondary aim in developing this website is to provide a forum for all those involved in events.

• Value in Events – The Market Square group believes that the demand for themed events and traceable products is growing. They aim to ensure value and validity in each venture they undertake.

Paul Kennedy managing director of Market Square Group Ltd says that all businesses must now be more competitive in terms of the services or products that they are offering. “We are first and foremost event organisers, but over the years have accumulated a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of the industry – so often the difference between success and failure is down to having the right contacts and local knowledge. When we think back to all the things that we might have done differently with the benefit of hindsight, it becomes clear how valuable such experience might be to others in the industry.

I suppose some might say that we are being over generous with the information that we are prepared to share, but we see it as a way of ensuring long term business relationships with our customers and, just as importantly, ensuring that events continue to attract visitors by developing the right themes”.

Market Square Group sees the development of its website as an addition to the traditional marketing techniques that it has always pursued. It believes that there is no replacement for direct personal contact when dealing with customers and we always take care to understand exactly who we are dealing with. New traders, event organisers, town centre managers, hospitality organisers who register on the site will always receive a phone or a personal e-mail from one of us in the office. Not only does the customer gain some reassurance, but it helps the company to determine how they might best be of assistance.

The company has seen a marked reduction in calls and e-mails from traders already on their books since the launch of the website. According to Annie Antor who is responsible for direct customer liaison, this is down to the fact that most of the questions are now answered by the information carried on the site. “Whereas in the past, stall holders have tended to call as each new question arises, they can now sit quietly in front of the PC and gain a thorough understanding of what we as a company are trying to achieve and how they might best benefit from our business. For example, we have made great efforts to give as much information as we can on our venues and events without rewriting the books on history and demographics. The addition of links to venue maps and venue reviews from the town centre mangers and event organisers provide extra help in decision making. Ultimately, we are presenting the facts – it is then for the customers to decide – the website is equally a reference tool as well as a marketing tool”.

There is no denying that the Market Square Group website is an attractive fellow, colourful, image driven and with a gently ironic nature. As many have learnt to their cost, however, there is no mileage in a website that is just a pretty face. So how does the back end assist the administrative side of the business and are the potential customers finding what they are looking for?

Paul Taylor from Byte Design, the company who built the site gives his point of view “Market Square Group came to us with a budget and a pretty good idea of what they wanted in terms of functionality and look. It was clear from the start that they knew more or less what they wanted from the start; our job was to provide a fully functional database that would provide an administrative system for the office whilst at the same time and use a little artistic licence to ensure that the site stood out from the crowd. I would rank the end result amongst the top 3 sites that we have delivered. This was made possible in part the nature of Market Square’s business and part by the demands of the Market Square’s MD – we really accepted a challenge with this one, but the end result will have long term benefits for us as well as the customer”.

The proof of this pudding should perhaps come from Lesley Collins who runs the admin side of Market Square Group “Until we had this database facility on the website, bookings and orders could come my way from a variety of directions including faxes, envelopes and notes on pieces of paper from phone bookings and printed off e-mails. Now, they all just sit there in cyberspace waiting for me to log on an pick them up – the best thing is that they can’t be accidently filed in the wrong box or dropped in the wastepaper bin. Less paper in the office too, and that to a large extent is what Market Square Group is really all about with its Keen Green and Ethical Trade Events.

So if you are a market or festival trader, event organiser or town centre manager visit the Market Square Group website today to explore ways of improving your business model and your revenue.

Via EPR Network
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