I have been working with former military officers Glen Maxwell-Heron and Felix Spender. They have set up Springboard to the Future (STTF), helping organisations develop a more productive and profitable workplace.
I enjoy working with ex military as they tend to be clear and decisive communicators.
They often have many transferable skills which are beneficial to business, particularly around problem-solving, risk management and reacting under pressure.
Photo: Felix Spender and Glen Maxwell-Heron of Springboard to the Future (STTF).
As Glen, a former University of Cambridge student, sums up: “There are very few scenarios in other organisations that can replicate the pressure of decision making when lives or liberty are at stake.”
And Felix, who secured the release of more than 100 hostages captured by Somalian pirates and ran a conflict management firm, added: “Ex military are used to conflict resolution and negotiation in emotionally charged situations.”
Target audience and messaging
They signed up to the Signature package and have since featured in a range of business and mainstream publications. They are also set to have their story covered by their former educational institutions, which like to highlight the success of their alumni.
However, first we made sure we were clear on their service offering, target audience and messaging. It was vital this was clear and consistent.
Drive in traffic – and trust
Glen reported they had seen a doubling of visitors to their website after the article went out. It has also provided credible content to share on social media, which increases interactions and views.
They have also had backlinks – a link from another website to your website, which can increase your ranking on search engines and improve visibility in search, translating to more traffic coming to your website.
And it is a way to build trust and rapport with their target audience.
Felix has said: “said: “If you have a business based on trust, then PR is a good way to build up a credible profile.”
Here are some of the publications they’ve featured in so far:
• The Business Desk
• The Business Magazine
• Direct Local
• Business Mondays
• Daily Echo
• Yahoo News
• MSN News
• Wellbeing News
