Barry Urquhart

Barry Urquhart's Biography

From profit squeeze and changes and challenges in your industry to how to future proof your business Barry Uquhart is a business consultant and expert helping many businesses and organisations smart enough to engage him.

Barry Urquhart, Managing Director, Marketing Focus, Perth, is an inspiring speaker, author of Australia's top two selling books on customer service and an international consultant on dynamic innovation and creativity. Barry is renowned internationally for his strikingly accurate forecast of the finish of the economic boom in 2008.  

His well documented projection from early in 2006 of a specific date made media headlines around the world and enabled clients to plan for the event … 10.35pm, Sunday 24 August, 2008. It was the closing moments of the Beijing Olympics. Barry's subsequent warnings of the credit meltdown, increasing unemployment levels and branch, plant, model and services closures have enabled companies, large and small, to gain and sustain competitive advantages. Barry is author of six books, including the two largest selling publications on service excellence in Australasia. His latest is “Marketing Magic – Streetsmart Marketing”.

Each year Barry travels some 300,000 kilometres on five continents to deliver up to 120 keynote addresses, and to facilitate around 15 strategic planning workshops. He is a regular commentator of consumer issues on ABC radio, is featured on a series of interview topics on “Today Tonight” and contributes articles to 49 magazines throughout the world.

Barry Urquhart is a former lecturer in Marketing and Management at the Curtin University of Technology and has degrees in marketing, political science and sociology. He is a regular commentator of consumer issues on ABC radio, is featured on a series of interview topics on “Today Tonight” and contributes articles to 47 magazines throughout the world. Barry Urquhart is a former lecturer in Marketing and Management at the Curtin University of Technology and has degrees in marketing, political science and sociology. His sixth and latest publication is "Marketing Magic – Streetsmart Marketing". Barry is renowned for his conference presentations, "Business Warfare" and "Breakthrough Merchandising" and "It Is Better To Be Different Than It Is To Be Better". His address, "Service that Sells" focuses on the need for improved customer service to achieve enhanced sales, profits and customer satisfaction.

Barry Urquhart contributes to 42 marketing, business and trade magazines on five continents, records weekly commentaries for the national network of ABC Radio and a monthly feature for the in-flight audio magazine, "Strictly Business".

The nature of business is changing rapidly. Competition is intense. Margins for error are wafer thin and lead times are becoming progressively shorter. Each business, each product or service and each marketplace is unique and different. However, there is a commonality in the issues that must be addressed by management and staff.

In recent times Marketing Focus has been retained to assist client entities to develop original and creative solutions and to integrate those into strategies and tactics. Among the key issues which have been addressed are:-

Consumer Resistance - Increased resistance, cynicism and procrastination among existing and prospective clients. Previously successful advertising, marketing, promotional, merchandising and selling campaigns are not achieving the same responses and results.

Price Discounting - Encroachment by competitive and substitute products and services with price and advertising volume advantages.

Short Term Focus - A tendency for corporate executives to regularly refine and amend strategic plans, with an emphasis on operational issues. Those actions increase costs and there is little evidence of short or long term improvements in cash flows or profits.

Corporate Culture Change - The dynamics of the external marketplace have dictated the need for the articulation and implementation of a new, cohesive corporate culture which promotes the concept of a seamless organisation structure in which all people contribute to a common set of goals.

Restructuring Implications - A trend to downsizing, outsourcing and re-engineering has demanded more flexible, responsive leadership styles from all management levels.

Service Must Sell - Concern by managers that the investment of time, people, money and resources into staff training on quality customer service is not impacting on business growth and development. Reticence by staff members to sell and to exchange information is impeding sales potential and performance.

Co-Branding - A lack of recognition and respect of the importance of company and product branding/co-branding throughout the retail and distribution networks.

Relationship Marketing  - Inadequate comprehension of the concept of "relationship marketing" between manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Lack of Loyalty - A noticeable lack of loyalty among existing clients, notwithstanding the offer of loyalty incentive programmes.

Profit Squeeze - Marginal increases in turnover are not sufficient to offset significant increases in operational costs.

Distribution Networks - A profusion of indistinguishable products and services which are available from multiple outlets.

Category Killers - The actual or pending threat posed by the emergency of aggressive category killers".

Doubtless, some or all of those issues will sound familiar. Marketing Focus has the expertise and experience to collaborate with management teams to address and to redress these issues.

Speaking Topics Include

The DNA of Profitable Retailing - A refreshing, insightful and challenging insight in the emerging market forces and the fundamentals of retail success.
Attendees benefit from an appreciation of the seven dimensions of effective merchandising and the eight building blocks to productive supply chain and brand management.
New, original, innovative and rewarding.

It Is Better To Be Different Than It Is To Be Better - A creative and challenging insight into the current market place and consumers' perceptions, habits, motivations and preferences. It is based on the findings of exclusive market research. The underlying concepts of dynamic difference and change demand self induced obsolescence. Repetition is death. This headline-capturing keynote address details bold, daring and different case studies and ideas that are driving high achieving companies, people and products.
Key Driving Forces: Consumer Ignorance Shorter Buying Cycles Cash Rich, Time Poor Brand Marketing

Service That Sells - Barry Urquhart is the author of the two largest selling books on quality customer service in Australasia: "Serves You Right!" and "Service Please!"
His ongoing schedule of original research into differing aspects of service excellence provides unique insights into the needs and expectations of internal and external customers. The true nature of relationship marketing, customer satisfaction, loyalty programmes and empowerment of staff is detailed in a captivating style.
Barry Urquhart has been at the forefront of the customer service revolution for over two decades. His case studies, anecdotes and research findings enthuse and inspire.

Breakthrough Merchandising - A fresh, innovative perspective on how to enhance company and product images; how to stimulate consumer interest; and lots of ideas which can increase sales and counter the need to discount price. This visual merchandising address features a multitude of photographic slides which profile contemporary case studies. It focuses on:
Theatre of the mind Optimising impulse sales Cash Rich, Time Poor Overcoming price resistance Six key merchandising dimensions
The outcomes can include increased stockturns and upgraded average value of unit sales.

Business Warfare - A high energy address or workshop which is an ideal conference theme. "Business Warfare" centres on competitive strategies, identifying opportunities and analysing the implications of differing tactics. It is original, with easy to implement strategies which have an international record of success for client companies from a diverse range of industries. The choice is between the only four available strategies: Defence Attack Flank Guerrilla

Business Imperatives - Business Success Made Simple - A dynamic session which addresses the fundamentals of business success. The issues of leadership, marketing strategies, development initiatives, customer focus and quality service for internal and external customers are integrated into a concise adaptive framework.

Winning Over Difficult People - This presentation is based on extensive research within Australian and New Zealand businesses which provides unique insights on how to gain control of situations, manage reactions, contain negativism, foster a sense of team and positive relationships among colleagues and the network of suppliers, associates and clients. Also detailed are frameworks to resolve each key scenario and circumstance.
Addressing, negating and overcoming difficult behaviour incurs costs in the measures of sales, profits, goodwill, staff morale and stability of the workforce. Here is a timely interactive workshop which will impact on the bottom line.

MARKETING AUDIT - The three hour one-on-one Marketing Audit developed by Marketing Focus addresses and satisfies the needs of the many business owners and managers who seek and need an objective, detached snap review of the current market positioning and status of their business, products and services.A simple, easy-to-comprehend and informal template focuses on each of the 20 elements of the marketing mix, to isolate, analyse, exploit and redress the respective strengths, weaknesses and unfulfilled opportunities of the specific businesses. This intense interactive session necessitates the client to document the rudiments of the resultant action plan, and thus ensure follow up, implementation and monitoring. Marketing Focus provides the experience of an external change and review agent who poses a set of fundamental questions, the answers to which are only known by the client.It is a fun, energising learning experience. Ideally, the Marketing Audit is conducted at a neutral venue, free from the distractions of telephone calls and queries by staff members and customers. A coffee lounge is ideal.