We recently asked nine clients of Curley Communication what they valued most about Anne’s work. See who said what here.

1. Client views on
Curley Communication

Based on interviews conducted
by Mike Phillips of Sales Dynamix

2. Clients interviewed
• Lars Barber, principal, Baird & Associates, an engineering firm.
• Paul Beste, president, the Heartland Funds -- a family of mutual funds.
• Susan Dreyfus, CEO, Alliance for Children and Families, a national umbrella
organization for social service agencies.
• Tom Duffey, owner and CEO, and Theresa Schell, marketing manager, Plastic
Components Inc., a manufacturing company.
• Colleen Ellingsen, president, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin, an umbrella
organization for Wisconsin’s foster care and adoption service providers.
• Jennifer Jones, associate director, Wisconsin Children’s Trust Fund, a statewide
child abuse prevention agency.
• Greg Milliken, executive vice president, Neighbor to Family Inc., the country’s
leading provider of foster care services that keep siblings together.
• Peggy Niemer, vice president of human resources, Children’s Hospital and Health
System, comprising 14 business units and 5,000+ employees.

3. Reasons for seeking help
• “(All our marketing material) was getting haphazard. Everyone was making edits and
changing graphics… I started pushing that we should go back to Ground Zero and get
our brand positioning exactly right and then build from there so we‟re all on the same
page.”
-- Lars Barber, Baird & Associates
• “We really had no market presence. We‟re a really good manufacturing company…(but)
our reputation in the marketplace was very limited and didn‟t represent how good we really
were. We had a brochure, we had a website, but they didn‟t accurately represent what
we were as a company.” -- Tom Duffey, PCI
• “The Alliance was losing more members than we were gaining and the work to
address that was all guesswork and confusion…I wasn‟t really thinking in terms of
needing a brand strategy. It was more about needing clarity about our identity and how to
communicate it.”
-- Susan Dreyfus, Alliance for Children and Families
• “We wanted a deeper understanding of what shareholders in a particularly attractive
market segment valued about their relationship with us so we could do a better job of
connecting with that segment on an emotional level.”
-- Paul Beste, the Heartland Funds

4. Reasons for seeking help
• “At the time we were optimistic that we were on the verge of significant growth. The primary
reason to get Anne involved was to give us a roadmap for how to grow, how to market
ourselves.”
-- Greg Milliken, Neighbor to Family ,Inc.
• “We were trying to get a better understanding of what our „perfect-fit employees‟ value
about working at Children‟s. We wanted to incorporate those insights into our
strategies for recruitment, leadership development, benefits and other aspects of HR
management.”
-- Peggy Niemer, Children‟s Hospital and Health System
• “We needed a new strategic plan and, as part of that, we needed to re-brand our
organization. We hired Anne both to make branding recommendations and to facilitate the
strategic planning process.”
-- Jennifer Jones, Wisconsin Children‟s Trust Fund
• “We wanted to know why people become foster parents in the first place and why the
ones who stay in the system stick with it. Then we wanted to use those insights to
„brand‟ foster parenting in a way that would resonate with the kind of people who are most
likely to succeed at it.”
-- Colleen Ellingsen, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin

5. a. Solid background in marketing and PR
b. Personal reputation
c. A sound, logical process for determining strongest positioning
d. Extensive experience as a business reporter and editor
e. Samples of deliverables from previous products
f. Third-party recommendation
g. What I perceived to be strong analytical skills
h. Broad knowledge of the theory and practice of branding
i. Strong interpersonal skills
j. A more strategic approach than most branding consultants employ
k. A good grasp of our situation and needs
l. Creative ideas
m. Down-to-earth, practical thinking
n. A genuine interest in helping us succeed
o. Years of experience as a business executive
p. Strong interviewing skills
q. Knowing Anne would do all the work herself
r. Knowing client quotes would justify part of the cost
s. Knowing we could use this process to engage our employees…
t. Knowing this would give us a solid platform for planning.
Directions: Choose only items that actually factored into your decision.
100%
Round 1 picks: „Influenced our decision‟
to hire Curley Communication

6. Round 2 picks: „Most important factors‟
in hiring decision
a. Solid background in marketing and PR
b. Personal reputation
c. A sound, logical process for determining strongest positioning
d. Extensive experience as a business reporter and editor
e. Samples of deliverables from previous products
f. Third-party recommendation
g. What I perceived to be strong analytical skills
h. Broad knowledge of the theory and practice of branding
i. Strong interpersonal skills
j. A more strategic approach than most branding consultants employ
k. A good grasp of our situation and needs
l. Creative ideas
m. Down-to-earth, practical thinking
n. A genuine interest in helping us succeed
o. Years of experience as a business executive
p. Strong interviewing skills
q. Knowing Anne would do all the work herself
r. Knowing client quotes would justify part of the cost
s. Knowing we could use this process to engage our employees…
t. Knowing this would give us a solid platform for planning.
Directions: Choose top three reasons, in priority order.
(#1 = 3 pts., #2 = 2 pts., #3 = 1 pt.)
100%

7. a. Solid background in marketing and PR
b. Personal reputation
c. A sound, logical process for determining strongest positioning
d. Extensive experience as a business reporter and editor
e. Samples of deliverables from previous products
f. Third-party recommendation
g. What I perceived to be strong analytical skills
h. Broad knowledge of the theory and practice of branding
i. Strong interpersonal skills
j. A more strategic approach than most branding consultants employ
k. A good grasp of our situation and needs
l. Creative ideas
m. Down-to-earth, practical thinking
n. A genuine interest in helping us succeed
o. Years of experience as a business executive
p. Strong interviewing skills
q. Knowing Anne would do all the work herself
r. Knowing client quotes would justify part of the cost
s. Knowing we could use this process to engage our employees…
t. Knowing this would give us a solid platform for planning.
Directions: Having seen the project outcome,
choose the three factors you value most now.
(#1 = 3 pts., #2 = 2 pts., #3 = 1 pt.)
100%
Round 3 picks: „ What I value most now‟
1. Quality of the process is valued
even more highly after the fact.

8. a. Solid background in marketing and PR
b. Personal reputation
c. A sound, logical process for determining strongest positioning
d. Extensive experience as a business reporter and editor
e. Samples of deliverables from previous products
f. Third-party recommendation
g. What I perceived to be strong analytical skills
h. Broad knowledge of the theory and practice of branding
i. Strong interpersonal skills
j. A more strategic approach than most branding consultants employ
k. A good grasp of our situation and needs
l. Creative ideas
m. Down-to-earth, practical thinking
n. A genuine interest in helping us succeed
o. Years of experience as a business executive
p. Strong interviewing skills
q. Knowing Anne would do all the work herself
r. Knowing client quotes would justify part of the cost
s. Knowing we could use this process to engage our employees…
t. Knowing this would give us a solid platform for planning.
100%
Round 3 picks: „ What I value most now‟
1. Quality of the process is valued
even more highly after the fact.
2. Broader usefulness for strategic planning and for engaging
employees and others is valued much more highly in retrospect.

9. As these clients see it
1. „Quality of the process‟ includes…
• Good grasp of our situation
• Strong interviewing skills
• Fresh customer insights
• Sound branding recommendations

10. Good grasp of our situation
• “(Our) industry is very unique because it‟s so highly regulated. We have many
constraints and issues with regard to how we can market. So there‟s potentially
some toxic issues that may come up with some people and if someone didn‟t
understand that issue, they wouldn‟t be able to put the customer‟s comment
into the right context and react accordingly.”
-- Paul Beste, the Heartland Funds
• “She hadn‟t worked with an engineering firm, especially a niche firm like
ours. I just got the feeling she was really into it.”
-- Lars Barber, Baird & Associates
• “It‟s not like you have to spend months chatting to try to find one another…
She grasps the problem right away.”
-- Colleen Ellingsen, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin
• “Anne has an uncanny ability to come into a situation and quickly get up to
speed.”
-- Susan Dreyfus, Alliance for Children and Families

11. Strong interviewing skills
• “If you went to a larger consulting firm, you‟d have some kid calling.
Anne, with her experience as a business journalist, has a better basis for
knowing how to interview people and perhaps engage them in areas where
they may not feel as comfortable… It‟s that listening skill -- when someone says
yes or no but their tone says there‟s probably an issue there -- and knowing how to
get them to open up. The value to Heartland is in knowing what‟s really behind their
comments, both where there are issues and where there‟s excitement.”
-- Paul Beste, the Heartland Funds
• “The responses from our customers were very in-depth. She obviously
created a forum for the conversation to take place at that level.”
-- Theresa Schell, Plastic Components Inc.
• “We think we know who we are, but when we asked those around us in a safe
and guided way through Anne, we learned a lot more about ourselves.”
-- Greg Milliken, Neighbor to Family, Inc.

12. Deep customer insights
• “I think it‟s an honest, clean evaluation of what your best clients think of you and
think you are, what they appreciate about you, so you can…make decisions from
that. Kind of a fresh look…different than what we had done before. This isn‟t the
same old client evaluation form approach.”
-- Lars Barber, Baird & Associates
• “We regularly survey our customers. We survey new, former and exiting
shareholders. We have a service center that keeps call statistics. We have lots of
information but we don‟t get the emotional connection. That‟s what we wanted
to get – how do customers make an emotional connection with (our firm).”
-- Paul Beste, the Heartland Funds
• “A lot of companies think they‟re really good at something because they‟re
surrounded by it every day, but that doesn‟t necessarily parallel their customer‟s
perspective. Without interviewing to get their point of view, you don‟t really know.
Anne‟s findings included some surprises.”
-- Theresa Schell, Plastic Components Inc.

13. Sound branding recommendations
• “We got the results from Anne and we were thrilled. We thought (the
recommendations) were right on target… She took it further than marketing and
gave recommendations on operational changes we should make to support the
brand identity we want to build.”
-- Lars Barber, Baird & Associates
• “Anne gave us a product that has been very successful. Last year, the counties
we serve found 47 new foster families specifically because of the billboard
campaign that featured a tagline Anne created based on her recommended
brand positioning.”
-- Colleen Ellingsen, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin
• “Her conclusions weren‟t just an opinion. There was logic and evidence to
support them.”
-- Greg Milliken, Neighbor to Family Inc.

14. As these clients see it
2. „Broader usefulness‟ includes:
• A sturdy platform for strategic planning
• A credible basis for engaging employees
and other constituents

15. Sturdy planning platform
• “I wasn‟t aware of (the strategic value) as much until we were done but, even
today looking back, the stuff Anne did for us provided a strategic foundation for
all the tactical stuff we‟ve done since then.”
-- Tom Duffey, Plastic Components Inc.
• “I had hoped it would be useful for this but I had no idea how significant Anne‟s
work would be in our overall strategic planning.”
-- Susan Dreyfus, Alliance for Children and Families

16. A credible engagement tool
• “Using the project to engage our employees certainly created added value. It has
allowed us to engage our employees in the whole strategy so everyone knows
who we are and where we are going.”
-- Lars Barber, Baird & Associates.
•“As much as we needed this, it was still a culture change to integrate the brand
throughout the organization. Anne‟s work helped us lead and engage the
employees.”
-- Susan Dreyfus, Alliance for Children and Families
• “For the project to be successful, we needed buy-in from the counties we serve.
Anne started by interviewing the county licensers of foster families and getting their
perspectives. There was a huge buy-in because they were being listened to.”
-- Colleen Ellingsen, Adoption Resources of Wisconsin

17. “If you were marketing Curley
Communication, what would you say?”
• „‟Anne wants you to be a client for life and wants to make sure you succeed.
That‟s something that really differentiates her. If you go to some of the larger
consulting firms that just want to sell you services, they plug you into one of their
modules, put you on a treadmill and keep you there as long as they can. With
Anne, you really get the sense…she‟ll do whatever it takes to help you.”
-- Paul Beste, the Heartland Funds
• “Getting clarity and focus around who you are and what you should be spending
your time and resources on allows you to go out and market yourself effectively.
Another important benefit is that this is not just an opinion. It‟s research-based.
The research gave us confidence, which makes the direction easier to
defend.”
-- Jennifer Jones, Wisconsin Children‟s Trust Fund
• „”I think she‟s a professional who provides a good lens through which
organizations can look at themselves and design comprehensive marketing
programs reflective of the organization.”
-- Peggy Niemer, Children‟s Hospitals and Health System

18. The bottom line: Results that
can be transformational
• “We all think we know what‟s important to our customers, but we weren‟t
entirely right about that. Anne came up with information that caused us to
change how we operate and market ourselves.
“Anne found that up-front engineering support was critically important.
Although we should have known that intuitively, Anne‟s research brought it
right to the surface. As a result, we made adjustments to our business to
strengthen our engineering department. We got our engineers more actively
involved on a daily basis with customers, working through design issues. We
built that into our marketing and business development strategy as well.
“The research Anne did had an immediate impact, not only on our
marketing effort, but on the way we ran the business. It was huge.”
--Tom Duffey, owner, Plastic Components Inc.

19. • “Working with Anne profoundly changed the way we look at ourselves…
We had operated for years with the notion that our customers value us
because our outcomes are so strong and our service is of exceptional quality.
Certainly that was true to some degree, but what we came away with is that
our customers also value our role as a change agent in their systems. Using
our program gives them leverage with other programs in their community to
raise the bar… To this day, we focus on that with new customers.”
-- Greg Milliken, Neighbor to Family, Inc
• “Anne‟s work gave us clarity and confidence around our brand and what we
had to be the best in the world at... When I think back to when we did this in
2003, I think we spent something like $25,000. It turned our organization
around.”
-- Susan Dreyfus, Alliance for Children and Families
The bottom line: Results that
can be transformational

20. Interviews conducted by
Mike Phillips, partner,
Sales Dynamix LLC
mike@salesdynamixllc.com