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The talents needed to consistently find, qualify, recruit, motivate and convert prospects to leads are very different from those needed to close sales.
SFA’s international team of multilingual staff, led by Sarah Fleming, have the necessary skills, experience and contacts for successful research, data analysis and lead generation. We provide excellent customer service, always work in a friendly yet professional manner to satisfy our client’s business requirements and are extremely proud of our excellent client relationships.
Meet the team who you will be working with…
“Working as a small team in the city of Aberdeen, we contracted SFA Connect to help support our existing research with an in-depth review of our knowledge economy. From start to finish of this project, the team at SFA proved themselves to be engaging, professional and worked as an extension to our team. The final report was thorough and easy to digest, paving the way for a more strategic approach to winning association conferences and events.”
Laurie Scott, Head of Business Marketing, VisitAberdeenshire.
Managing Director and owner of SFA, Sarah Fleming has over 20 years experience in the Meetings Industry.
She was a board director of a Professional Conference Organising company in London for ten years where she handled numerous large, high-profile events all over the world.
Through her work for clients such as the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, the World Summit on Television for Children, BP, Inchcape, Shell and Sybase, plus numerous Trade Associations (including FIABCI and RCGP), she gained an in-depth understanding of all aspects of event sales, marketing, finance and logistics in the UK, continental Europe, the USA and Asia.
Since 2004 she has been offering consultancy services to the Meetings Industry with a particular focus on sales research and lead generation. SFA was started in 2010 and she now has a competent, dedicated team of experienced researchers who can handle multiple client projects.
Sarah is also a regular speaker and moderator at a range of Meetings Industry conferences.
Mickael is an experienced economist with past experience as a research analyst, consultant and academic researcher.
He completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Strasbourg (France) in 2013. He has also been a Research Associate at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (University of Manchester) for 4 years, being involved in several research projects in field of science and innovation policies, regional development, scientific collaborations and the creative industries.
Prior to that he worked on several projects at The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Observatory for Science & Technology (OST, Paris) and Regional Observatory for Research & Innovation in Alsace.
He is the author of several reports (for regional, national and international organisations) and scientific articles presented in international conferences & published in peer-reviewed journals. He joined SFA in May 2018 as an Account Manager.
His academic background and research skills (quantitative and qualitative) are great assets for SFA.
Elaine has spent most of her career working in the customer service sector, working for 15 years with Barclays Bank plc and Next Retail plc.
In her various roles as Customer Service Team Leader, Quality Service Coach and Servicing Programme Manager, she has developed a high level of IT literacy, a good understanding of sales and new business development and an extremely high level of customer service.
Elaine’s confidence and interpersonal skills give her an excellent ability to engage with people at all levels either on the phone or face-to-face. Elaine was the first member of the SFA team when she joined in September 2010 and celebrated her 10th Anniversary in 2020!
Kate has over 10 years of experience within the field of research giving her proficiency in the whole research process.
From proposal writing and systematic literature reviews to data analysis and report writing she has conducted research within a number of areas including stakeholder management, benefits realisation and dementia care. She is skilled in using different research methods including questionnaires, interviews and observation; and is experienced in interpreting large quantities of quantitative and qualitative data.
Kate has produced over 30 publications in the form of book chapters, journal papers, guides, reports and conference papers. Her work is cited and she has acted as a reviewer for numerous publications. She has also had a key role in a number of successful bids to different organisations including: UK Research Councils, City Councils and the Department of Health, the most successful being worth £4.97m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Becky is an experienced business tourism professional and has worked with SFA since 2018.
She achieved a First-Class Tourism Management Degree from Sheffield Hallam University in 2014. Once graduated she secured the position of International Conference Researcher at Manchester Convention Bureau. Following this she joined an event management company, learning the operational and logistical side of hosting large conferences and events.
She joined SFA in 2018 as a Conference Researcher and is now a member of our Senior Management team. She is a mentor to her colleagues and has a vast experience of supporting and managing multiple accounts, recruitment for buyer events and writing winning bid documents. She is also one of our Climate Action Ambassadors ensuring that we continue to be carbon neutral as a business.
Alternatively, visit our contact us page, tell us a bit about your project and we will be in touch.
Sarah Fleming Associates Ltd T/A SFA Connect
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