Jamie Doyle is the Founder and Director of Thompson Alexander, a consultancy providing a bespoke career and interview coaching service. Jamie has spent the last 16 years in recruitment services, career coaching, and talent management. With the expertise and experience gained in his career, Jamie decided to build Thompson Alexander to fill a gap in the market. Over the course of Jamie’s career he has both directly and indirectly helped over 4,000 people to obtain their dream jobs and career goals.
Thompson currently provide coaching to a variety of skillsets at different levels, from school leavers and juniors, right up to C-Suite and Board level talent. They focus on an entirely bepoke and tailored service to every individual. There is no cut, copy and paste here. Instead, Jamie spends time analysing his clients behaviour, skillset, and personality to enhance the strengths of each individual. There are entire sessions dedicated to tips and techniques that will improve individuals weaknesses, but often he focuses on enhancing individuals for a specific interview or career move.
What is Thompson Alexander all about?
Thompson Alexander is a consultancy that provides both recruitment and coaching services, with an expertise in Technology. We currently support multinationals and startups as well as catering to individual clients.
Based in Hertfordshire, our mission statement is to proactively improve people’s chances of obtaining their dream careers. We work in an agile environment, always ready to find solutions for people’s career paths. Thompson Alexander is passionate about equality, diversity, and inclusivity, and supports local businesses and causes in our community.
One of our key services focuses on CV and Interview coaching, promoting confidence, interview and communication techniques, and empowering the candidate throughout their career journey. We set achievable goals that are worked towards in each session, building out their professional social media and job application profiles.
Tell us a little bit about your personal background – how you ended up in this career?
After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, I wanted to combine my passion for the arts and business. I worked as a professional actor in my early 20’s before becoming a Training Consultant, supporting individuals through technical training programs.
After working in technical consultancies, and talent and recruitment firms, I started building a coaching process that combined confidence building and proven interview techniques that maximise an individual’s strengths. From my background as a professional Actor, I utilised visualisation techniques and public speaking training to reduce interview stress by providing them with a proven framework for achieving maximum interview success.
As a keen entrepreneur, I love helping others to succeed by providing them with a toolbox of solutions ans skills that empowers them to follow their career ambitions.
What was the biggest problem you encountered starting up and how did you overcome it?
The biggest problem I encountered when starting up Thompson Alexander was feeling isolated and not knowing who to approach for advice and information. For instance, I had no knowledge of what type of accounting software or service I should use, right through to not knowing how to implement marketing strategies.
I solved this by taking my own advice and employing a professional business coach. By working with Parag Prasad at Action Coach London Business Coaching, I managed to simplify my goals and become more aware of how I wanted to run Thompson Alexander as a business.
What are some of the Do’s and Don’ts’s of being a business / success Coach?
Do’s
- Listen, listen, listen to your clients.
- Always set realistic and achievable goals.
- Focus on achieving small daily wins.
- Stick to your own personal values and beliefs.
Don’t’s
- Never compromise on the time you spend getting to know a client or customer.
- Don’t overpromise things you can’t guarantee to deliver.
- Don’t judge other people on their goals or ambitions.
How do you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
What makes me jump out of bed in the morning is coaching people to go out and succeed! It has been my passion for 17 years now, and I find it engaging and inspiring to help others achieve their goals. But even I’ll admit this isn’t always enough to stay driven, and when motivation is more difficult to rely on I have a few daily rituals in place to ensure I keep striving.
At the end of every day I use visualization to set up and start preparing for the following day ahead. I visualize the BAU tasks needed to be done, and the three main things I want to achieve for myself, the team, and the business. I then shut my laptop down and disconnect for the day. Doing this means I subconsciously start to process these goals through the night, and wake up prepared for the next day as I’ve already set the cogs in motion to achieve the days goals.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to gain new clients?
So far our most effective marketing strategy has been word of mouth. As a business we rely heavily on referrals because to us this is the greatest sign that we are providing a valuable coaching service. Someone willing to vouch for you to their friends, family, and colleagues is the most impactful marketing teactic you can have.
However, you can’t just expect people to do this for you. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. When we first start working with a new client we explain that we pride our business on being heavily referral driven. I believe this also gives them confidence in our ability to deliver, because we naturally trust other peoples opinions and experiences. That’s why we have ratings on films and tv programs, and before you make an expensive purchase you check out the reviews online.
Once we have been working with each client for a while, and they begin to see value of the work we’re doing, they’re more than happy to recommend us to others or leave us a review. Our marketing is rooted in creating a strong network with our clients and the community we work in.
What is your definition of success?
To me, success is people saying thank you because the work we do genuinely makes a difference to their lives. It’s being able to create positive outcomes using the skills I have developed over my career. When someone takes the time to say thank you, it gives confirmation that the business I have built is achieving the objectives I first started out with, and having the opportunity to bring new ideas to fruition.
What are three things most clients have in common?
Most of our clients are underconfident in their own abilities, unable to define their career aspirations, and worried about the pressure of interviews and job hunting. With so much contradictory information available regarding interview techniques and career journeys, our clients are often unsure of which advice is right for them. Each person and their career is unique, so we work with our clients to find the methods that are suited to them at a personalized level.
What’s your best piece of advice for people who are just starting their coaching business?
Be a specialist with a genuine passion in what you do. Coaching encompasses a large market, and as an individual you can’t start out by helping anyone and everyone. Find the one aspect of coaching that is your niche and market it. It could be a particular industry, or market, with a focus on a few areas that you have a real indepth experience of.
Use this approach in your marketing also. Be specific with the marketing techniques you use and the type of customer you are trying to attract. When starting out don’t try and take on more clients than you can support. Organic growth is always the best when creating a business with strong foundations.
How can readers get in touch with you?
Readers can get in touch by emailing info@thompsonalexander.co.uk for general inquiries. For CV and Career Coaching inquiries contact cvandcoaching@thompsonalexander.co.uk.
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