A connection on LinkedIn commented on my post, saying, "Whenever I think of an accountant, I now think of John Moffat, the Teacake Guy". Not long after, someone shouted, “There’s the Teacake Guy!” as I walked up the stairs at a business lunch in Edinburgh. It made me laugh, but it also showed me how something as simple as a box of Tunnock's Teacakes has become part of how people recognise Benson Wood.
What started as a welcome gift for new clients has become something people remember us by. I think that says a lot about the value of showing a bit of personality in business.
Why we give new clients Tunnock's Teacakes
When we were thinking about how to welcome new clients, the usual options were a brochure or a branded mug. Neither felt much like us. So every new client now gets a box of Tunnock’s Teacakes. Tunnock’s is based just a few miles away in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, so there’s a local connection too. We want people to feel looked after from the start, and we’d rather send something with a bit of character than something with our logo on it.
It didn’t go perfectly the first time. A few of the Teacakes in our very first box got bashed in the post, and the firm we’d sent them to put a photo of the squashed box on LinkedIn. Irene had sent that box, and she brought it up at our values workshop, when we were talking about times things hadn’t gone to plan. It stayed with her because she wanted that first experience of Benson Wood to be a good one.
How did Tunnock's Teacakes become one of our company values?
Earlier this year, we spent an afternoon with the whole team working out what our values should be. They made sure Tunnock’s Teacakes went on the list, and “Love Teacakes” now sits alongside Own It, Aim Higher, Win as One and People First.
That probably sounds daft from the outside, but it makes sense to us. We like having clients in the office, and when someone takes the time to come in, we want them to feel properly welcomed rather than just shown into a meeting room. A good coffee and a Teacake go a long way. They even made it into our new team photos for the website.
The team takes them very seriously. When we ran a poll on the best Tunnock’s treat, the Teacake won with 54% of the vote, ahead of the Caramel Wafer on 31% and the Caramel Log on 15%. We also found out that hardly anyone in the team eats them the same way. I take mine straight from the fridge so the chocolate cracks when you bite into it, while Nicole starts with the biscuit and leaves the mallow until last.
We've even hidden 10 Teacakes around our website for visitors to find. If you spot all 10, you'll be entered into a quarterly hamper draw and receive a complimentary financial health check.
When did I become the Teacake Guy?
I drop the teacakes into my LinkedIn posts quite a bit, so people must have got used to reading about them. The lunch in Edinburgh was the Entrepreneurial Scotland Patrons Lunch, held at the Signet Library. It’s a stunning room, lined with legal books going back hundreds of years. I’d brought a box of Teacakes with me, and during a break, I was walking back up the stairs when someone spotted me and shouted across.
Around the same time, Chris was at another event with our banner, which has my photo on it. Someone looked at it and asked him if that was the Teacake Guy.
At that point, I decided I might as well go with it, and I’ve changed my headline on LinkedIn to be The Teacake Guy.
It’s even caused a bit of bother in the team. At an Entrepreneurial Scotland event, I got talking to one of our clients, who Chris goes to see regularly. When the Teacakes came up, I asked her whether Chris had brought her any on his visits. He hadn't. I've had a word, and he'll be taking some next time.
Why does personality help people remember a business?
People now recognise me at events because of the Teacakes, sometimes before we've even had a chat. That's quite something when you think about how it started. A lot of accountancy firms offer similar services, and from the outside it can be hard to tell one from another. Being known as the Teacake Guy gives people something to remember Benson Wood by. It starts conversations at events, and from there it’s an easy step to talking about what we do.
That’s become more important to me as AI takes over more of what people see online. When I spoke at a Federation of Small Businesses event recently, one of my 12 top tips for business growth was to be human. There were business owners in the room using AI generated graphics, and you could tell a million miles away. It doesn’t do them any favours.
A printer I know in Kirkcudbright sees the same thing, and he refuses to print designs people have created with AI. He told me it’s unbelievable how many people come in asking him to.
He’s now making a Tunnock’s Teacake piece for us on one of his typewriters. There was so much wording that he had to buy a bigger typewriter to fit it all in. I’m looking forward to seeing it finished.
A Teacake won’t win you a client on its own. But it shows there are real people behind Benson Wood, and that tends to stick with people far longer than a logo.
What can you expect when you visit Benson Wood?
When you come to see us at our office in Bellshill, there’ll be a good coffee and a Tunnock’s Teacake waiting for you. Behind that, you’ll find a team that wants to get to know you and your business properly.
We work with growing professional services firms across Lanarkshire and Central Scotland. Whether you need help getting your accounts in order or want to spend a day planning where your business goes next at a Growth Vision Workshop, talk to our team. The Teacake’s on me!
