Sales & Marketing Archives

Serve Us With A Smile

12th July 2018

Sometimes what we don’t say, says so much more than what is said. Precisely the situation I was in last night at one of our local restaurants. I go there because the food is excellent, and I can sit quietly between training sessions (when I need to have a break before starting work in the evening). As I was saying, ‘the food is excellent’. And this is what I said to the bar manager when he asked, “how was your meal sir?”. But what I didn’t say was what was foremost in my head. I wasn’t in the frame of mind to give him some feedback, so I just kept my thoughts to myself, remained polite and went on my way (like what so many would do in the same situation!).

The food was excellent, but the waitress was terrible. Not for the first time I hasten to add (hmm, is that quick enough?). I ate at the same place a few weeks ago, with the same waitress serving me, and had exactly the same experience (in fact worse!). I said to myself on that occasion, that I wouldn’t be back. But last night I thought, ‘you know its normally pretty good, and last time was probably just someone having a bad night’. I came in and asked for a table for one. There was only one other sitting at the time. I was spoken to in a way that made me feel that it was a nuisance that a table was going to need to be set up for me at that time (it was dinner time btw). I was given a menu. I made my choice and placed the menu back on the table (an indication that I was ready!). The waitress saw me do this. She then proceeded to pass my table 11 times (yes, I counted) without asking me for an order. Granted, two of those occasions was to serve the other table, the other 9 were just trips backward and forward doing stuff (although a few of these were not actually doing anything other than making me feel ignored!). On pass number 12 I asked if she was ready to take my order (seems the wrong way round!). All of this appears to be a bit petty on my part, doesn’t it? But the whole time, from start to finish (c.90 mins later when I left, after my meal), this young lady had a face on her like thunder. As she did the time before. The impression it left with me was immense, to the point that I am writing about it. Do I blame her? OK, yes in part. She is responsible for how she is perceived by the world around her. But what about the person who hired her, the person who trained her, the people working in more senior positions within the establishment? They can all see what we the customers see and ultimately feel. Their product and their brand is evaporating in front of them. That is it for me now. I aint going back.

So here is the message. If you are in a customer facing, service sector role, then a big part of your job description is not just to perform tasks, but it is to do so in a friendly, efficient and approachable (which means smiling as well, or at the very least not being a bear with a sore head) manner. This is part of your job description. If you aint doing it, then you aint doing what you are being paid to do! If this is something you are unable to do, then it doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means you are in the wrong job. Customer service is a performance. A customer doesn’t care about what’s going on in your personal life. The customer is coming into your workplace as part of their personal life in order to have an experience that makes them happy and/or feels as if they are being looked after and cared about. The food, in my example above, is only part of the product. The service is every bit as much a part of the product. If both don’t happen to be collectively good, then one will impact upon the other. Customer Service is the product. So, when you are at work in this type of environment you need to put on your happy face, Service with a smile!

Launching A New Business

7th February 2018

I am regularly asked to give people advice ahead of them commencing with the launch of a new business. It is something that I, myself, have done successfully on a number of occasions, and as such I have learnt, along the way, many important things to consider. This blog summarises the main considerations, and should help as a useful reference point to those who seek my thoughts in the future.

The first things to think about very seriously are as follows. (i) Are you ready to give this new venture everything you’ve got?, and (ii) Do you have a good product or service that people will want to purchase at a level that makes the whole idea worth it? You need to be totally committed and prepared, at least initially, to be living, breathing, thinking and sleeping this idea. But before all that, will it actually give you, in terms of income, job satisfaction or whatever other measure that defines success, the results you are looking for?

What’s in a name? Well absolutely everything. You really need to work hard at coming up with a good business name (and the associated brand identity) that will stand the test of time. Your name and accompanying tag line needs to reflect the kind of business you see yourself being, not just today, but years down the line. Do you want to put your own name within the title of the business? This may, or may not, be a good idea. If we take the name ‘A Smith Ltd’, what is that actually saying to customers? Should the name not reflect what we do? I would always go with a big YES on that front. So, ‘A Smith Plumbers Ltd’ would be far stronger in my opinion. What about reflecting the marketplace in which you trade, either geographically or by sector? So, we could end up with ‘A Smith Household Plumbers Scotland Ltd’. OK now things are getting a bit bonkers and we have possibly gone too far. That is where the importance of a tag line comes in (something that should be included in all marketing material, from the signature on your emails through to the words on the side of the van). Now, we may end up with ‘Plumbers Scotland Ltd’ as the name, supported by the tag line, ‘Delivering Quality Service To Householders’. Other things to consider in your name choice are as follows. Is anyone else using the same name, and is there web domain names available for that name? For the former, you can check Companies House for Ltd company names in the UK, as well as resources such as National Business Register. And don’t forget the easiest of checks, using internet search engines. And here is the point. If anyone trading in your sector and/or your trading area geographically has a name similar to yours, you would be well advised to steer well clear and come up with something different. To not do this would be an open invitation to being forced to, later down the line, having to totally re-brand your business (sounds expensive and risky). And to finally close off this paragraph, the web domain name? For goodness sake do not go all the way down the line of getting the business name checked and registered, to then find you can’t have a web domain that reflects your business name. So check this out early on.

Should I go for Limited (Ltd) Company Status, or should I be self-employed (or a partnership)? First of all, becoming Ltd isn’t that complicated. In fact it can be done in a matter of days, as opposed to setting up a business bank account which can take, relatively speaking, far longer. Being Ltd has certain requirements, but comes with it the protection from risking your personal assets. Also a Ltd company has its own separate legal identity to its owner(s). This means that when you work for your own Ltd company, you are actually an employee of the business you own as a shareholder. Being self-employed also has benefits and risks attached in that respect. Get good advice on these options, but in my opinion do not do one or the other purely based on a perceived cost, as in reality it’s not really a decision that needs to be driven by price.

Do I need an accountant? If you are Ltd company, then definitely yes. If you are a sole trader, you may be able to muddle through tax returns etc., yourself. But for the sake of a few hundred pounds per year (which can be written off as a business expense), if you can at least keep up-to-date with the books, is it worth your time doing all this yourself, and potentially making errors along the way? Now if you are not that busy (which may mean that every pound is a prisoner!), and you are up to date with your books, then it could be worth the effort saving on accountants fees. But, if you are busy, I would argue that you should focus on what you are there to do; deliver quality service for your customers. I have had direct experience of a small business not being able to deliver in a particular week because the boss was pulling together, at the last minute, the books and the tax return. What a shambles! I took my business elsewhere.

Do I need to be VAT registered? Well if your turnover is going to exceed the threshold set, then yes, you have no choice in this matter. On the other hand, there is nothing preventing you becoming VAT registered if you are below the threshold. There could be advantages to being VAT registered (e.g. allows you to reclaim the VAT on purchases), but, if many of your customers aren’t VAT registered (e.g. private individuals who can’t reclaim VAT themselves), then not being registered could give you a pricing edge over a competitor who is. So think about it in these terms, if you have the choice (i.e. below the threshold). Don’t, however, let anyone give you the impression that being VAT registered is complex or involves lots of extra work. The reality is, that this is not the case.

If I am a Ltd company, how much share capital do I need to invest? In short, as little as possible. Bear in mind that the shares you purchase in the business need to be paid for at the start. If you value the shares for 100% ownership at £10k, that’s what you need to put into the business bank account on day one. You aint getting that money back until you either wind up or sell the business (or some of your shares) in the future. If the business fails, again you are probably not getting your invested income back (or at least not all of it). The next question may therefore be, but the business needs £10k for start-up costs etc.? The answer to that would usually be along the lines of the following. Set the business up with minimal share capital (e.g. £100.00), and then give your business a personal directors loan of £9,900.00. You will be able to start taking this loan money back (not an option if it’s tied up as share capital) once the business can afford to pay it to you, either as a lump sum or over a number of smaller payments. I have seen some terrible errors on this front whereby people just haven’t realised the consequences of decisions such as this early enough in the process.

How much can I pay myself? Well in short, if it’s your own business (i.e. no other shareholders or partners), as much as the business can afford to pay you, but with always one eye firmly fixed on your cash flow projections. There are, however, a number of things to consider, even more so if the business is Ltd status. If you are a shareholder in a Ltd company you are also allowed to receive dividends (assuming profit has been made and the business can afford to pay), as well as taking a salary. It is wise to look at the best mix of these two methods of paying yourself from a tax and national insurance perspective. Tax rules etc. change every year. The best advice is to ask your accountant the most tax efficient combination of the two, for your personal circumstances. BUT you also need to allow for the fact that you will almost certainly want to ensure you are paying enough to cover national insurance contributions etc. which govern matters such as, are you contributing enough over the whole of any given tax year to ensure your state pension entitlement is being fully funded. If you are the only shareholder in the business then decisions in matters such as these are relatively easy, whereas with more than one shareholder you may need to allow for other persons circumstances, which leads me on nicely to the final point.

Should I own the business myself, or ask someone to be a co-owner? If there is no good reason to have a co-owner, other than ‘it would be nice’, then I would suggest, if at all possible, you go it alone. If you own it all outright, then you can make all of the decisions without anyone else getting in the way, or arguments occurring. Now that doesn’t mean, off course, that you can’t go to other people for advice or to bounce ideas around with. It just means once you have decided to do something, on a daily basis, you can move quickly and get on with it. On the other hand, when there has to be more than one owner (especially when it’s a 50/50 arrangement) you need to agree upfront, ahead of any potential disputes, how you are going to resolve differences in opinion. The time to agree all of this, is at the outset, not during your first heated debate! Many businesses can only succeed with the effort and true commitment of more than one person. If you are in this situation you need to prepare well, so that if there are disagreements the business doesn’t suffer and you remain together working effectively as a strong unit.

Health Warning: All of the above thoughts are of a generalised nature. Each business set-up has its own particular circumstances, and as such, in making any decisions relating to the above points you must seek specific professional guidance reflecting your own situation.

That Awkward Silence

11th April 2016

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where conversations just don’t happen, or if they do they quickly dry up? It might be during a networking event, or that uneasy silence that may occur when people are joining each other for the first time on a course or for a meeting. It may even be at a social event (e.g. a wedding) where you are seated next to people that you don’t know. It can become quite awkward as no-one is choosing to, or feels able to, engage with those around them. But there is no need for you to feel or behave like this. There is a straightforward technique that can be used whereby you can take the lead, and engage well with those around you.

It’s so very simple. All you need to do is ask questions. And a good way to phrase these questions is to use a style that enables the person you are speaking with to give you an ‘open’ reply, as opposed to a ‘closed’ single word (‘yes’ or ‘no’) answer. This ‘open’ questioning technique can be particularly powerful and involves using words such as ‘how’, ‘what’ or ‘why’. Another style that can work well in these scenarios would be a sentence that starts with, ‘Tell me more about…’

This questioning technique is good for starting conversations, developing rapport and finding out about others. It also helps ensure that you don’t commit the sin of talking too much about yourself (or if you do, it’s only once the other person has talked about themselves for a while).

So here is an example. You are sitting in a meeting room and other attendees are just arriving. You don’t know anyone who is coming in, and one of them sits next to yourself. OK – no need to panic. Allow them to settle, and then, simply introduce yourself.

‘Good morning, I’m John from Smith & Co. What’s your name?’

‘Hi, I’m Mark’

‘Hi Mark. So what is it that you do?’

‘I am in the health and safety division’

‘Brilliant. How long have you been working there?’

‘Over, 10 years. I have been involved with a few projects such as this one’

‘Excellent. So what do you feel are the main health and safety challenges for this project?’

and so on…

The important thing to remember is, that as soon as you see an opportunity to adopt this technique, then just go for it. Don’t leave it too long to engage or it will become awkward. And for goodness sake don’t wait for the other person to make that first move. They are possibly as unsettled about the situation as you are, and almost certainly; they won’t have read this post. The more you ask, the less you need to speak about yourself, and the more time you can spend listening to the other person. And who knows, you might just find out something interesting or useful. Resist the temptation to talk about yourself – after all you already know all about you – and you won’t learn anything new if you do all the talking. After a while, however, if the other person has any level of self-awareness, they will begin to ask you questions. It would be rude of them not to. Quickly answer their questions and whilst doing so look for opportunities to ask them more.

Rude Manners: All Caught Up In The Net

4th January 2016

John is sitting at his desk. His colleague, Karen, has just passed the printer and noticed that he had earlier printed off a document that was still lying there. She decides to be nice (in fact she’s always nice!) and picks up the document and brings it over to his desk. Karen says, “I found this in the printer, realised it’s yours and thought I should bring it over. Oh, and by the way, you can help yourself to some cake. I brought it in because today it’s my birthday.” John is too busy to even raise his head, let alone say anything. He just ignores her as if she had not lifted a finger or said a word. Yes, you can relate to this type of behaviour. It’s something that occurs every day, in many offices. “STOP! What is he talking about? No it doesn’t. I have never seen anyone being that rude to someone they work with.”

Well I am going to challenge you. Just because you have never seen it, doesn’t mean that it never happens. Just because you never hear the one sided polite gesture, doesn’t mean that the rude silence has not occurred. Just because the other person is sitting at a screen in a different location, doesn’t mean that they don’t feel precisely the same way that ‘birthday cake’ Karen felt when John ignored her kindness. Yes, I am talking about how we communicate (or fail to!) with each other when using email, and for that matter, text and social media posts.

So let’s run the scenario again, but this time the two participants are in different offices (different businesses even). Karen sends John an email. It says something like: ‘Hi John. Found this extra piece of information that I thought you might find useful. All the best. Karen’. Moments later John receives the email, reads it and thinks to himself; ‘Yes that is useful’. He then forwards it on to his team and goes back to what he was doing. Karen meanwhile is still at her desk, and some hours later is thinking to herself: “Did he get my email?; Was it useful?; Maybe he’s on holiday; Is he annoyed with me about something?; Maybe he thinks I am interfering too much or that I am an idiot.”

Karen, you are not an idiot. John is the idiot, and apart from his lack of manners (not hugely different to the original example) he quite frankly doesn’t appreciate you or your thoughts. Or at least that is the impression he has firmly left you with today! It may not be the impression John intended, in fact he probably feels entirely the opposite towards Karen. But the lack of an appreciation of the impact of his actions (or in this case lack of action) means that he is unwittingly either causing confusion or harm, or at the very least not taking an opportunity to encourage effective behaviour from Karen in the future. Bad enough if Karen is a work colleague, but considerably more so if Karen is a customer or supplier to John’s business. As a professional, surely part of your role is to ensure that you don’t do anything that implies that you are not fully engaged with one of your customers, let alone making them feel, even momentarily, the way Karen is feeling.

An email is not really that different to a conversation, and as such you should consider this every time you receive one (OK, excluding junk mail etc.). If someone is communicating with you, how hard is it to quite simply ping back a ‘thanks’? One word that says so much. It says that you have received the email; that you value the part the person is playing in the wider process; that you are happy to treat them as your equal; that you are appreciative. If they came up to your desk with the information would you not say ‘thanks’? Would it be acceptable to ignore them on that occassion, using the excuse that you were far too busy to acknowledge their existence? I very much doubt it. So, just because it’s an email, don’t ‘not do it’ just because you can’t see them, and all around you can’t see what’s happening. Stay professional, and focus on portraying the best possible image of the business you are representing whilst dealing with its customers and suppliers.

Time versus Quality of Output Conflict

1st April 2015

In a high pressure environment, when faced with deadlines looming and more work being allocated to you, there is this constant challenge of, “I could do a far better job, if only I had more time”. The reality of these situations usually means that you are under pressure from your manager to get the job completed in order that you can progress onto the next project. It is this very same manager who is going to be disappointed (OK that may very well be an understatement!) if the job is not completed to the required standard.

So, how should you view the use of your time when trying to get through a task? 80/20 is a ratio that gets used quite often in many business related contexts. As an example, when I used to have customer sales panels (when working for Aviva PLC), as a rough rule of thumb it was not unusual to find that almost 80% of the income came from the top 20% of my panel. This was a useful way of considering how best to split my time between my customers (i.e. if I spent 80% of my time with the top 20% of customers, it should have a far more positive impact on the performance overall, as opposed to splitting my time evenly across everyone on the panel).

Another area where I have heard the 80/20 rule being cited is in the time taken to complete tasks. The theory is that you get the bulk of a task progressed relatively quickly (i.e. as high as 80% completed in 20% of the end result time used), and then you spend a much longer period of time working on getting the task finally completed (i.e. as much as 80% of the time to complete the final 20% of the task). Now all of this, in reality, seems a very simplistic way to view your outputs and it is without doubt that the amount of time taken to complete certain tasks, and get the quality right, may very well be warranted. And, of course, we can always debate for any particular project if it is 80/20 or 70/30 or 60/40 etc. The point however is, to bear in mind that whilst you are taking all of this time to improve upon what you have already almost fully completed, it directly conflicts with that same period of time potentially contributing towards up to 80% of the next project that is awaiting your attention. Then, when you break this down even further, all of the potential time slots available to you (if it was decided that you didn’t need everything to be absolutely perfect) could in fact contribute towards the completion of many more tasks. It is therefore quite right to challenge the process by asking, “How much better is the output, bearing in mind the extra time required to get it better?” So keep challenging yourself or your team, as to how much time you really need to get a task completed, but please don’t lose sight of the quality/standards required. Perhaps in some instances you can revisit the quality/standards to see if in any way you are doing things which are beyond what the end user actually needs to fulfill their purposes.

Serve Us With A Smile

Launching A New Business

That Awkward Silence

Rude Manners: All Caught Up In The Net

Time versus Quality of Output Conflict

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