So it’s been a while since my last post. Have I got nothing to say? Nope (well yes), I keep thinking of no end of ideas of posts but it’s simply been a lack of time for various reasons I’ll detail below. Last month I thought to myself “Christmas is coming that’s a great time to catch up on blogging” or catch up on this or that and a whole number of things but...
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My late father left many legacies. Some good, some not so but one thing he taught myself and my siblings was that if a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. Perfection was to be strived for. This blog post is about that subject and how many seem to not bother. By 13 I could not only fix a puncture I could service my bike, by 14 decorate my room and I could fix a car before I could...
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I’ve been thinking today how powerful a single person is. At one end of the scale a single person can start a war and bring around peace or a single person can build a business empire and destroy it (Ratners). Then maybe at the other end of the scale a single person can choose to smile or be miserable and make or break someone’s day. The power of one is very powerful. In the world of...
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My sister gets married in a couple of weeks. On a very tight budget her and her husband to be have been busy making preparations and organising their wedding. For the bit where you have more guests they are having cream teas and that requires scones, lots of scones I guess around 500 ish scones, a lot anyway! My sister approached their local ASDA some time ago to ask if they would bake the...
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In the film the 5th element we see Korben Dallas (played by Bruce Willis) chasing across space to collect 4 stones representing the 4 classic elements and then a 5th element, a women called Leeloo, which makes the other 4 ‘come alive’ in order to fire a weapon and ultimately save the planet. Know – Like – Trust we’re told are the 3 classic elements for people to do...
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People are what it’s all about. We talk to, email, tweet, interact on-line and of course meet face to face with people. We form relationships and interact with people every day. I love meeting people and listening to them getting to know their stories. Learning how I can help them and knowing when I can’t of course. With the web 2.0 revolution I love the fact that people can connect and...
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Whether you’re a business owner, middle management or a customer facing shop assistant; engaging with your prospects, customers or service users is absolutely vital and now is integral with providing the best customer service that you can. This interactive talk, yes you will have to give some input too, should leave you pepped up to go and engage with your customers in a meaningful and...
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On Saturday just gone we were taking a trip out down to Suffolk and on route popped into Focus DIY to pick up a can of wood stain to finish off the spring clean of our garden furniture. Probably excessive info but hey just setting the scene. So we went to go through the till and there as a bit of a queue and so as one does my eyes were wondering and I spotted a ‘comments’ box on the...
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Picture it. The Waterfront (a local music venue) management team are meeting and the subject of marketing comes up. They need to get the current website sorted and someone comes up with the idea that they could launch a competition that in exchange for designing and building their new website the winner will get a year’s pass to all gigs and nightclub nights. “Genius!” the room...
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Have you ever found yourself seemingly chasing someone or a firm in order for you to give them your business? I know I have. On more than one occasion I’ve done research and contacted a company either by email or by phone and perhaps been promised a call back or received a email delivery notification and then I hear nothing. So I call again or write a reminder. I’m a patient guy, a...
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A little story to start with.. 3 years ago an electrician was fitting safety devices in kitchens. The biggest complaint from kitchen owners was the length of time it took to install and thus the bill was higher and downtime longer. He thought he could solve that problem. Then of course maybe fitters would be unhappy about having to charge less and so he asked his peers, other fitters, what if...
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So I was on my way to Cambridge to record a radio interview about engagement and popped into ASDA to grab a sandwich on route (yeah yeah I know but it was quick and easy). Having chosen my selection I turn to the checkout, you know the one with the ciggies behind the counter. There were 3 assistants and I could see that 2 were predisposed seeing to some problem with the lottery machine. The...
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