Spark into Marketing » Bit of a Rant

Finish the job cleanly and take away the radiator – it is the best marketing.

jeanspark — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:26:31 +0000

Finish the job and complete the project to wow your customer.

The trouble is that jobs often drag on, and change shape without having a sense of completion. In fact your customers may not really know whether you have done a good job or not, but they will certainly be able to tell if the project is not completed.

I was reminded of this recently as I discovered a leak in a radiator and needed to call a plumber urgently.

My normal plumber did not reply, so I called another who had been recommended as good value and reliable. He came promptly, and all seemed to be well, and I was thinking that I could use this new plumber in future as he is much more local. The carpets were getting soaked, and water was pouring down walls so I didn’t get comparison quotes – I needed quick action.

After the new radiator was installed, and the plumber had gone I glanced outside and noticed the old radiator propped up against a wall. Now I may not be an expert on plumbing but I certainly know customer service when I see it.

I expected the old radiator to have been taken away. It is extremely heavy, and I have no way of disposing of it at all. So I had to phone the plumber up and ask him to take it away. He did so, but without an apology and rather grudgingly.

Dirty old radiator not taken away at the end of the job

I have no reason to believe the plumbing is not first class, but I am not capable of judging it fully. The leak has stopped. However I can judge customer service, and in my opinion it fell short of what I expected. So he did not wow me. The next day my original plumber returned my call as he had been away on holiday and apologised. Next time he will – yet again – be my first phone call.

Even if we are not plumbers we still have radiator-removal in our business, so we finish the job cleanly.

The final parts of a project are in many ways even more important than the beginning. Where things have gone wrong it is a chance to get back on track, and where they have gone right you can look back together knowing the work has been completed well.

The final assessment, or even a thank you helps to cleanly finish one scope of work, and tidy up. It brings a sense of completeness and helps you to look good in your customer’s eyes. Doing it really well brings that wow factor which is the best marketing in the world.

Mmm perhaps I’ll retrain as a plumber!

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10 end-of-the-month small business activities

jeanspark — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:30:58 +0000

“End of the month” – the words conjure up a sense of completion. We usually think of the end of the month in terms of sales (money in, mostly) but of course the end of the month is a regular chance to look at what has happened, and to confirm the next steps.

1. Sales made.

How much did you sell and invoice this month? And the all-important cashflow question about the cash received? Who still owes what? What is the lifetime value of your customer?

It is also important to look at where the money was made. Which products / services are selling best? Which are bringing you in most profit? How did those customers find you? What words were put into the search engines to find your website? Time and money are never in sufficient supply, so go with what is working best, and do more of it.

2. Money spent

Each end of the month is an opportunity to complete the month in terms of expenses, and I am far more interested in doing this if the information is fresh and new. (In fact if it is old I get very bored!). So I go through credit card payments, bank statements, and my diary to make sure nothing is forgotten. As a general principle I try to file away receipts as they occur, and enter the information on the spreadsheets. Doesn’t always work of course, but there is nothing worse than having to go through ancient receipts a year later. It is also an opportunity to question the value of where the money has gone.

3. On track / off track?

Are you meeting your targets? Are you heading in the right direction even if more slowly than you hoped? Sometimes opportunities are too good to turn down, and sometimes they are the entrepreneur’s curse, where the new is more interesting than the current idea. In addition to sales targets it is good to be clear about the type of business you operate which makes decision-making much easier.

Facing the truth of the situation helps to keep the business in touch with reality.

4. New brilliant ideas.

Entrepreneurs have more brilliant ideas than most people! Write them down so you don’t lose them, and get them expressed as much as possible. Half completed ideas can absorb energy so either do them, or record them. Once a month look through the ideas for inspiration and remind yourself who is boss.

Whether it is more entry level products, more high end services or a completely different way of looking at your business, get the ideas on to paper or out in the open.

5. New contacts made.

New contacts are the lifeblood of next month or next year. In addition to prospective customers, and new customers, your existing contacts may have a new relationship with you. A good customer may become a referrer, a “competitor” may become a business partner, you may have found a mentor, a board member, a preferred supplier. Tracking what has happened helps with what you want to happen.

6. What did we learn?

Market research never stops. Who is buying, why they buy, what’s new, how we are changing. You can do SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technical changes) analysis, but keeping current and articulating the changes is one step closer to being in touch with your market and your business. You change, too,

7. Destroy something.

Yes, it is good for you! Paperwork, emails in the inbox, partnerships, customers, businesses,advertisements that are not working, products, all have shelf life. Gardeners have to cut and prune to get the right stuff to grow. As the business owners the only job is see the wood for the trees. Removing some trees will help others to grow.

8. Choose what to grow

Focus on a definite project or projects to help accountability, and makes success more likely. You might decide to grow your email list, or your Pay per Click account before holding the workshop. You might decide to spend the month looking for a certain number of speaking engagements, or meeting important clients. Whether you do the work yourself or outsource it will have to be managed. Having a definite target and monitoring helps keep a sense of purpose, and a business you want to work in. Weeds will grow by themselves, but an apple orchard or rose garden will have to be nurtured!

9. The end of / the start of..

Campaigns and projects are a useful way to make the most of end of/ start of energy. The campaign is likely to run for more than a month but there will be different activities to monitor as it develops.

The end of the day, the week, the month, the end of the quarter, the end of the year, of the decade are all opportunities to take stock and learn, even though the end of the month doesn’t always happen at the end of the month.

Each new month, quarter, year or decade brings new opportunities and a fresh start which gives you the energy to go out and do something amazing!

10. Celebrate every success.

If the figures on the white board add up, if you receive a fantastic compliment, if your visitors comment on your blog – whatever it is – celebrate. It builds the “can do” muscle and gets you in the habit of achieving and thinking positively. Then the sky is the limit.

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National Poetry Day contribution “Justice at Work”

jeanspark — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:18:41 +0000

It is National Poetry Day. Here is my contribution especially for anyone (male or female) who has suffered in a totalitarian work environment.

Hope you like it! Poetry is such a great way to express imaginative ideas.

Justice at work

As the bullies come near in the playground

I go quiet, neutral.

Skirt length unremarkable, occupied

Don’t catch their eye

Hold my breath, wishing

myself into the brick wall

While my friend more reckless

returns the stare, sticks out her tongue

and runs off laughing

Miraculously unscathed.

In the very important meeting

With the very important customer

the gang leader

takes credit for my report, my analysis, my concept.

I freeze.

Guilt shame confusion.

Six years old inside my

Adult body – not too geeky

Not too gorgeous. Unremarkable.

Why can’t I be like my friend!

Suddenly I need to throw

the fat smug bastard

through the sixteenth storey window

hoist with his own glass shard.

I need to ram the biros down

passive throats

tear my report into confetti,

stuff it into every orifice

celebrate!

So I make an innocent but

intelligent remark

in a variety of ways

relentlessly

persuasively

until they eventually

get it.

The power in the room shifts, creaks.

The mast of superiority re-angled

Over our flagship idea.

They’re groaning and dying from paper wound

Fountain pen poisoning

Laptop leprosy.

Slumped across desks, rigor mortis

Set in mid-sip

“No sugar dear

must watch the weight” still in the air

not swallowed.

While the icy wind knifes round

the room through the crazed

discordant hole where no crack is permitted

in toughened glass.

I walk on devastation

In my red stilettos

Fish net tights

Frothy skirt

Tailored jacket

Laughing

till I am dancing

on the board room table.

Me and my magic marker

return it all to order

Without sideways glance

or heartbeat missed.

Space is made for me.

I’ve made a difference

To me.

my peace is a piece of me

top of my agenda

none of their

business.

Me and my best friend run off

giggling

to blow raspberries

with our bubblegum

and leave ‘em standing.

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Oscar time at Marlow FM for one of the Business Radio shows?

jeanspark — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:47:51 +0000

The Awards ceremony at Marlow FM will have one thing in common with the Oscars and the BAFTAs … awards!

Forget the famous film stars stepping on to the red carpet …lines of black gleaming limos .. flashing cameras… and even the gasps from the crowd.

On Sunday night at 9:00 pm all the presenters for the radio shows on Marlow Fm will be in the barn in the Two Brewers pub. Then we will make our way to the MarlowFM studio for the Awards Show. There won’t be a dinner jacket or designer dress in sight but it will be a party! The volunteer radio presenters will celebrate the achievements of the 28 day licence on MarlowFm

Business in Berkshire owner Jon Davey co-ordinated a whole group of business people to present business-related programmes. The public are being asked to vote on the shows they like best and it would be great if a business show ended up getting an award.

To be fair this is less likely as the other presenters have a programme every day and our shows are just once a week. But we have interviewed a lot of local business people and we hope have done something good for the local business community.

My show on Fridays called “That Fabulous Friday Feeling” is up there for your vote, so if you have caught any of them and would like to vote please give in to the feeling!

As business radio presenters we have been standing up for business on air for the last four weeks and would love your vote. You can vote by the name of the show or the name of the presenter

Many thanks. Who knows, maybe fame and fortune will be just around the corner and we can spread good news about small businesses being the way forward in the economy, and it could be an inspiration.

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8 Reasons why “Britain’s Got Talent” is important for your business.

jeanspark — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:26:58 +0000

The world wide figures for Britain’s Got Talent have been phenomenal. Susan Boyle’s videos have been watched more than those of Barack Obama. Something is going on and there are powerful lessons for your business.

1. It reminds you that it is all about the audience. Unlike the Apprentice (apparently about business but more of a soap opera) the audience decides. It is the same in your business. They decide who they want to have the budget, the cash or the vote.

2. Talent and hard work take you most of the way, so you are ready for the opportunity. Susan Boyle said the only reason she was not famous was because she had not had the opportunity.

3. Talent and a story that touches the heart get you further. In Susan Boyle’s case from an unknown village on to the Oprah show. Her story was the contrast between the appearance and the voice, for Diversity the dance troupe it was all about brothers and friends and inspired leadership, for Julian Smith it was that his saxophone his wife and his children were what he loved. Not a soundbite, but way of capturing the essence. We all need a peg to hang an idea on.

Most of the finalists had a wonderful story. The grandfather who got over the grief of his wife’s death and the grand-daughter who had more confidence when with him, the father and son who adored each other and the son knew his dad had not had a father in his own life, the little sister who ended up singing (not singing and dancing) and coped with her tears, the boy who learnt the moves in his bedroom…

Shaun had an amazing voice didn’t have a really appealing story, and did not finish in the top three.

4. Tears, tantrums and weakness do not mean the end. Susan’s tantrums and Hollie’s tears did not make the public or the judges reject them. In fact the opposite happened. Things go wrong. Recovering from a mistake is what matters.

5. Telling the truth makes a difference. When Simon Cowell makes a critical comment he may get boos, but you can feel the truth of it. Everyone listens to what Simon says with closer attention because he does not hold back. He provides leadership. He preferred Diversity to their closest competition, while Piers Morgan preferred Flawless. Diversity won. Leadership is important. You may be booed by some, but you will have more authority and more people will trust you.

6. Choose the right song at the final. Sing a whole range of songs to see what fits, but go with the right one at the end. Your song in business is a mix of what you do, how you do it and why it is right for you.

7. The name is important. Britain’s Got Talent proved to be even more accurate this year, as the finalists were a specially talented group. Call your business and your products and services the right name, and it will do the work for you.

8. What’s happening in the wider world can help. Piers Morgan told Susan Boyle she had given the world something to believe in. The doom and gloom all around probably contributed to Susan’s fame. Home cooking, home grown vegetables, and home grown talent are all part of a new ethos which has contributed to the unprecedented coverage of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

Britain’s Got Talent has been a fantastic free learning experience for all of us in business. Use it!

The chances are that your customers have seen it or heard about it, so in addition it gives you an experience to talk about with them.

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Would you trust an MP to run your business?

jeanspark — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:09:01 +0000

The incompetence of MP’s to understand that money does not only not grow on trees, but has to be accounted for, and should be spent with some degree of integrity is amazing to most small business owners.

We fill in our tax return forms, use accountants to verify our records (all out of our own time and expense) and then send the results to the tax office.

MP’s seem to be only capable of throwing a bunch of receipts together and not knowing if they made sense or not.

If they were running a business (and not just the country) they would have had to decide some fairly exciting expense codes to account for their spending…moats, DVD’s and additional houses. They would also have to learn the tax system and not just administer it.

My jaw dropped the most at Jack Straw’s explanation for his poor book-keeping which was that he was not an accountant.

Try telling that to those friendly tax men next time you send in your tax return!

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Internet – good bad or simply a way to communicate?

jeanspark — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:03:48 +0000

I was interested to read in the Sunday Times today an article by Bryan Appleyard about the perils of the internet, and its supposed revolution of our world. It was his emotional stance which surprised me as he thought his slightly critical view of the internet would encourage people to “sneer.”

It reminded me that one of my elderly relations told me very forcefully that the internet was extremely dangerous. How did she know?
The answer: “Oh I know, everybody knows.”
Had she ever been on the internet?
Of course not.
I think this was after the Gary Glitter revelations so I suppose was not surprising in someone in her eighties. She was fundamentally nostalgic for the golden years of her youth. Far easier to blame the messenger.

Bryan Appleyard’s main premise is that the internet has encouraged a culture of individualism and declared himself a Luddite. He seems to have positioned himself against an army of readers who think that the internet is irreproachable, and are almost adherents of a web cult.
Whether this was simply a journalistic device is not forthcoming.

The original Luddites smashed the new industrial machines because they were “bad” for agricultural workers…although they were “good” for the British economy as a whole.

By the same token the Gutenberg press was “bad” for the monks who laboured slowly over beautiful manuscripts, (although I doubt that they smashed anything), but “good” in spreading the printed word.

The internet is simply the means of communication. To think of it as good or bad is not the point. Social media and Web 2.0 is where we are now, in five years time I am sure things will have changed out of all recognition.

The internet allows people to express themselves and be publishers to a wider audience in a way that has not happened before.

The issue is whether the messages are of value or not, rather than whether the internet is “good” or “bad” as it is simply a means of communication.

The opportunity, surely, is to be the change you want to see on the internet.

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Amazon or Barclays customer service?

jeanspark — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:11:36 +0000

On Saturday morning I was paying some bills online. As it was Saturday I set the date for the payment transfer for Monday (2 days later) as I thought that would be reasonable.

I couldn’t process the payment because, Barclays Bank told me, I had to set the date to “immediate”.

Was it easy to set the date to “immediate?” No. I was thrown out of the whole process and ended up at a log in page again. When I tried to log in I was told that online banking was not available!

Of course online banking was available: I had just been sent to some strange waiting room in cyberspace without even a cheerful receptionist. In the end I had to go through the whole process again and was able to make the transfer. But what a waste of my time and my goodwill. Barclays have been doing online banking for years now. You would think they would have got the bugs sorted.

Just as I finished there was a knock on the door and a delivery man was standing there with a parcel from Amazon. I was astonished. The order had been made online the previous afternoon and I had not paid for delivery. My expectation was that the books would arrive in three days time.

So Amazon exceeded my expectation of their standard of customer service, and overdelivered, and Barclays failed to reach the standard I expected.

I don’t know how Amazon is faring in the recession but their customer service impressed me. They have cut 40% off many paperback costs, and obviously are hot on delivery. Good for them.

Barclays on the other hand have been doing online banking for a few years, and don’t seem to have the basics right. As they have chosen middle eastern, rather than taxpayer, money to bail them out, perhaps some new sharp shooter on the board will ask sharp questions about customer service. Sort that out, and they are more likely to keep existing customers.. and without the expense of expensive celebrity television advertising.

Good customer service is the foundation of good marketing… and is essential in the recession even more than at other times.

What are the standards that your customers expect? What are you telling them about what to expect?

Under promise and over deliver.

We have all heard it. It is a good policy to overdeliver against their expectations to get your customers talking about your business in the right way.

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Friday – the day for marketing spark!

jeanspark — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:00:38 +0000

Twitter has “#Follow Friday” which is the day when people post about who else to follow.

This spreads the social media love, helps people acknowledge each other, and – at heart – reminds everyone what twitter is about.

Fridays are special days for finding your spark!

Fridays have always had a special place in the working week. There is the sense of anticipation and the fact that most people unclench a little and relax.

And, by magic, Friday can often be the day when

most work gets done more easily

risks are taken with more confidence

deals are done more effortlessly.

I can remember “Dress down Friday” when permission was given to come into work in jeans and the atmosphere at coffee time was like a party. People chatted about their plans for the weekend , connected better, and sometimes averted disaster by feeling more confident to ask for help or pass on information.

Further back, Fridays used to be called POETS day: PXXX Off Early Tomorrow’s Saturday. I first heard this from hard-bitten salesmen continually on the road who would engineer their calls to be near home on a Friday. It was quite an adversarial approach with the underlying implication that “they” wouldn’t notice – and possibly that “they” wouldn’t buy.

If you are the boss of your own small business there is no “they” who run the business, there is only “I”, and in fact it is unhelpful to think of customers as “they” when in fact “we” can achieve miracles.

For small businesses who enjoy their work there is no such thing as a Friday afternoon product. Fridays – instead of releasing you from the hell that is work – are a fantastic opportunity to think more deeply or simply do more stuff.

I remember when I was selling solar electric products my sales partner and I would love that Friday feeling. The chances of getting more sales increased because you could slip under the radar and engage as human beings as the defences went down. It was lie-back-in-the-chair time and chat, not stand up and pace, and the results were surprising.

If it seems difficult to focus on your own business development, rather than your customer’s needs, try making Friday a day for you.

Let me know how you get on!

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Wedgewood Spode Waterford Crystal – going? gone?

jeanspark — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:28:26 +0000

I went into a very beautiful kitchen and china shop on Saturday and was surprised to see Wedgewood mugs on the shelf. I had thought the company had gone down.

Two very friendly assistants told me that they can still get stock, as they can for other companies in the group .. Spode, Royal Worcester, Waterford Crystal, but that no more is being made. They said that the Waterford factory in Ireland has closed down also and all production will be shipped overseas, and Waterford is a ghost town, now. They thought an American company had bought it.

We had a good chat about it being sad that British household names are disappearing – as you do on a Saturday afternoon – and there was some shoulder-shrugging about the fact that people don’t buy expensive dinner services any more. However the shop was piled to the ceiling with Villeroy and Bosch. Rather to my delight there was no talk about the recession being to blame.

While I know nothing about the inner workings of Wedgewood et al, I had been shocked when news broke that they were going into administration. Especially as I had recently bought a few amazing and wonderful Wedgewood dinner plates for a friend of mine. They were a contemporary take on the Willow Pattern and utterly wonderful .. loved by my friend and much complimented by all who ate off them.

So I thought Wedgewood had its finger on the pulse of modern taste and were making products that people wanted. In fact I was really impressed! (Sell wonderful products and market them well and you bet I am impressed!)

The other reason that I was sad about Wedgewood is that the firm has pioneering in its blood. It has been going for 250 years and practically pre-dated the industrial revolution. Josiah Wedgewood had a revolutionery idea to use production methodology rather than have one potter making one entire piece. In ten short years he had developed a new ceramic process for dinner services and become the favourite of Royalty.

What are the lessons for small business?

Look for opportunities even with well-known brands who might be having problems with debt/bankers.
Supply what people want.
Use the most effective production process.
Market your history as a benefit… not as history.

I may have inadvertently mis-represented the Wedgewood situation. There is no further information on the Wedgewood Website so if you know more please add a comment. Thanks.

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