Be Open!

At the crack of dawn this morning, I was having a conversation about being open with my best friend Gayle.

Off she had gone at 6 o’clock to a work out with her body in mind only to find that the she and her exercise instructor had business interests in comman. They got talking and are now looking at how they can cross refer each others businesses with ideal clients already in mind. Here is the thing, they were both open to opportunities where ever they might arise.

Being open doesn’t mean that you walk around with a sign on your head saying “Hey look at me I’m open!”. What is does mean is that you are willing to look for possibilities and opportunities regardless of the situation you find yourself in. Some people feel that business opportunities can only be found in business focused events, this is simply not true. You can find that your business interests are aligned with anyone, anywhere. It just depends on how will you are to ask questions, answer them and look for best fits.

Being open doesn’t mean that you attack everyone you meet with your business offering. It does mean, however, that when you get that urge in your gut that says “go on say something” or that tingle that says “ahh something might fit here” or any such sparkle that gets your curiosity going or your fear of rejection buds dancing… just go for it. Ask, inquire, inform and go for gold! It could be a new client or supplier, career or job, a mentor or coach, a new friend or access to that bit of information you’ve had problems getting hold of… being open means that all these options and more have a better chance of getting to you.

Be open to the opportunities around you today, don’t look at your problem, look for the solutions they are already in place and people and organisations are just waiting for you to be open!

Customer Service and the Credit Crunch

Yesterday I found myself driving my girls around some of the little villages surrounding Watford. It was a beautiful day and since my daughter is currently on crutches I decided that country lanes were the best thing for us. It really was a beautiful spring day and it got me thinking about my garden and how I could make the best of it so that my summer months were delightful.

I happened across a garden store which was a business run from home. It had some really beautiful plants in that I could see making a real difference in my garden. I started walking down the aisle of plants and was in awe at the different varieties of plants, herbs and trees available. I came across  some heather which I though would be great for my garden as I wanted something that could spread over the boarders but still look pretty. So I embarked on asking the person who appeared to run the centre for some help.

Hmm, well yes he did answer my question but what was missing was good old customer service. In these times of credit crunch you can’t afford to lose an interested customer… well maybe he could… After answering my questions he proceeded to have a chat with his friend and completely ignored me. I decided it was time to leave and continue my amble around the countryside with my girls.

In short he lost a sale, I chose not to buy. He never really engaged with me, he never asked me what I was trying to achieve in my garden, or suggested what could work, he never offered to show me any other alternative to the heather. I had made it clear that I was looking for something that grew quite quickly, unfortunately he never picked up on it. I had asked if he had debit card facilities and he had said yes… My goodness man, that was a buying signal if ever I’ve heard one. Opportunity knocked and opportunity was lost.

Especially in these times it is important to make your customers feel that there business is important to you. You never know who your customer could know or  who and what they are responsible for, for all the garden centre man knew I could have been the buyer for a larger garden centre. When customers are holding on tighter to their money, businesses need to be alert to the clients buying signals and seize on them with care and consideration for nervous buyers.

I’m not sure that I will ever buy from that garden centre, it seems that they were not interested in my custom and as a result I am no longer interested in their business offering. If you run your own business or work within the sales environment, remember that your customers are people who want to make wise decisions and sometimes need help to decipher how your offering fits into their need.

Are You Hungry?

My favourite children’s book is called The Very Hungry Caterpillar, when I see it in book stores I always want to purchase it again even though I know I already have two copies already stashed away at home. What is it about this book that holds my attention and makes me smile every time I see it wanting to read it again and again? You know what it is? It is the layers of learning that come from such a simple book.

The story is of a caterpillar who over the course of 7 days eats more and more food and eventually becomes so fat that it cannot move. The caterpillar becomes a chrysalis and then turns into a beautiful butterfly.

For children, the learn the seven days of the week and counting and various foods and so much more, but I got to thinking about this story and how it relates to life’s journey. I turn 40 this year and I am excited abut what the other half of my life holds for me, I realise that I have been on the journey of the caterpillar for all of the first 40 years of my life and right now I am ready to fly.

So here is the learning for me and for other adults out there who may be wondering when their change is going to come.

1. It takes time to develop who you are, your beliefs, values and most importantly what your purpose is.
2. Your experiences feed you with knowledge, understanding, skills, resources and resilience. You gain maturity through experience.
3. We are never given more than we can handle. The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats more food each day increasing exponentially only by one item each day until just before it goes it’s its metamorphosis I have learned that just before your change comes one is expected to handle a larger obstacle than ever experienced before. However you have been gearing up to this so that you can handle it.
4. There is a time when we need to stop and take stock of where we are and make changes. Where we find out who we really are. This may feel like we are not moving forward even though we are ready for change. However, like a fine wine we are maturing waiting for the right time to burst and delight ourselves and others.
5. It is only when we have gone through this process that we can emerge as a beautiful butterfly embracing all that we have learnt and continue to learn and stepping wholly and fully into our purpose without. This is when we truly realise the value of everything that we have been through before.

Here’s the thing… in order to get to being a beautiful butterfly you’ve got to be hungry.

The Apprentice: What??? Shariz! no way

What the hell is going on?

Jenny is a nightmare on legs, she does not listen, she makes things us and as Margaret says “she can’t see sideways”. In fact the wrong people where in the boardroom, if any on it should have been Lindi and that Jennifer who says that she is says she’s “the best sales person in europe”. As a Corporate Sales Account Manager and Sales Manager I have never seen so many so called Sales people miss buying signals and

They what was Sir Alan thinking, he got it wrong, very, very wrong and we are going to see Jenny fall I am sure in a collosal way which will hopefully completely open Sir Alan’s eyes. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a television programme and Shariz may not make great ratings unlike the personalities of Jenny and Lucinda so it was inevitable that she would go. But he got it wrong.

I hope that Shariz get’s snapped up by other companies as she showed a level of organisation and common sense that seemed to be lacking in the others. I would have loved to have seen her as a project manager.

Change…it’s all good!

I sat with my friend yesterday who for the last year has been trying to get her website finished. Boy has it been a journey!! She’s tried over and over again to get it finished but it’s just been impossible. She was no longer inspired by the website, it wasn’t really working for her and because it really wasn’t working for her, she couldn’t put any of herself into it the way she really wanted to. Like a ball and chain it’s in-completion has been inhibiting her ability to really make her business fly. But yesterday we had a break through!!!

Yesterday (on my prompting ) she decided to completely change the template, look and feel of her website. To completely and utterly disregard her years work and start again!!!

Well, I can truly say that my friend threw a hissey fit, toys where thrown out of the pram and all the negative self talk came out again (bearing in mind that this is one of my most inspirational friends!!). She fought it even though she knew it was right and in the end she finally gave in and accepted that change was inevitable, that last years website was in-congruent with this years growth and achievements.

My friend started down the path of change and now she is exciting and invigorated, staying up half the night to get it completed. The full acceptance of change came when after tweaking and fiddling with the look and feel she eventually said “That’s it Mads, that’s me!!” So I sent her back look at the previous website and that was a very difficult thing. It now all fell into place that although that worked on some level then, it no longer worked now. She recognised immediately that change was not only inevitable but necessary.

We often look at change as a bad thing, something that is frightening or takes away from what we have. Truth is it doesn’t, change is what we make it, our view of it makes it a bind or a joy. We learn through change and as our circumstances, learning and growth changes we need to ensure that everything else around us catches up.

A change of mind, change of heart, change of circumstances is often just what we need to move ourselves into something greater and better.

What changes do you need to make today to allow yourself to fly???

Vocation, vocation, vocation

At last!!! The television programme that David has been working on for most of this year is due to debut this morning on Channel 4 at 9.30am. This has been a life long dream for Dave and at the beginning of this year he clearly stated that one of his goals was to be on TV and here we are.

Proud is an understatement.. Well Done Dave you rock!!