Wise Beyond Their Years

When I was young, I was told that I should respect my elders. I did not agree with that, I believe everyone should be treated with respect irrespective of their age. Some people because of their values and the way they behave deserve an extra level of respect.

Older people have more experience and through that some gain wisdom; however, for others those experiences leave them with a jaundiced view that results in behaviours that do not garner respect. And for others years of experience is, at best, one year’s experience repeated many times.

In my early career I sought out older people for their advice and to act as mentors, it wasn’t their age that made them useful, it was how experiences had shaped their lives and that they were willing to pass on that experience in a non-dogmatic way. That I respected.

Now I look to young people for advice and mentoring, they are leaving school and university with up-to-date knowledge and often know things I do not. They also understand modern society and the needs and expectations of the younger generations which are often different from how things were when my patterns of thinking were formed.

If I am to manage people well, I need to understand what is important to them and if I want to sell products and services, I need to understand what people need and want. Given my demographic not many of my potential customers are like me, about 17% of the UK population is over 65. If anyone deserves respect due to their age it is the young. They have to cope with a lot more change and complexity when they are trying to find their place in the world than my generation ever did. And, overall, they are doing a great job.

Honesty Box

The seed of an idea for these business blogs has to grow and I nurture it until it is ready to harvest, then I prepare it so you can digest it. If you found the content useful please consider popping some money into the honesty box. Unlike buying eggs at the farm gate, you cannot put the cash in a box because you are reading this online. You can click on the Buy Me a Coffee link below which will take you to a page where by magic (nifty software) a small amount of money will disappear from your account and appear in mine. Don’t worry you are in control all the time. If the post wasn’t helpful, please leave a comment suggesting how it can be improved.

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Ask and ye shall receive

My debut as a stand-up comedian made me think about how businesses often do not ask for what they want

The debut was on the 1^st of August at Toast in Falmouth. Before the event I was feeling very nervous and posted this message on Facebook.

I am making my stand-up comedy debut at Toast in Falmouth tonight – I am a tad nervous please send helpful thoughts.

I soon received plenty of messages of support which improved my confidence. The following is a small selection.

You will be wonderful!! Have fun!!!

You’re a natural, what an experience. ENJOY and have fun!

Just be you, they will love you.

You’re gonna smash it!

I’m pleased to say that my debut went well, I loved it and have been booked to do more. Part of the success was down to the support I received from friends; I only received that support because I asked for it.

In business I have often come across incidences of people not asking for what they need:

salespeople waxing lyrical about their product then not asking the potential customer if they want to buy it
businesses with many satisfied customers not asking for testimonials
not asking for help because it is seen as weakness
not asking for referrals

At networking events I often hear people say what they do but not what they want; there is no specific ask. When I talk about the charity I support, Go Beyond, I have four specific asks:

Money (donations)
People to volunteer
Referrals to schools (which can refer children to the charity)
Child appropriate jokes (mine are getting overused)

That has produced results in all four categories although the jokes have been weak 😊

Ask and ye shall receive – don’t ask and people will not know that you need something or what it is.

Honesty Box

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Connect

Networking is not giving a pitch or even having conversations, it is about what you do in the room and outside of it. The other day I attended a networking lunch where there were speakers before the lunch and between the main course and dessert. The speakers were interesting and entertaining yet some people in the room chose not to listen, instead they were on their phones writing emails, browsing the internet, checking social media, etc. What does that say about them? I am perhaps old-fashioned in thinking that one is duty bound to listen to people who have spent time preparing something to present to the audience. Also, if people cannot listen to people who paid for their lunch, some of the speakers were from the event sponsors, how much attention are they going to give to me. Another thought is that if they are easily distracted how well will they concentrate on giving me great service?

Two people from the same organisation sat together and spent the whole of the time talking to each other not engaging with anyone else on the table. They obviously do not want, or need, my business and are certainly not going to get it.

I observed people as they milled about before and after the lunch. It was clear that some people moved on as soon as they discovered the person they were talking to was not a potential customer. Strange – it’s networking, not sales pitching. Building good relationships with a range of people allows you to contact, via them, with people not in the room – that is what networking is about.

After the meeting you can also get it very wrong. Connecting on LinkedIn is good, immediately sending sales pitches in a private message is not. Do send friendly messages designed to build rapport. DO NOT spam. And don’t express an interest in someone’s business as a potential customer at the meeting to get their contact details then follow up afterwards just to try and sell them something. Networking is about building relationships not destroying them.

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Tip top condition

Recently there have been stories in the press about pressures on the ambulance service because patients cannot be admitted to hospital and problems with people accessing GP services. The Government has responded with a plan to ease bed blocking in hospitals, extra funding for the ambulance services and plans to train and recruit more doctors. In my opinion this is tackling the problem in the wrong direction, increasing supply rather than reducing demand. Lifestyle diseases (preventable diseases) exceed communicated diseases and genetic disorders so reducing demand would be a better solution. For example, by encouraging people to be more active and eat more healthily.

Businesses fall into the trap of wrong direction thinking. For example, I recently encountered a mobile dog grooming business that was not generating sufficient profit and the owner was working all hours taking on new customers. This was the wrong approach, she needed to get rid of some of the customers as they were costing her money. By servicing the profitable customers well and dropping the unprofitable customers she worked less hours and had better profits.

In tough times the usual approach is to cut costs, this can be sensible; however, so can incurring extra costs. Paying for a consultant to examine the business and recommend adjustments that can cut appropriate costs and increase sales may be a great investment.

If you do not have a handle on what is going on with the business, and why it is leaking cash, paying for a good accountancy package that will provide useful data to enable you to better mange the business is a wise move. So is investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to better manage your sales funnel. There is no point shovelling more sales in the top if it is more like a sieve than a funnel.

Of course, it is better to follow the advice of John F. Kennedy:

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.

Being proactive and keeping your business healthy will prevent the need for remedial action.

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PowerPoint – get it right please

Recently I was subjected to another poor PowerPoint presentation and asked myself why after over 30 years people still make the same mistakes? I am a fan of PowerPoint and so are Microsoft who bought it in 1987 for $14 million (about $34 million in today’s terms). It is a vast improvement on overhead projectors and acetate slides which were what was used when I first gave presentations. It is a powerful presentation aid and there, I think, lies the problem, people believe it is the presentation and think it will do all the work. Like any tool or instrument, it needs to be used with skill. A violin in the hands of the untrained and unskilled is a dreadful thing, in the hands of a virtuoso it produces beautiful music.

That was the first problem with the PowerPoint presentation I suffered; no training and no skill. It was produced by someone who was an expert in his field, but not in creating good PowerPoint slides. He was also not good at giving presentations. This is often the case, a company will use an expert or a senior manager to give presentations because they know the stuff, often they know nothing about giving presentations.

Top tip 1) Get someone who is good at preparing PowerPoint slides to produce them and someone who is good at presenting to present them (this may not be the same person). The expert can be on-hand to answer questions on the day.

This may create more work with people having to be briefed and more people involved; however, if it is important, it is worth the investment in doing it well.

Top tip 2) Make sure people can see the slides. You may not be able to access the venue you are using before the day, but you will probably know the size. Check that someone sitting at the furthest distance away from the screen can read it.

Top tip 3) Do not put too much on the slide. Don’t put lots of data on the slide or complicated graphs. Pull out the main feature and make sure that is writ large.

68% Increase

If people want to see the data, you can send it to them after.

Top tip 4) Don’t put your name, company logo, website etc on every slide. People will remember you if you deliver a great presentation not because you cluttered up each slide with unnecessary stuff and please don’t use pretty curlicues. Leave the fancy templates alone.

Top tip 5) Don’t read from the slide. It will mean you will turn your back on the audience (not good) and you will put too many words on the slide. Instead of putting:

“One of the main things your presentation needs to have is impact.”

Just say that sentence and put impact writ large on the slide.

IMPACT

Or if the style of your presentation fits with it used a picture to illustrate impact.

There is a lot more I could say but just by following these tips you will avoid your presentation being a car crash.

Honesty Box

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Are you in control?

I recently wrote the following in my Electric Car Driving Experience blog and thought the BMW driver was a good metaphor for many business owners.

The drive on Saturday was uneventful except for the behaviour of one BMW driver. On the short two-lane section near Wadebridge the BMW overtook me doing well in excess of the speed limit, I was doing 60 mph at the time. A little later I caught the car up in the windy single carriageway section, it was going slower than I would have done, particularly through the Allen valley. What was worse was that the driver was a brake stabber; arrive fast at a corner on the brakes, in the corner on the brakes, road narrows a bit on the brakes. Annoying and unnecessary. I did not use my brakes once, with some anticipation I just had to take my foot off the accelerator before the car in front braked. Driving that way, I maintained a safe and fixed distance between our cars. Had the BMW driver adopted a similar driving style the passengers would have had a more pleasant ride, the car would have used less fuel, the environment would have benefitted and there would have been less brake wear.

The BMW driver was reacting to changing road conditions not anticipating them, they were not using all the information available: looking ahead to see the road, noticing the road signs for bends, junctions etc., the pattern of the white lines on the road. Many business owners are guilty of similar behaviour with their heads down working in the business, not reading the signs and not anticipating what is coming. Instead, they react to the crisis when it arrives.

I know of many business owners who have invested in networking or social media marketing then when the business starts rolling in, they stop doing it. Then when business demand dries up, they suddenly start doing it again. This example is about speeding up, with the BMW driver it was slowing down, both give a jerky journey which is uncomfortable for the car’s passengers and the business’s staff or in the case of a sole trader their family. A smooth approach will result in quicker progress.

Another ‘stabbing on the brakes’ activity is credit control, nothing much is done until cashflow is a problem then there is a flurry of activity of chasing debtors with other activities being side-lined. It is much better to take a smooth approach and manage those debtors consistently, the cash will then indeed flow.

Braking alters the balance of the car and the weight distribution across the tyres, particularly braking while cornering, this can lead to a loss of grip. If this happens when road conditions are bad, a patch of oil or diesel, damp leaves or standing water it could lead to a crash. It is the same in business if things are out of balance, for example the accounting is not up today, stock levels not adequate, staff not trained, invoicing not raised promptly, etc. when conditions get rough, and we have seen lots of that recently, the business may crash. When you need to apply for credit and the bank want accounts, if these are not up to date there will be a delay while you are getting this done (perhaps neglecting sales activity) and this could lead to worsening cash flow that could push the business over the edge before the loan comes through. Or even if the loan does arrive before the crunch, it could be too late if sales have dried up due to that lack of activity.

Just like a well-balanced car has a better chance of dealing with the unexpected, so will a well- balance business. Don’t be a brake stabber, look up, look ahead and anticipate.

Honesty Box

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Is your business truly inclusive?

A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting where I didn’t feel fully included and was reminded of this at the weekend when I attended an excellent training event on Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism run by Greenpeace. During the introduction some ground rules were set, these included the usual things like, respect, confidentiality, etc, and ‘step up/step back’. This was explained as please do speak up to contribute, but also step back so as not to dominate and let others have space to express their views.

This took me back to the start of the other meeting a few weeks ago. It was a training session for people relatively new to the organisation and included employees from all levels and volunteers. It is fair to say that the organisation takes Equality, Diversity and Inclusion seriously and probably believes it ticks all the boxes. Yet I, and probably some others, did not feel fully included. There was some informal chat before the meeting started which was dominated by two people in senior positions who obviously knew each other before joining the organisation; the loud conversation was about golf, before moving on to football. The rest of us around the table were unable to contribute. Those two could have helped the group come together by ‘stepping back’.

That was probably why the events at lunchtime upset me; I was already not feeling part of the group. We had been asked for our dietary requirements in advance and, this being Cornwall, we were provided with a pasty – mine was vegan. There was also a selection of cakes, pastries and biscuits, that is if you were not vegan. I had just one option, chocolate bites. I turned vegan over ten years ago and in those early days I felt grateful just to be provided with something to eat; however, that lack of choice helped me feel excluded. A little bit more thought could have changed all that. Inclusion is more than just not being excluded.

Exclusion can take many forms, a meeting in a pub will exclude people whose religion prohibits alcohol. It may also exclude others because there is an expectation to spend money. That type of inclusion, which is more hidden, can easily be overlooked.

The Greenpeace training course also provided a key to unlocking the solution to these problems:

Keep

Educating

Yourself

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How to get staff

I recently stayed in a Marston’s Inn hotel (comfortable, good value and many have electric car chargers) and went across to the pub for a meal. I was warmly welcomed by the member of staff directing people to tables and was soon settled down perusing the menu. It was ‘order at the bar’ and when I did, I was again welcomed by another member of staff. As I was waiting for my drink to be poured another bartender commented on my tee shirt, ‘Powered by plants,’ and we had a conversation about veganism.

When my meal was served the waitress commented on how good the Buffalo Cauliflower Wings looked, they were new on the menu, and she had not tried them yet. That was the start of another pleasant conversation. After I had finished the meal, the dishes were quickly cleared away by a friendly waitress who chatted with me for a while, and I learnt that I had arrived just after the end of their busy period. Knowing that I was even more impressed with how cheerful all the staff were. Normally when eating alone, I indulge in people watching, this time after my meal I had a spell of staff watching; all were friendly and attentive. As they moved around the dining area, they were looking around to see if anything needed clearing away or cleaning and if any customers needed help. I was impressed.

I wondered why the staff were so good and used my phone to do some research on Marston’s. I soon found the answer, they valued their people and invested in them. They were number 33 in the top 100 top employers for apprentices, had just given employees a generous pay rise and invested in employee development.

There were plenty of staff on duty that night and thinking back to the other times I have been in Marston’s pubs in various parts of the country they all had plenty of staff on duty. Marston’s appear to have no problem getting staff when others in the hospitality industry are struggling. There is a remarkably simple reason for that. Job seekers are aware of the words in Mathew 7:16 “By their deeds you will know them.” Businesses that treat people well will have no problem attracting employees, those that don’t will not.

Marston’s are not good to their employees for philanthropic reasons, they know it is good for business. The food in their pubs is no different from the offering of other pub chains, it is the good dining experience provided by their staff that differentiates them from the competition. I will certainly choose Marston’s over other providers because of the pleasant interaction I have with the staff. It makes a solo stay in a hotel much more attractive.

Employers your people are your greatest asset treat them well and reap the benefits. To continue with biblical quotes, “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7).

Honesty Box

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Cycle of competence

The other day I was reminded of the stages of competence. It is often shown as a hierarchy; however, a better representation is as a circle, as you are likely to move from unconscious competence to unconscious incompetence when things change. My knowledge of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure provides a good example, especially as it was my realising I had slipped from unconscious competence to unconscious incompetence in this area that prompted me to think about the model.

Originally, I was unaware that I knew nothing about the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, I drove a petrol or diesel car for many years until 1^st January 2019 when I started my experiment using public transport, I had no need to think about it. Then when I considered using an electric car, I realised I knew nothing about the charging infrastructure but wanted to, conscious incompetence and the start of the learning process. It was a steep learning curve and, if you follow my Electric Car Driving Experience blog, you will know there have been plenty of trials and tribulations on the way to conscious competence. I now have several helpful apps on my phone, have a good knowledge of charging points in my local area and in places that I regularly visit. I do not need to research and plan those regular trips, unconscious competence.

On Tuesday I had a meeting in Roche and on the way home intended charging the car at Kingsley Village, if both chargers were in use (very unlikely at that time of day) I would carry on to Carland Cross and use the charger there. Both chargers at Kingsley Village were available; I plugged in and the light on my car’s charge point went red – not good. I had a fiddle about to no effect so moved over to the other charger, which started to charge okay then immediately cut out. I tried several times and got the same results. On a previous occasion when this happened, I phoned the helpline and they were unable to help so I did not phone this time, instead I drove on to Carland Cross.

There was a car at the Carland Cross charger with the driver standing beside it engaged in an animated telephone conversation with, I assume, the helpline, he checked the display several times and disconnected and reconnected his car a few times. There would only be two outcomes, the problem would not be resolved and the charger would be out of action, or it would be rectified and the car would be there for a fair amount of time on charge. I decided to bite the bullet and find another charge point, even though I would have to pay. The Shell Recharge, BP Pulse and InstaVolt networks are free for me to use as part of my all-inclusive electric vehicle rental.

I checked the Zap-Map app to find a charge point and was surprised to find there was one on the Shell Recharge network in Pool at the Copper Coast pub, less than two miles away from where I live. It was not there a few months ago. I had become unconsciously incompetent.

To me the most dangerous places to be are:

unconsciously incompetent – if you cannot see the problem, you are the problem.

unconsciously competent – if things change you may not be aware you are no longer competent and be unaware of opportunities.

Both states are where no learning is taking place. The solution is to surround yourself with a diverse group of people and take part in different activities – travel is a wonderful way of achieving this.

If you want to try an Onto electric car no commitment, all inclusive monthly rental use the code 52aad to get a £50 discount.

Honesty Box

If you like what I say you can buy me a coffee if you want to.

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Poor customer services is wasteful

Poor customer services undoubtedly annoys customers and can result in lost sales; however, I want you to think about the impact it has on costs. Poor customer service cost more than good customer service. This simple real-life example I experienced over the last few weeks will illustrate the point.

I have been a customer of the company concerned for 6 months without any problems then at the start of the 7^th month they overcharged me. I telephoned to get it sorted, an 18-minute call, and was told by the very pleasant customer service agent that he was unable to contact the department concerned but would phone me back later that day when he had. Two days later I phoned them, 14-minute phone call, explained the situation and a very pleasant customer service agent said he would have to call me back once he had investigated the situation. Three days later I phoned them and got an answer machine – I left a message explaining the situation and asking for someone to call me.

After another three days I phoned again, a slightly shorter call this time, 13 minutes, and guess what, a very pleasant customer service agent said she would have to call me back once she had investigated the situation. I left it my customary three days and called again. This time it was a shorter phone call, 11 minutes, and joy of joys, the very pleasant customer services agent said, after putting me on hold for a short while, “I can see there has been an error on your account. We can either refund the money or deducted it from your next invoice.” As that invoice is now imminent, I went for the deduction option.

Now look at the cost implications:

Customer service agent 1 – achieved nothing

Customer service agent 2 – achieved nothing

Customer service agent 3 – achieved nothing

Customer service agent 4 – dealt with my query.

So, the company is paying 4 people to do a job that can be done by one person. You may think that is an extreme inference; however, a brief look at the company’s social media accounts showed that my experience was not unusual.

I am sure the customer service agents were trying their best, this is a management and systems issue. Get it right first time, pay out less in wages and have delighted customers.

Honesty Box

If you like what I say you can buy me a coffee if you want to.

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