Tips for effective business networking

These are my key tips learnt from my networking tourism. 

1.  “May I join you?” It can be daunting entering a room full of strangers.  Do you stand in the corner trying to catch someone’s eye?  I find that walking up to any group and politely asking “may I join you?” works.  Everyone is there for the same reason.  I have also heard that looking for a group that is “open” i.e. not in a circle is a sign that they are looking for joiners.

2.  Be specific.  Many network groups give anything from 20 to 60 seconds to introduce yourself.  So, mention the benefits and then ask directly for what you want.  “I am looking for introductions to……”  It helps if you can be as specific as possible.  Marketing Directors of cleaning companies for example.  It is even better if you  can name your target companies.  “I would like an introduction to AXX ltd”.  A specific request helps the audience focus on your needs.  There is no harm changing the request to something else in the future.  “This week, I would like introductions to….”.

3.  What do you do with those business cards you collect?  Put them in a drawer?  File them away?  I invite the person to join me on LinkedIn within a couple of days of meeting them.  After all, they gave you their card.  So the third tip is to follow-up.

This Week:   With only one month to go to the launch of the Highflyingdivas Forum, I have spent the week printing off leaflets and inviting more inspiring professional women.  So, date for the diary – Monday 27th September at Severalls Business Park, Colchester.  Register at
http://hfd.eventbrite.com
.  Whether you work in an organsiation or have your own business, be part of this mentoring forum and receive fresh ideas and new recommendations to support you reaching your goals.  

For various reasons I only attended one networking event this week, namely Colchester Connected held at The Rose & Crown in Colchester.  A very large turnout again and a number of worthwhile charity events were announced.  This network seems to attract a large and diverse group which is refreshing as some networks can become more like clubs with the same members every time.  No membership fee, £15 to attend which includes a cooked breakfast if you are so inclined. www.colchesterconnected.co.uk,

Reading for the week:  Ever felt like writing a book?  So many people have this desire.  Mindy Gibbins-Klein is known as The Book Midwife and she, with Bert Verdonck, has written “Your Book in 100 Days”.  Practical, friendly and short, it provides guidance on bringing your dream of writing to fruition.

Lighter Reflections

With the holiday season in full swing, I recently had the pleasure of a ferry crossing.  I entertained myself by writing this small piece.

All At Sea

The 8 hour cross-channel ferry creates a mini-civilisation of diverse cultures, languages and backgrounds.  Representatives from all ages and walks of life are thrown together, with no escape, on a floating moving island.  It begins with the mad rush of passengers, all eager to stake their claims on window-seats, bar stools and, for some weary parents, outside the children’s play area.  First to secure seats are the young bloods from the coach party.  Noisy and exuberant, they challenge each other to down pints of lager from 9.00 a.m.  Parties of male adolescents soon start out in hunting packs, patrolling the corridors, trying to outdo each other as they strut and swagger in front of any young female.  They pass the tired young couples holding the fingertips of their toddlers, who will not be quiet unless they are wobbling round in a perpetual circuit of the ship’s gangways.    Leather romper suits lay about like discarded snakeskins signalling the presence of bikers on board. 

The first two hours are spent with books, papers and Nintendos, interspersed with tramps to the Restaurant to eat overpriced food which isn’t needed but at least interrupts the boredom.  That, or a trip to the cinema to view films at the end of their showing cycle.  Of course, not everyone has the money to spend on board.  From 11.00 a.m old married couples can be seen opening their flasks of tea and unwrapping their sandwiches.  This will follow their ritual review of the Restaurant to tut tut over prices and confirm their suspicions that they were right to bring their own sustenance. They are dressed in Sunday best and, following lunch, can be seen lurching from side to side like drunken sailors as they also totter along the gangways, stopping to peer in the shop window. Inside the shop are more groups of trapped passengers trying to kill time by feigning interest in the over-priced plastic rubbish on sale.  Staff try to cover up their boredom via adopting patient, welcoming, smiles as they take the money from parents trying to appease their child’s increasing rebellion, with yet another plastic ship, car or doll.   

But class is not entirely eradicated.  There is always the Business Lounge.  Passengers with access to this haven, march up, punching in the unique code with a superior look.  They enter, extinguishing the din outside for peace within.  Not all is calm however, as the ambience is soon ruined by the smells.  Chips brought in by the American and home-made curry proudly presented by the young Indian wife to her new husband.

Disembarking is a similar trauma to onboarding.  All gather like sheep, peering at the signs trying to remember which deck and coloured stairs they need.  All except those who are ably assisting elderly relatives who, 5 minutes before docking, decide that perhaps they should go to the bathroom.   Again, there is a race to cars, bikes and coaches, even though no-one is going anywhere until the vehicle in front moves.  They will wait for some time.  Because, of course, the elderly relative is a passenger in the car at the head of the line.

You can find more at
http://ccconsulting.org.uk/

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Tips This Week – 4 Key Questions To Keep Your Customers Loyal

Rather than different business tips, I am focusing on customer requirements and loyalty this week.  In these times it is just as vital to keep your current customers as it is to find new ones.  This approach gives you some insights into how to understand what your customers want, and thereby ensure you deliver it to a) keep them b) sell more/deliver more value to them and c) use the information to find more customers with similar needs.  It is also a way to manage your competition who are always on the lookout to spot a gap.  So, 4 key questions.

1.  What is most important to you?  Ask them to tell you the top 3 which can include both product/service quality and/or support.

2.  How do we perform? (useful to have a scale here – e.g. 1-5 where 1 is most important). 

3.  Who is really good at this?  Even if they don’t use another supplier, they will have an opinion.

4.  What is it that makes them so good?

To test your understanding you may wish to put yourself in their shoes and think how they would answer.  Then, check to see if you were right. 

So on to this week. Well actually it is two weeks ago as I have not been well this week.  ~The sad news is that 1) I managed to not publish this blog a couple of weeks ago and….. no-one noticed!  So, cheer me up.  Let me know if you did notice!!

 On Monday I attended an excellent event run by Enterprising Women and Womenta focusing on how winning business awards can help your business.  Tuesday and Wednesday were “service development days”.  The evidence is in the form of additional pages added to my website.  Thursday was an amazing day.  I went to London and attended the HR Business Network’s “HR Transformation in the Public Sector” at the Tower of London.  Followed this with lunch at Mossimans (my friend has a membership), then on to the House of Lords for a political debate on Women and Political Reform, followed by a networking reception at Westminster Abbey Gardens.  The last two events were organised by The Pink Shoe Club-a business women’s network in London. www.pinkshoeclub.com.  Apologies to my male readers – sometimes women do have all the fun!  Today, I interviewed Bev Hurley the Founder of Enterprising Women for my article on Women in Leadership Roles.

Reading for the week:  “When I Loved Myself Enough” by Kim  McMillen.  A thoughtful list of personal notes that remind us that we should not expect more from ourselves than from others, and to be less concerned with our “failings” than our strengths.  Amazon has 16 reviews of 5 stars.

Lighter Reflections

About three months after launching my business,  my new online accountant asked me a question.  “When are you going to start full-time?”  She was referring to my invoices not quite totalling up to my expenditure!  Her latest question is “you do realise that business expenditure should not cover personal entertainment?”  This related to my expenses for attending The Pink Shoe Club.  Obviously she thought this was some sort of sizzling, private, adult club.  Whilst I appreciate my accountant’s diligence in scrutinising and guiding my steps in the tangled  and confusing pathways of tax  claims, disbursements and allowances, I am somewhat perturbed at her lack of trust in my honest endeavours to build my empire.  Perhaps she reads my blog and harbours a concern that my style is a little irreverent and flippant?  My revenge is to share the following with you.  “How do you recognise an extrovert accountant?”.  ….”They look at your shoes when they are talking to you”.  I do realise that I have now ”cooked my goose” and deserve all that will surely follow.  I can only hope that she realises that I do, in fact, honestly appreciate her skills and attention.  I feel far safer having received her final summary “that’s fine” email than undergoing no spotlight interrogation at all.  So, all  you accountants out there – you do a fantastic job and at least you don’t borrow our watches to tell us the time! 

Remember the hallway ceiling disaster?  I shouldn’t have mentioned it.  We now have the bath upended in the hallway, accompanied by its new friend, the bathroom door, resting against the wall.  The bathroom is now open-plan, necessitating a great deal of off-key singing when in use.  As James has completed his third set of commercial pilot’s exams, I can only hope that he can navigate his way to the toolbox and replace the door soon.  I would not dare to expect the bath to actually be sited in the bathroom anytime soon.  

You can find more on the customer requirements and loyalty at
http://ccconsulting.org.uk/id10.html

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How to be a positive leader

This week I have had two different management teams talking to me about what “their boss” hasn’t done.  They shared all the problems that their leader hasn’t yet responded to, or dealt with.  I have talked to their leaders about dealing with these problems.   More importantly, I coach them about the underlying need for them, as leaders, to create a positive environment in which employees recognise their role in overcoming problems.  To make a start, there are 3 questions leaders can use to focus everyone on solutions rather than challenges.  Why should they do this?  Looking for opportunities and always having a positive mindset sets the tone for people to take responsibility, find solutions and succeed.

1.  What would good look like? What would be a good outcome?  What could/needs to be done?  Or something similar.  Rather than focusing on the issue, people look at what a good result might be.  It stops the “I have a problem – its your job to solve it”.

2.  What could you do to move towards this good outcome?  Highlights their potential role in finding and implementing a solution or at least generates some co-ownership of the challenge.

3.  What do you need from me to get this good outcome?  Demonstrates the leaders’ commitment to finding a solution.

If leaders take this approach, they are sending a clear signal that the business focuses on opportunities rather than problems.  Very quickly everyone starts to think about solutions before presenting problems.   They also start to realise that there is a shared responsibility in managing the business and the value in take a more proactive partnership-type role within it.

Future Forum Events

The next events will be in September

Join Highflyingdivas

Join  The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

During half-term I asked James if he could fly Guy and I down to Brighton to have lunch.  Unfortunately the weather conspired against us and there wasn’t a single day when we could do this.  So, we decided to go for a local flight instead.  Guy told me that he needed to sit in the front seat as he might want to learn how to fly some time in the future.   I wedged in behind them.  Most young lads would be fascinated by flying in this way and I looked at the back of Guy’s head thinking fondly of the fun he must be having.  That is until I saw his head roll back and to the side and realised that he had fallen asleep!

  Regards, Rosemary

CRM Recommendations

As your business grows, there comes a time when you need to consider keeping all those contacts in one single place.  Why?  Creating a centralised database allows you to segment them into marketing, strong leads, proposals, clients, past clients, channel partners and so on.  This allows you to put all of your related material against their details and manage them in a regular and professional way.  It becomes more critical as you take on associates and employees.  Many of my clients first think of the large branded CRM (customer relationship management) software providers, however, there are some recommended lower-cost options.  Setting up and using one of these allows you to develop and “play” with a system, developing a better understanding of what you really need before investing.

Research for my clients has come up with the following, that you might like to consider:

1.  MyBusiness offers a single solution that can be customized to business needs and is fully supported.  It stars at $249 per annum for 5 users

2.  Zoho   Zoho has won numerous awards including  “2008 Small Business CRM: Leader”, “2008 CRM Market Awards: Influential Leaders”. There is no long-term commitment required and you pay as you go.They are recognised for have a fast and easy setup, easy customization, and being easy to use and train employees.

3.  Workbooks.com121  Workbooks offer online applications that include Workbooks Business with real-time KPI visibility.  They state that they are competitively priced and exact subscription costs would need to be requested.  they are based in the UK and being we-based also means that neither hardware nor software is required.

What do you use?

Future Forum Events

Join Highflyingdivas

Join  The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

Well I cycled in my first race, completing 20 miles.  I never realised that we had so many hills in Essex.  The race was in support of the Essex Air Ambulance and was held a couple of weeks ago.  I misread the instructions and missed the main group starting the race.  After that, it was a case of turn up and go – following a detailed map.  Given my inability to remotely consider prising my clenched fingers from around my handlebars for even a nano second, the chances of navigating around the course on my own were very slim.  I was either going to be late due to constant errors or by stopping every 30 yards to read my map.  Plan B – I looked around and spied a group of one woman and 2 men who seemed to be the only people not lycra-clad or perched on expensive-looking featherweight pieces of gossamer steel.  They kindly allowed me to join them and I am happy to say I now have some new cycling buddies for future races.  Indeed we now have another one planned for us all this Sunday.  Wish me luck!

  Regards, Rosemary

4 steps to better time management

At our last Leadership Forum, we focused on the topic of time management, which is also a frequent challenge for the CEOs and MDs with whom I work. The following exercise helps to focus on the balance of time spent on leadership activities, i.e. good time management, and everything else.  I used this approach again recently, with a very busy and successful client. The approach is listed in 4. steps.

1.  I asked my client to draw up two lists of the activities he had spent time on during the past week.  On the first, he was to list everything that “only he could do” and on the second – everything else that he had also done.

2.  We then took a look at the lists and highlighted the activities that, as a leader, he should be doing.  These include i)strategy, ii)hiring, iii)enabling (i.e. removing obstacles and arranging opportunities) and iv)communication.  The last  includes key messages to audiences such as employees and customers, as well as individual conversations.  Some of these four activities didn’t appear as he simply did not have the time for them.

3. We looked at the first list and I asked him “Why can only you do all of these tasks?”.  Which of them could be delegated if someone was shown how to do them?  Which of them could/should be outsourced?  Which of them have become a habit that you should break – i.e. they are not delivering value any more?”  Once we had highlighted and addressed why he thought only he could do some of the items on the list, it was a simple task to select one key action that he could take to reduce the list.

4.  We looked at the “Everything Else” list and again went through the process of delete or delegate.  An action was agreed to remove an item from this list too.

The goal was to reduce at least one item from each list every week.  In summary, poor time management is a mix of not just having too much to do, but also doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

Future Forum Events

Highflyingdivas, 11th June London, – tbc

Join Highflyingdivas

Join  The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

It was James’ special birthday this week and I was therefore keen that Guy sent his father a card.  So, I bought the card on his behalf and managed to slip it to him when we went to watch him in his Drama exam.  Inside the card, I also wrote our address and included a stamp.  Two days later, I emailed Guy to ask if he had posted the card.  “I can’t” he replied, “I’m in boarding school”.  I told him I was sure the school would be able to arrange to post it, or he should ask one of the day children to post it for him.  James birthday came and went, no card.  We collected Guy and he handed his dad the card.  Just as well, he didn’t post it, because unlike Father Christmas, I believe there is more than one Dad and a card with only a stamp and “Dad” might not have made it to James.

  Regards, Rosemary

The 2 keys to personal development

There are a myriad of different tools, techniques, models and frameworks available to support leadership development in the business world.  I use many of them with my clients.  In my opinion, whatever they are called, they generally relate to two personal drivers.  These are internal (what we posses) and external (how we are shaped by our external environment).  Our performance and more particularly what we do and the “way that we do things” come from both sources.  Understanding the drivers of your behaviour provides the key to how you can flex, adapt and change to develop competencies, improve performance and achieve success.  These drivers are the keys to personal development and leadership performance.

1.  Internal.  These are the attributes and characteristics that you possess.  They are your personal DNA.    They include your innate strengths, levels of intelligence and stamina and  other attributes such as levels of curiosity and courage.  They also include your personal motivators such as your need for achievement and/or relationships.  If  you are aware of them and are able to accurately analyse then, you can develop and manage them, thereby unlocking your full potential.

2. External.  These are the elements that shape how and why you behave in the way you do.  They comprise your values, attitudes, beliefs and assumptions.  We generally learn these from our experiences and those who influence us, such as parents, managers, friends and so on.  The key to realising your potential is again to be aware of your external influencers and then to look at what and how you can change the habits you have fallen into over the years.

Personal development can lead to realising your potential but it will take awareness and a commitment to changing behaviours, which are driven by your internal and external drivers.  Using these keys will help you to understand, manage and develop yourself to reach your personal goals.   To motivate and develop your people, a similar understanding of their internal and external drivers will give you the keys to support their leadership development.

Future Forum Events

Highflyingdivas, 11th June London, – tbc

Join Highflyingdivas

The Leadership Forum, 14th May, Colchester, hosted by LEPRA Health in Action.  This will focus on Time Management.

Join  The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

Imagine my delight when James asked me if I would like to be flown to Shoreham for lunch!  James is now finishing his Commercial Pilot’s Licence prior to becoming a private flying instructor.  As part of his quest, he now has a share in a 4-seater Piper aeroplane.  Well the sun was shining, and I felt I could take some time off working on my accounts, to join him on a flight down the coast, past Eastbourne and Brighton, to lunch in the 1920s restaurant at the airfield.  It was lovely.  We even had a pianist tinkling away on the ivories in the background.  How long did this little escapade take?  5 hours!  No, it’s not a typo.  From leaving the house, preparing the plane, flying (our 90 min lunch) and return – it was 5 hours.  Note to self – flying off to lunch = day’s leave in future.

  Regards, Rosemary

How to get referrals

There is almost a hierarchy of preferences to selling.  By far the best is of course repeat business from satisfied customers.  This is usually followed by referrals from either customers, suppliers, associates and people with whom you have networked.  I know of many professionals whose only source of business is via referrals.  Therefore, it is critical that good referral management or etiquette is always top of mind.  I regularly make introductions between potential suppliers and customers and it never ceases to amaze me how often I am left wondering how the introduction went.   So, here are a few reminders to keeping your referral sources happy.  Everyone knows these but sometimes the pressure of work and the length of time for activity to happen may mean we forget to follow them.

1.  Thank the person who has referred you and ask them what you might be able to do for them.

2.  Keep them informed of progress as they may still be in contact with the potential client and be able to mention you again.

3.  Acknowledge them if you make a sale – good old social media works or a thank you note or other form of appreciation.

Simple and obvious but often forgotten.  Referrers are like little nuggets of gold – they appreciate being polished and will continue to shine if they are!

Future Forum Events

Highflyingdivas, 23rd April, London, hosted by Penna.  We have a couple of spaces still available and are really excited that Julia Smithies a Partner with PWC will be giving a presentation on her experiences of being a Highflyingdiva!  An inspiring story with lots of tips.

Join Highflyingdivas

The Leadership Forum, 14th May, Colchester, hosted by LEPRA Health in Action.  This will focus on Time Management.

Join  The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

I always empathise with those adverts that show the poor woman snagging her tights as she leaves the house, or catching her handbag on the door handle.  I closed my bathroom cabinet door and the magnetic stop flew off the door, pinged into the bath and went straight down the plug-hole.  Of course it did – where else would it go in an entire bathroom?  Similarly when I took a picture of Guy on our recent walk, I put my iPad back in my backpack for it to fly out of the other side (the zip was undone) to land on the ground.  On retrieving it, I realised the corner was chipped and it no longer fitted into its cover.  So, I haven’t suddenly become creative.  There is another reason for this artistic picture of him looking out to sea!

  Regards, Rosemary

Getting the right balance of KPIs

Key performance indicators are an accepted term for businesses.  The challenge has always been how to develop enough to support the measurement and management of your business, whilst avoiding creating so many that the collection and analysis feels like another business in itself.  During my time as the Head of the Benchmarking Centre of Excellence at KPMG, I would advise my clients on keeping a balanced set of four KPIs relative to the business, function or process they were management.  Working with MDs of SME businesses, I find myself frequently reverting back to these basic principles.  They are:-

• Quality.  This is measured in terms of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and/or product quality if you manufacture goods.
• Financial.  Traditional KPIs are ROI, profit/turnover per employee.  They could also be high level cost such as operational/overhead costs as a percentage.  If you are in a service business it may be cost or turnover per employee.
• Cycle Time.  This is the average throughput time of anything that you process.  Recognised KPIS are the time from Purchase to Pay, or Order to Sales.  Cycle time can be applied both for your activities and also the efficiency of your processes, as in Debtor or Creditor days sales outstanding.
• Productivity.  The final element of the balanced set looks at productivity.  For example, sales per salesman, products per employee or clients per employee.

The reason for having all four types is that only when you review them in total, can you see where the performance drivers truly lie.  If only one appears out of line, the cause can be tracked back to that particular measure.  For example, if cost is out of line, it may be that currency changes are driving that KPI.   This is useful information of course, however if all four show poor results, the case for looking at internal drivers of performance is stronger.  A balanced set of KPIs delivers more understanding of the performance drivers.  This of course compliments the Balanced Scorecard approach by looking at the next layer of detail around KPI formulation.

Future Forum Events

Highflyingdivas, 23rd April, London, hosted by Penna

Join Highflyingdivas

The Leadership Forum, 14th May, Colchester, hosted by LEPRA Health in Action

Join  The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

We are all sitting indoors, hands clasped around hot drinks, glued to the television’s “disaster” style reporting of snow.  I am one of those creatures who is permanently cold with fingers so icy that I have to warn anyone before shaking hands with them.  I can confess to actually not packing away any of my fleeces this summer.  So,l I am in awe of our builders.  They have been turning up at 7.45 a.m every morning and working diligently day in and day out, building our cart-lodge .  Through the rain, wind and driving snow.  It was only when it started to blizzard that they put sweatshirts on over their T-shirts and one or two jammed a woolly beanie onto his head.  What fine examples of stalwart British builders – taking the term “stiff upper lip” to a new dimension!                                                                                        Regards, Rosemary

5 Free Financial Online Tools

In supporting the growth of my smaller clients’ businesses, I am frequently asked which online tools could automate their financial processes.  Why?  Standardising, automating and integrating processes saves time, increases efficiency and gives a more professional look.  Here are a few to consider:-

1.  Freshbooks has a free account, as well as offering paid additional services.  Support includes tracking time, logging expenses and invoicing. It will also allow you to share data across other applications.

2. Wave Accounting is suitable for businesses with up to 9 employees.  Its features include invoicing, payroll, reporting and more.  You can link it to your bank accounts, Paypal and other sources of data and its completely free.

3.  Expensify, as you can imagine, offers free expense tracking.  It allows you to scan receipts, track your car GPS mileage and from all your sources, automatically produces expense reports.

4.  Invoicejournal is worth a look if you have a small business that wishes to send invoices to multiple countries.  It allows you to track and you don’t have to send an attachment as the client can access the invoice via a link.  You can still export to excel but have the benefit of a professional looking invoice.

5.  Mint is useful for your personal financial management.  It securely pulls all your financial management into one place (accessible on the go as well) and then categorises it.  You can enter your budget and goals and keep track of financial status.  With over 10 million users and The Wall Street Journal calling it  one of “The best online tools for Personal Finance” – its worth a look.

Do you use any of these tools and what is your review of them?  What other tools do you recommend?  Why not also look at the other technical resources I have recommended in previous blogs.

Future Forum Events

Highflyingdivas, 26th February, London, hosted by Pritchard Englefield

Highflyingdivas, 23rd April, London, hosted by Penna

Join Highflyingdivas

Or join The Leadership Forum for SME business leaders.   Click on The leadership Forum

Lighter Reflections

It was my birthday last week and son Guy sent me a lovely email message.  He wished me a Happy Birthday, expressed his sorrow that he wasn’t there, told me he loved me, missed me and was looking forward to coming home at the weekend to see me.  I, wrapped in a warm glow, asked husband James if he had seen this lovely note.  James’ response?  “Yes, and I replied to him, pointing out his errors, and stating that I hoped his grammar was better at school than in his email!”.  I hope James’ doesn’t expect an email from his son, when its his birthday!