Many years ago I was a director of the London office of Burson-Marsteller one of the world’s leading PR companies. In those days we were in relentless pursuit of a handful of influential journalists and freelancers in the national and specialist press. OK we created varied programmes including facility visits, launches and one on ones with the CEO as well as press releases but the end result was the few column inches in the press cuttings book which hopefully delighted our client and meant we kept the account.

My – how things have changed. I was reminded of this when watching coverage of London fashion week. In the front row were the usual personalities whose attendance added huge interest and virtually guaranteed media attention. But hang on a minute. Who are these unknowns sitting right beside them? They are the bloggers and front row Tweeters whose influence in this and many other spheres of commercial life has exploded almost unnoticed by those oblivious to the impact of social media.

It is no wonder the conventional printed media is on the downturn. The bloggers and Tweeters have gathered together huge numbers of followers and their comments on a fashion collection can be ‘published’ before one can say Giorgio Armani.
The publicity lady at this particular collection was running around trying to satisfy bloggers, Twitter feeds and even the production of video clips which were available on Iphones 7 minutes after the first model had strutted down the catwalk. Incidentally those at the event were also able to buy the fashion from their Blackberries whilst the models were displaying the couture right in front of them.

Journalists not surprisingly have always liked things to be easy and with Google as their default browser page they have a window to any topic or company in the world. They too are monitoring this traffic for their stories and background. So our approach to PR has to change to take full advantage of this communications revolution. Have you got the message yet?

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I wonder how many of us would join a company without knowing our salary and on target earnings. Not many takers eh?

And yet when I ask people especially when they are setting up in business what they want to earn in their first year, this simple question seems to throw them entirely. I get answers like as much as I can or between £50k and 100k or the most honest answer I had not really thought about it.

The same applies even if you are a well established company. What do you want to see in your pocket or on the balance sheet as the net result of all your hard work?

Having confirmed the figure in your mind the next step is to divide it up on a spreadsheet by the 12 months seasonally adjusted which you have available in the year to earn this sum. Everything else revenue, costs number of orders and so on can come from this. Then work the numbers back and see if they add up. If not adjust your income expectations in line with what it will take to earn it.

OK my clients have just about got past this one but you would be amazed how many out there with pretentions to build a successful business, haven’t.

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The black and white tattered planes land in the black and white field and the exhausted pilots climb down as the propellers slow to a halt. This scene is repeated in a thousand old war films which invariably play on cosy TV Sunday afternoons. And do these gallant chaps rush off to their sweethearts who have been pushing wooden replicas around in the ops room or to the jolly old pub or to take their trusty dog for a walk? No they go to the ‘de-brief’ – a routine which the military have been running after sorties since the beginning of warfare.
It is the same in business or should be, in any meeting with external people present – selling buying negotiating or whatever. It is so easy to all rush back to our desks or to dash for a cab and the essential learning and follow through is diluted or often lost altogether. In my company we would stay where we were, close the door after our guests had left and chat through the meeting we had just experienced. What had worked? What had we learnt? What would we do differently next time? What do we need to do now? In this way everyone was focused on the next steps and someone would be charged with putting the insights and actions in writing within hours not days so we were all up to speed. We did not do this some of the time but every time. Such a simple routine, but then the routines of very effective businesses usually are. It is doing them routinely which makes the difference.

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When we start a business we are often on our own so in full control and usually doing everything ourselves. If what we do is successful we then hire others and the business starts to grow and move on. However owner managers of even small businesses with a few staff quickly lose sight of how effectively they operated when they were on their own. This ‘success recipe’ can very quickly get watered down.
Sometimes when we look together at the way their businesses operate and agree improvements, my clients say ‘I used to do that when I was on my own or when we were smaller.’ They have just drifted a little from the way they applied themselves in the past and how they delivered the basics when they started. Today after congratulating a client on focusing back on the essentials and tightening up on the processes he wrote ‘I think I am getting my mojo back.’’ Wonderful! This describes the adjustment process perfectly. Is your business success recipe still being cooked up with the same care and quality or has it become a little watered down?

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I am usually someone who is full of energy and eager to engage with my clients as I am fascinated by their personalities and love solving their problems. However I have to admit to a real difficulty in getting going after this Christmas break. The snow and ice brought everything to a grinding halt and although we were emailing regularly it was also nice and cosy in front of the log fire with a good book. So last week saw me having my first client meeting in almost a month – quite a shock to the system. Others have told me of similar feelings. How have you found the break? Is your business train now puffing merrily down the line or it is still slowly drawing out of the station?

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Imagine the picture – Mrs K and I sitting having diner discussing the soon to be completed extension to our country cottage. Not just a bedroom but a laundry room and hopefully the end of bulging wardrobes as least before her next visit to the shops. Being a woman of taste – well she picked me – she wanted something nicely fitted out, not a few shelves and a cupboard in the corner.
So after the delicious main course – I won’t bore you with the details – I popped onto to the computer and found a company in Yorkshire which fitted out dressing rooms with lots of stunning draws wardrobes and shelves – the pictures looked wonderful and MRs K’s eyes were shining in anticipation.
‘What’s for pudding?’ I asked. But before she could open the fridge door the phone rang. It was a charming lady from the fitted wardrobe company to make an appointment for their local guy to pop round to measure and quote. The date was fixed there and then and they promised to ring and confirm the day before too. I even asked a technical question which she was able to answer with ease.
This whole event from initial thought and going on the web to having an appointment booked in our diary took less than 15 minutes. The company clearly looked incredibly efficient by having someone on the phone with the fitter’s diaries to hand up to 8.00 at night. However, of even more significance, they struck when our motivation to pay the considerable cost of their service could not have been higher and probably before anyone else could muscle in too.
Well over 50% of the internet enquiries I make never get a response. Others will testify to the same experience. So to get a response so directly and so professionally in minutes was a revelation. In the race for business every minute counts. Do you have the same sense of urgency in your company?

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Of course the current snow falls and freezing conditions are a real problem for many who are seriously cut off from the world and their employment. However these Arctic conditions also offer the perfect excuse for those who want a day off, not a ‘sicky’ but a ‘snowy’
I learnt yesterday of one boss who was so fed up with staff not turning up for work that he got in his car and attempted to drive round from the office to their homes. Surprise surprise he had little difficulty in arriving at their front door. They were greeted with the message ‘if I can get to you then you can get to me’ probably punctuated with a few expletives too. Now there’s a man who believes in taking a practical approach to business problems. Wonderful!

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Much of what I know and apply has come from business books and in my younger years there was usually one in progress by the bed. I tend to read for relaxation now but a client recommended a cracker the other day. It is the ultimate sales machine by Chet Holmes to be found on http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Sales-Machine-Turbocharge-Relentless/dp/1591841607

Chet really focuses on the key issues any business has to address and I particularly like his two word phrase for effective business building ‘dogged determination’. I can certainly resonate with that.
Feeling in a generous mood I sent one to all my clients and they are absolutely hooked. They are applying the wisdom in their businesses and using the ideas to train their staff too. If you do buy the book let me know how you get on.

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This month I have been looking for a telephone marketing company to run an ongoing campaign for one of my business mentoring clients. As telephone marketing was how I made a lot of my cash I was on home territory. I had written a very clear brief which the client had agreed and all we needed to do was find someone to deliver on it.
There were a few companies the client had met through networking and some we picked off the web which seemed to be about the right size and with the type of capabilities we required – so far so good.
OK I could have rung them up but I chose to respond to their web contact page either through their message pad or by an email to their info or enquiries address. Now here comes the dramatic bit. One company responded within the hour and a few within a day but more that 50% did not respond at all. So undeterred I waited a few days and then sent a second email chasing my first. This elicited one more reply with the rest remaining silent.
How could I consider a company to represent my client and get them leads if their own responsiveness and commercial nouse was so poor? Well as it happens I did subsequently phone them as the ones we were engaged with produced such wayward responses to the brief, but that is another story.
How can anyone spend so much time and money building a web site presumably to get enquiries just to ignore them? Well it is easy to see how this can happen. The chosen recipient is on holiday or might even have left. The enquiry address is not filtered so they get lost in the spam. Maybe they just don’t care although those I subsequently rang were horrified they had missed my email although I am not sure if this as feigned or real.
Why not check now where your site enquiries go and how long you take to reply to them?
So the winner was? Actually the company which replied in minutes and maintained that interest, attention and understanding throughout our engagement with them – what a surprise?

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As the doom and gloom seems to show no sign of lifting advice on how to build maintain or even stay in business becomes even more valuable. Of course there is a mass of business input on the web but all too often it is lightweight, not practical or contains masses of marketing hype. I came across smallbusinesspro the other day and found it really refreshing. Maybe because so much of the advice reflects what as a business coach I tell my clients every day. I seldom recommend sites on my blog but here are some guys who have a positive contribution to make in the current hard times – check them out.

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