I was at Tate Britain bright and early last Friday for the fantastic Holbein exhibition. There was Henry VIII and some of his wives and pals staring out from the walls just like they were around today. But it was not the great artist which fascinated me most but one of the staff walking around with a binder full of photos. He was checking every masterpiece with its photographic equivalent to ensure that they were all there. He said he did it every morning and every evening.

As employers I was wondering how regularly we check out our investment in human resources – the people who work for us every day. Are they well prepared to start their day? Are there any problems or uncertainties which need to be resolved? What were their successes at the end of the day? If you have set targets how well have they achieved them? In the engagement process remember to regularly recognize their contributions too. Most people quit their jobs because they feel unacknowledged and undervalued. Your staff are just as valuable as any painting on a wall. Do you check they are all present and correct as regularly as you should?

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Call me old fashioned but have business ethics changed or have the liars and cheats always been with us but through the media they are just more visible? The indomitable Ruth Badger of the Apprentice when asked if she would lie on a CV replied ‘sure I would.’ My esteem for the super sales woman dropped in an instant.At a more serious level, the corporate world is littered with senior management who not only lied and flaunted the law but caused mayhem with the lives of their hard working staff.  For me, trust is an essential element of doing business. Without it you might as well not bother.

I have always worked on the premise that before you open a door you never know who will be sitting at the desk on the other side. Names you remember vaguely or had forgotten entirely have a nasty habit of materialising from the past. If your history with them was not positive their impact can be very painful. If you have never done anyone down or cheated in the business process you have no fear of this ever happening to you. Honesty has always been the best policy. It also ensures you get a good night’s sleep. In my view business is stressing enough without the added worry of what you might have done in the past effecting the quality of your future.

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‘Medium or large?’ the Polish Costa coffee girl asks in response to my request for a cappuccino at Paddington. ‘Er medium’ I blurt out, thinking that the large will have me making multiple visits to the loo for the rest of the day. As I make my way to the train I start to wonder what has happened to ‘small?’ The next occasion I travel that way I see they do small, medium and large coffees so I firmly ask for a small cappuccino ‘Medium or large?’ the girl demands.

Clearly the programming goes deep. ‘No small’ I reply. I am served a small and a scowl. I now understand that this is common practice in coffee shops in London. The sales strategy I mean, not necessarily the scowl. Manipulative marketing or just a sign of the times? You decide! But maybe it is time to question how well you present your prices in your sales process. Is it easy for your customers to make buying decisions or do they have to go through a pricing maze?

Pricing is a state of mind

There are many factors which determine what you charge for your products and services; the strength and proximity of competition, customer demand, surplus stock holdings and so on. On some occasions prices are even based on an accurate assessment of what the product or service actually costs to produce or provide. However, the state of your price book can also be effected by your background and state of mind. If your thinking is cluttered, then your pricing structure might lack clarity too. Marketers are more likely to create offers than accountants. If you are fearful (a common trait in most moribund owner managed businesses) then your prices are bound to be set to the lowest common denominator or in this case customer. With one client recently we simplified his prices created a couple of offers and raised them overall by around 20%. This resulted in absolutely no loss of business and a large gain on his bottom line. Pricing is a huge subject of which I will write more over the coming months. In the meantime how do you fix your prices and isn’t it time for a review?

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Unless you are a huge organisation which dominates the market, identifying and exploiting a niche is absolutely key.

I was reminded of this today as I crossed Vauxhall Bridge. A dark blue van passed by and under the company branding were the words ‘graffiti cleaning division’. Even companies providing an apparently basic service like cleaning can establish and promote a distinctive position in the market. And what a great offering it is. You can immediately see the target audience and the way the service could be marketed. So do you have a niche or are you a generalist, rather than a specialist? You really can achieve more sales by adopting a narrower focus. If you don’t know how just ask me.

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In this, the first of my business mentoring podcasts, hear me explain what I mean by the phrase, ‘Passion + Purpose + Process = Success’ and what, if adopted into your everyday business strategy, it could do for your growth… Podcast 1

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Take a nice bouncy ball and drop it. Watch as it rises back into your outstretched hand responding effortlessly to your energy. The experience is satisfying. You want to do it again and again. Try the same thing with a house brick! Listen as it thuds to the floor.  Bend down and pick it up. Drop it again and retrieve it.  Not much fun eh?  No wonder balls and not bricks are the mainstay of most fun and games. Email communication can be like bouncing balls or dropping house bricks.  Some people keep up the momentum and return your energy with ease by replying promptly and efficiently.  On the other hand many let their emails pile up in their in tray until they have enough bricks to make a good sized wall. They then become isolated behind this wall of apparent if unintentional indifference. 

I tackled a colleague about this recently and he was genuinely surprised to discover how this behaviour dramatically impacted his efficiency both perceived and actual.  OK people who are ruled by their email clearly need to get a life, but in business those who respond more succeed more.  How many emails are there in your ‘inbox’ right now?  If it is over 20 then maybe it is time for a spring clean and a resolution to adopt a ‘handle mails once’ policy.  An unreasonable expectation or plain common sense – let me know.   

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