Thursday, June 29, 2006

Messages from the great Tom Peters

Apart from Tom communicating some meaasges which are listed below he is a truly nice guy. At the end of his presentation my pal Derek said , "Come on Will, let's go and meet him." Now I 'm not one for being slow coming forward but I did take a deep breath...and followed! He was an absolute gent gracious, polite and showed true gratitue we had taken the trouble to find him to say how much we enjoyed his presenation.
HIS MESSAGES
1 He quoted Charles Darwin "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

2 His continung theme throughout was excellence. he said it is regularly used in arts and sports but not some much in business.

3 "I'm just a travelling saleman who peddles ideas" ... Wow what a saleman and what ideas!

4 Just try new ideas. "Successful business act from day 1 . Others plan how to plan for months" Quote from Bloomberg

5 He told us he had been presenting for 26 years and made about 2500 speeches. He seems as sad as me at keeping statistics.
As I write I note I have presented to 27,653 people in the 6 years Kintish has been in business

6 Sam Waltons of Walmart's regular message was "Don't be afraid to fail"

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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Have you met the world famous Tom Peters, the management guru? I have, yesterday

I attended the B2B conference in London yesterday and had 90 minutes of pure enjoyment. Tom Peters was the keynote speaker. One often attends events to listen to a famous celebrity often to be disappointed by their message and/or their delivery.
On this occasion my expectations were far exceeded. He has been speaking for over 25 years and I believe his passion and enthusiasm for communicating vital messages hasn't dimmed in that time.
In fact he actually said "I don't need to work any more, I don't need to chase to mid-Africa or spend 35 hours travelling to Siberia.I do becuase I love it."
Listening and watching for those 90 minutes proved he was telling the truth.

Time to go but lots of his key messages to follow

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Monday, June 26, 2006

Self -esteem - v - self-confidence

When I ask delegates what are the key personal traits required to be an effective networker SELF-CONFIDENCE is mentioned very quickly.
However I believe when you walk into that room full of strangers SELF-ESTEEM is more important.

What is self-esteem? Here is my version
Self-esteem is feeling good about yourself in spite of your own imperfections.
Genuine self-esteem is you trusting in yourself. You having confidence in your own mind and ability to say this can be done .You believing you deserve happiness, fulfilment and success; you seeing yourself as a decent, worthwhile and likable person.
Because, if those feelings aren’t there, no amount of help from the outside world is ever going to be a substitute.
That is the first step in understanding self-esteem, and what it asks of you. The second step to understanding self-esteem is knowing what the rewards are.
And the rewards are gigantic. It is not just that you feel better, but your life works better, you function better, you rise higher, you do more, you are a better partner, you are a better colleague, you’re a better manager, you are more innovative and you are more creative.
But at the end of the day…true success and true self-esteem comes from within.

View here to see others perspective on the same topic

Here is some help with self-confidence

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Sunday, June 25, 2006

Time is money …and money is time

We all know the first phrase but listening to a CD on time management the phrase “Money is time” was mentioned. The speaker asked the listener to value the loss of opportunities we could experience by just focusing on the money.
Two hours later my son-in-law John asked if I’d walk down with him and my granddaughter Aimee to the shops. My first reaction was ‘Sorry John got a ton of work to do’ then recalled the words I’d just heard. I went to the shops, we had a great 90 minutes and the work, although still there, will get done later. The 90 minutes could never be replaced.
I really dislike the phrase ‘work-life balance’. It suggests work isn’t part of life or that you’re dead when you go to work! Well, that’s my reading of the situation.

I work crazy hours but love every minute of it. Confucius said “Give a person a job they love and they will never have to work a day in their life.” But one …and that includes me - has to have that sense of balance and savour those family moments.

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Thursday, June 22, 2006

Always learning...when you teach

Every time I present on networking skills I learn more...from my delegates. I worked with a lovely group of people from the law firm Penningtons today.

One delegate suggested, "When you know you are going to make a follow up call on a certain day call the day before to speak to the P.A> or secretary to check when your prospect might be available.

Another sparky lawyer suggested that if you give say 2 referrals to another professional firm and they are not able to reciprocate directly suggest to them they arrange lunch with one of their clients just to start to build a relationship in a relaxed atmosphere.

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Be creative…listen to an expert

I havejust had the pleasure and privilege of working with my friend Kenny Harris of Headsurf.Having spent lots of time in his former life in ad agencies he understands a bit about ‘thinking outside the box’ and ‘why don’t we all sit down and have a brainstorm?’

We did 2 presentations to a major Scottish Law firm, me on networking skills and Kenny on ‘Developing your business through creative thinking’

So, what did I learn from him? Lots but here are 4 snippets

1 “Creative thinking is actions designed to stimulate the mind in order to create new thoughts, ideas and ways of working.”

2 Every week do something different and regularly do something you’ve never done before in your life. He suggested we go to work via a different route, read a different paper occasionally or even listen to a different radio station from the one you normally tune into. These ‘changes’ stimulate the brain and help your creative juices.

3 Next time you have a team meeting go somewhere different. Watch out team for our July get-together!

4 When you have an issue look at it from a completely different angle. Ask if, say Tesco had this problem how would they tackle it? Or discuss how a 10 year old may tackle it. All ideas are worth exploring until you come to the right answer.
Thanks Kenny, a great day

PS And finally he said, “Before you define your problem…make a wish.”
Or putting it the Stephen Covey way, “Begin with the end in sight”.

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This is sad...but a great lesson...for me and you?

For 52 years my father got up every morning at 5:30 a.m., except Sunday, and
went to work. For 52 years he returned home at 5:30 p.m., like clockwork,
for dinner at 6:00 p.m. I never remember my father taking a "night out with
the boys," nor do I ever recall my father drinking. All he asked from me as
his daughter was to hold his hammer while he repaired something, just so we
could have some time to talk to each other.

I never saw my father home from work ill, nor did I ever see my father lay
down to take a nap. He had no hobbies, other than taking care of his family.


For 22 years, since I left home for college, my father called me every
Sunday at 9:00 a.m. He was always interested in my life, how my family was
doing, and I never once heard him lament about his lot in life. The calls
even came when he and my mother were in Australia, England or Florida.

Nine years ago when I purchased my first house, my father, 67 years old,
spent eight hours a day for three days in the 80-degree Kansas heat,
painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All
he asked, was a glass of iced tea, and that a hold a paint brush for him and
talk to him. But I was too busy, I had a law practice to run, and I could
not take the time to hold the paint brush, or talk to my father.

Five years ago, at age 71 again in the sweltering Kansas heat, my father
spent five hours putting together a swing for my daughter. Again, all he
asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea, and talk to him. But again, I
had laundry to do, and the house to clean.

Four years ago, my father drove all the way from Denver to Topeka, with an
eight foot Colorado Blue Spruce in his trunk, so that my husband and I could
have a part of Colorado growing on our land. I was preparing for a trip that
weekend and couldn't spend much time talking to Daddy.

The morning of Sunday, January 16, 1996, my father telephoned me as usual,
this time from my sister's home in Florida. We conversed about the tree he
had brought me, "Fat Albert," but that morning he called the tree "Fat
Oscar," and he had seemed to have forgotten some things we had discussed the
previous week. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.

The call came at 4:40 p.m., that day, my father was in the hospital in
Florida with an aneurysm. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way,
I thought of all the times I had not taken the time to talk to my father. I
realized that I had no idea who he was or what his deepest thoughts were. I
vowed that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a
nice long talk with him and really get to know him.

I arrived in Florida at 1 a.m., my father had passed away at 9:12 p.m. This
time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.

In the years since his death I have learned much about my father, and even
more about myself. As a father he never asked me for anything but my time,
now he as all my attention, every single day.

This didn't happen to me... but it could have done

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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Now I've seen it all. Have you ever presented in a

dark damp cellar? I did today and it was great fun. I presented in in 'Underground Edinburgh' affectionately known as the Caves. Have a look at this site and the pictures where I presented to 50 people from Clydesdale Bank. What a great afternnon, somthing different so well done to my client for being sparky!

Edinburgh...what a city. If you haven't been here just find 3 days and come , it's magical

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Monday, June 19, 2006

Fear is temporary, regret is permanent

POwerful phrase? I heard Ian Wright say it in a TV programme called 'I'd do anything'
This applies to most things in life including not approaching people in a room who you know you should meet or not making the follow up call you know you should make.
It's all about fear of rejection.FEAR? FALSE EXPECTATIONS APPEARING REAL.
Here's Ian Wright

'Screw it, let's do it' by Richard Branson

Invest £2.99 and 1 hour and 22 minutes reading this book. AND BUY IT for your children. View here for details.
PS I am not on any associate programme here, I just want you to read it

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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Reflections from our time at the Solicitors Exhibition

The people who came on day two were even less day one. “Was I bothered?” Yes a little more would have been better. BUT you have to make the best of what you have. We chatted to as many passer-by’s as we could. A smile, eye contact and a friendly ice-breaker such as “You look like someone who would like some free gifts” or “Hello please come and talk to me I’m lonely”, did the trick.
AND then we just asked about them. People love talking about themselves and the only way to spot potential business opportunities is to listen carefully to our relevant questions!
2 days hard work but well worth it.BUT only if we follow up. We're not like this





EVERY person will be followed up in a professional manner. No-one ever accuses us of pestering or being pushy

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

How to lose megabucks at an exhibition

We exhibited today at the Solicitor Group Exhibition at the NEC. It was a costly affair but I believe the return on our investment will be high. Why? Because we worked the stand! We stopped as many passer-bys as follows simply with a smile or an icebreaker like “You seem to like collecting freebies (if they had a bulging bag) why not come and get more goodies from us?
And did we give away lots of goodies! Not cheap pens, mugs or sweets but free and valuable CD's and booklets. Our belief is the 'the more you tell, the more you sell.

Visitors at exhibitions are normal people who don’t like starting a conversation or being pro-active. So we had to initiate the start of a potential business relationship with these simple tactics. The number of people attending didn’t seem to be that big as it was the first (and maybe last!) conference/ exhibition of its kind so we had to also go networking around the stands. We created lots of leads and will be following them ALL up next week.

In the few quiet moments where we weren’t chatting we watched so many exhibitors sitting on their computers, talking on the phone or generally ‘hiding’ behind their expensive stands. I reckon we had the smallest stand with the most number of visitors. Why do companies spend so much time and effort …then waste it? They must be making too much money and need to make tax losses!

You can’t win them all…but you can try

I attended a charity business lunch and had a most enjoyable time. But that was all. The speaker was dire and the format left little opportunities for informal networking as it was a sit down lunch. I kept looking for ahaa moments but didn’t even really learn any useful information or even local gossip.
So was it worth attending. Well I re-connected with some past acquaintances I hadn’t seen for some time, I was visible for a couple of hours and the food was great!
Can’t win ‘em all.

So can I promote a Kintish workshop entitled "How to host a successful and profitable event"?

Monday, June 12, 2006

A dozen way to exceed clients' expectations...+2

Your clients pay your salary so think about how to manage, nay exceed their expectations. Here are 12 ideas

1. Admit……mistakes
2. Ask for……complaints
3. Ask often……how are we doing?
4. Call……clients for no reason
5. Acknowledge……letters and information sent through the post
6. Cure……regular mistakes now
7. Customise……to their needs
8. Find……current needs
9. Know……everything possible about their business
10. Refer……to others (if you can’t help)
11. Send……thank yous, cards on moving, etc.
12. Visit/invite……their business or yours

AND FINALLY, HOW ABOUT

Doing what you say you're going to do and do it when you say you're going to do it

Saturday, June 10, 2006

What a great networking day. This is what happened.

7 AM
The Manchester Business Breakfast Club

I've been attending for over 7 years now and still love every minute of it. The people around the breakfast table are, on the whole, people I know, like and trust. I introduced a guest who I think enjoyed it He is a business development manager from Davenham Asset Finance. He has a good attitude to networking and if he joins will bring more contacts to our members.

9AM
Meeting Helen from Capture 1 Video at a One-to-One meeting
. When you attend breakfast events the way you're really going to find out about other member's businesses is to sit down quietly on a 1-2-1 basis. I am Helen's busines coach but the more I advise on the nmore I learn myself!! We both have a challenge finalising our products so we have agreed a date we will BOTH have them ready by.

11AM
Meeting with Warren Cass

Warren reminded me when I finrst met him I told him he had a lot to learn about networking. I inly told him that because he had asked me "How am I doing?" So, me being me...told him. Yesterday he was gracious enough to say I had helped him so much after he had attended one of our workshops.In fact he invited me to be part of his very exciting new venture Business Scene.This is an online and face -to-face networking community but based on local areas. A brilliant concept which I hope to help with

.12.30AM
Entreprenuer Networking Club at RBS Spinningfields Manchester

What a party. Our hosts held it on their rooftop garden in degrees of heat seen in Athens in August. I made one good contact ..that was all I need to justify my time at events like that. The best bit though was meeting Jill, a networking 'virgin' who was scared stiff. So I took her under my wing and explained how it all worked. Being a bright and sparky lady she picked it all up very quickly. The moment I loved most was when she spotted someone else who seemed equally nervous.So Jill decided she needed some support too and went over.
In fact this other lady was one of the hosts and was standing on her own for a breather! Jill approached her, got talking and it is likely she is going to get a ton of work from this host.
The host was a member of RBS who looks after various catering arrangements and Jill is a caterer. They are meeting next week.
A perfect networking story

Networking / partying...what's the difference?

Friday, June 09, 2006

Is your focus in the right place?

Most businesses focus on getting new clients.Yesterday I ran a workshop entitled "Clients...do we really care?"
Well do you?
It has to be easier and so much cheaper looking after the clients and customers you have. That way they become your free sales force.
Ask you staff, ask yourself "Who pays your wages?". You surely know the answers. Get the teasm together and ask them 3 questions

1. What key things regularly go wrong?

2. What would they change to improve client care

3. What barriers are put in their way in giving great service
If you're a senior member please bear in mind you don't have a monolopy on all the good ideas. Maybe the office junior has a great idea how to give better service. Just ask him...or her

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

It was a hot steamy evening and the last thing I...

...wanted to do was go my Professional Association Speakers local meeting. But as a committee member i felt it my duty.
And am I glad I went. I heard Paul Mcgee talk about the publication of his best selling book S.U.M.O. (Shut up and Move On!). As one who wishes to find a publisher it was invaluable.

I listened to Anthony Day also talk about publishing and he gave me a great idea. It was to ask friends and family to read a chapter each of my book and review it.
Then I heard Nigel Percy, who I had never met before, talking about "We 3 Kings". The 'Kings' were Henry V, Martin Luther King and Elvis! How did he link them? Simply by expaining in an entertaining manner how each of them became an icon simply through the passion they engendered.
What a great evening.
I keep saying and I'll keep saying
"IF YOU DON'T GO, YOU'LL NEVER KNOW"

Monday, June 05, 2006

How often do you work ON your business as opposed to working IN it?

Today was spent in the office. Didn't earn a fee and loved every minute of it! Why?
Because it gave me time to stop, reflect, talk to the team and think about "Where to next?" It's so easy 'doing it doing it doing it' as e-myth guru Michael Gerber says
The amount of ideas and positive actions we agreed to take today answered that question and we now have detailed plans for the summer and early autumn.
Try it sometime.
We agreed to start planning new seminars, publish lots more articles and give lots of free seminars. Crazy for the last one? Maybe
We agreed to stop doing marketing things which we have found out yield no return.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

You can't beat walking for creating great thinking time

I was out at 7.30 am this morning walking the fields around junction 4 of the M1..of all places. But the sun shone, the birds sang and Kintish had time to think. What did I think about today?

FORMULA FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS
As I start my 7th year in business as a presenter,trainer and consultant on all things relevant to effective networking I believe the answer is

1 Be passionate about what you do

2 Be visible. Do some business development every day. Hey why not accept more business-related invitations...and turn up?

3 Be reliable. Do what you say you're going to do and do it when you say you're going to do it. When you do that on a regular basis you stand out from the crowd.
4 Be persistent. When you spot opportunities always follow up in a professional manner. Don't be pushy, or get accused of pestering. Know which median is best to use, know the time intervals and know when to give up

5 Become a life-long learner. What have you learnt today?

That's what I've worked out in 6 years as an entrepreneur

Saturday, June 03, 2006

There are 3 ways to increase your top line fees or sales

1 Gain new clients
2 Offer existing clients different services
3 Lose less clients at the bottom end

Which is the easiest?
Or, put it another way which is the hardest?
The first line I hear everyone say.
Yet why do most businesses spend more time, money and human resource generally on no. 1 when 2 and 3 are so much easier?
As one who spends his life showing businesses how to do number one through effective networking maybe I ought to start concentrating on 2 and 3 also?
Watch this Blog for future thoughts on the matter

Isn't it a pleasure dealing with nice people?

I spent the day helping key and senior professionals at Cyril Sweett, International property consultants,with effective and confident networking. Whilst I hope everyone learnt lots of 'how to work the room' party tricks I also think most delegates went away thinking what fun they'd had. But that was only because of the way they approached the day with a positive mental attitude.
After all, most professional people would rather leave business development to the marketing people...wouldn't they?

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Don't invite me to enter for the X FACTOR!

It's not just because I can't sing but I don't wish to spend my life in a hot record studio. No light, cramped and very hard work trying to get it right.
What was I doing? Recording my book I hate networking with my friend Rodney Paulden. We recorded it at some super studio near home which was based at the Abraham Moss Centre

The book is about the networking life of Brian.
Brian receives an invitation to a business cocktail party and, as usual throws it in the bin. Until that is, his conscience appears who convinces him to attend this event. The book is full of tips and ideas how to work the room and follow up in a professional manner.
When will it be published? Er...not sure but definately this side of Christmas....20006....promise
For details of our other products please view here