An estate agent that’s Dramatically and Demonstrably Different’ - He tells the truth! OK, I know that’s a touch hard on a lot of very good and honest estate agents, but this guy in Glastonbury certainly seems to be doing things a bit differently!

In an article in the Independent newspaper Jules Bending of Ralph Bending Estate Agents says it’s all about ‘honesty and trust’ - that’s his Unique Selling Proposition.

“You can say it’s a hovel if it’s a hovel – that’s the trick,” Bending says. “You don’t need to gloss and spin things; people will buy things as they are as long as they’re priced appropriately.” It’s not, he points out, as if you can hide the truth anyway – people are always going to see the reality of the building you’ve described, no matter what clever language you use.

The descriptions have apparently included “If this house were a person she’d be dressed in Chanel and not wearing knickers.” and “Character-forming country cottage currently undergoing a bit of a makeover which will eventually drag it from the turn of the century up to somewhere around the 1950s”.

He says it makes commercial sense too - rather than wasting time with lots of viewings by people who are disappointed when they visit a property, it ensures that they see what’s described and what they want.

It’s a nice approach, and it’s certainly not a gimmick - they’ve been at it for over 10 years.

‘Thinking in 3D’ means breaking the rules, and sometimes creating your own rules, and these guys certainly seem to do that - it’s the truth!

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There’s fantastic news for a great friend of ours in Management Today’s 35  Women Under 35 report that’s just been published. Local upcoming entrepreneur Ruth Amos  is only 19 and is the youngest ever to have been selected. Ruth has established a very successful business StairSteady which manufactures an innovative alternative to a stairlift which she invented as school project when she was only 16!

Ruth impressed and inspired an audience of fellow entrepreneurs at an event we organised here in Sheffield recently with her passion, drive and insight. She gave some great ideas and advice. Her best? I think it was ‘Ask naive questions and you’ll find out lots of stuff’.

Well done Ruth - we’re all very proud of you!

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The news that Newcastle United footballer Michael Owen has had a 32 page brochure produced to ‘introduce’ him to potential employers gobsmacked me.

If ever there was an award for a pretentious piece of marketing, then this has to be up there!

The brochure is called ‘The Athlete, The Ambassador, The Icon’ and the best bit has to be his ‘Brand Values’. There are 21 of them including ‘Fit & Healthy’, ‘Technical’ and ‘Devoted’. Tell that to the Newcastle United fans who saw him miss lots and lots of games last season!  Brand Values are not about what you say, they’re about what people ‘experience’.

I’ve nothing against Michael Owen - my problem is with the ‘marketing’ people - it’s embarrassing to call it ‘marketing’, but that’s how it will be labelled.

For someone else’s view, there’s a nice little article by Mike Norrish in the Daily Telegraph about it.

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Really enjoyed the ‘Focusing on Profitability’ seminar I did for over 70 North East entrepreneurs with the Entrepreneurs Forum this morning - it was good to see some new faces as well as old, and very interesting to hear people’s ideas and views. 

You can access the slides here (as of course can anyone who didn’t go!), and if you’re interested in buying the ‘Revolutionise The Profitablity Of Your Business’ Book (paperback or as an e-book) then click here. That’s called ’selling on’!!!

See you on September 15th for the next Entrepreneurs Forum event I’m doing - ‘Creating and Keeping Customers in Tougher Times’.

That’s called ’selling on’ too!

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Picked up this book on Saturday morning and read it in one go!  It’s the story of Innocent Drinks and it’s wonderfully written. There’s real stuff you can apply to your own business.

I wrote about one of the founders Richard Reed after he spoke at an event in Sheffield a few months ago, and was mightily impressed. ‘A Book About Innocent - Our Story and Some Things We’ve Learned’ totally reinforces that.

There’s fun, humour and some really practical things you can use in your own business. It’s written in a simple, pragmatic and ‘easy to digest’ way (appropriate for an Innocent Smoothie, that!). No ‘academic theories’, just a good story well told with some great examples of things to do (and not to!).

You can buy it here from Amazon - It’s well worth the money and the time.

I know I’m ranting about it, but no, I don’t have any links with them at all. I’m ‘Totally Innocent’ (Geddit?).

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According to a recent report, apparently over half of all UK managers have got worse at motivating their people since the recession began. I’d love to know how they do the research, but anyway that’s the story, and some of the examples of how they have done things do seem a bit strange!

They include the charity boss who brought in a shotgun to ‘motivate’ staff,  another manager who got the staff to clean the toilets after the cleaner was sacked, and another who bragged about his bonus funded house improvements after cutting staff hours. 

Apparently, the Keep Britain Working report found that one in three bosses have increased their criticism and blaming of others, nearly a third have hidden themselves away, more than one in four have simply become indifferent, a quarter have pretended that nothing’s happening, while 17 % have started shouting and raging.

Of course, all these examples need a context - for example, I actually think that a team that comes together to cover the jobs that have to be done after cutting costs could be a great way of team building and getting focussed! No, I’m not saying cleaning toilets is the way to motivate people, but I do think that the key issues in these ‘tougher times’ are about being frank, honest and realistic about what’s happening, what needs to happen and vitally doing something to make those things happen.

The leaders that I see dealing with the current situation well seem to be doing the following:

1. They are honest and realistic about how things are - they don’t hide or act indifferently and involve their people in discusssions about what’s happening. They also find out how their people ‘feel’.

2. They have clear, focused ’short term’ goals and targets that everyone has bought into - it’s that ‘vision thing’ but looks at 6 months, 3 months as well as the long term view.

3. Individuals have clear and agreed responsibilities  - the key is to avoid the ‘we’ve agreed we’re going to do this or that’. That’s what I call ‘collective irresponsibility’. It’s about ‘we’ve agreed that I am going to do this and you are going to do that’.

4. They monitor progress - and do this ‘visibly’.

5. They proactively ’spot’ people doing things well and go out of their way to do so - they consciously work on this and encourage their people to do the same. 

6. They keep the team informed of progress and performance - it’s about keeping the ‘drive forward’  on the agenda. If they used to have monthly meetings, they perhaps now have them fortnightly, they ‘brand’ their email updates and team briefings.

7. They’re visible - people often want to see things happening. This might mean ’symbolic actions’ to reinforce this.

It’s all simple stuff in theory - tougher in practice, and even tougher in hard times. The best leaders consciously work on this and encourage others to do it too. 

They call the shots, not fire them. How do you measure up?

Now….. where’s that shot gun?

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You know your stuff - but do you demonstrate it? I don’t necessarily mean ‘physically’ demonstrate it, but in the way you talk to and advise your customers. A really simple example for me this weekend highlighted the issue of ‘trust’ and the way customers buy.

The ongoing redevelopment of our house continues and now we’re onto floorings - a real ‘hotbed’ (geddit?!) of complexity - so many types, textures, styles, colours, prices and suppliers. We’re needing all sorts of different things and were worried we’d get the wrong ones - you know, looks nice, but totally impractical, or ’does the job’ but looks ugly. The result? Confusion, stress and hassle. 

We were recommended by a good friend who we trust and respect ( a good start) to go to Monksbridge Carpets and Flooring in a town nearby. It’s tucked away on a little industrial estate - we’d never have ‘just driven past it’. It didn’t look much from the outside, but we asked for Tim whose name we’d been given.

In minutes Tim took away all our angst, pain, confusion and hassle. He demonstrated his understanding of our situation, he outlined his experience and knowledge, provided solutions to some of our ‘problems’, and came across as an ‘expert’ in his field. We were ’sold’.

This is a simple concept - It’s often not about the products, it’s about ‘trust’ - in him, his company and his ability to get the job done. 

Think about the dialogue you have with your customers, and I don’t just mean ‘face to face’ in a ’selling’ situation - what do you do to reinforce your expertise, your experience and your enthusiasm?

What do you do to build ‘trust’? I put forward 20 ideas to build trust recently - have a look at that if you need help.

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Creating ‘devoted’ customers is about consistently delivering a  ‘great experience’ and I’m constantly on the look out for businesses that do this. The temptation is to look only at the ’sexy’ end - you know the ones: hi - tec, dynamic, trendy, ’cool’ and forward thinking.  Never thought I’d be ranting about a taxi company, but here goes!

City Taxis in Sheffield are a forward thinking outfit - they do little things like give an automatic ’ring back’ call that lets you know your taxi is arriving just outside your door - not ‘rocket science’ I know, but a nice touch and it ‘delights’ you.

The consistency comes from the drivers who are a real engaging bunch - every single one who has picked me up or dropped me off has provided a fabulous experience through interesting and ‘real’ conversations.

City Taxis are a great example of a simple business that concentrates on doing what it does well, enthusiastically and consistently. I wouldn’t ring anybody else!

I’ve become ‘devoted’!

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Found this recently and it made me smile. Of course, meetings can be a useful way of getting things done, sharing ideas, solving problems, updating people on progress, but so often they don’t.

Why don’t they? I can’t help thinking that on so many (too many?) occasions, the purpose of the meeting hasn’t been established or agreed. I was once asked to observe a Senior Management Meeting for a client to see how they worked as a team. I sat and watched a dozen or so very well paid people sit about reading bits of paper to each other. After about half an hour, I simply asked them to stop and write down on a piece of paper their answer to ‘what’s the purpose of this meeting?’. There was a silence and stunned looks - the responses ranged from ‘Well, it’s the first Tuesday of the month - we always meet then’,  to ‘He told me to come’ and ‘I was scared of missing something’!!!

Next meeting you’re in and it seems to be going nowhere, I dare you to ask that question.

Equally, the next meeting you’re running, make sure you, and everyone else who’ll be there, are very clear about ‘what will we have achieved by the end of this meeting?’ If you can’t answer that, consider if it’s worth having.

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80% of consumers want companies to show a ‘human face’. That’s according to a new report by Euro RSCG Worldwide who investigated customers’ views in the US, UK and France. The study reports that going beyond price, the majority of consumers report that top notch customer service (67%) and trust in a company (57%) factor into their purchase decisions.

Not surprisingly, 78% of respondents think that the internet is a very important part of the shopping experience, even when purchases are not made online.

It might not be totally world breaking news, but, have a look -  how does your business show its ‘human face’?

Face it, I bet you could do it better.

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