No Website... No Worries - living in a post-web world...

 

Ideas triangulate - they converge from different places so I am wondering/pondering/considering... Is the corporate website dead?

My thinking is simple.

1) Websites feel static, tired, out-of-date

2) Like corporate ads, people don't trust then as much as they do trust word-of-mouth

3) To find out what XYZ Co does/thinks/says and what others think about my XYZ Co, most people will google me and see what they get.

4) Whenever I have a new potential client or partner I ask Twitter and G+ LinkedIn if anyone knows the business and what they think/feel/know/say...

So is the corporate website redundant apart from being what people expect you to have?

The old corporate website is dead! Long live the new corporate website (whatever it is)!

FRIENDS IN THE NEWS

A quick look at the internet and we keep catching articles and reports about our friends and clients. So in no particular order we have come across the following...

Madecasse - Named one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World for "building a chocolate company in one of the poorest countries in the world."

March, 2011 - 50 Most Innovative Companies

 

Source Supplies - Winner of Taste of Surrey Entrepreneur of the Year award

Hobbs House Bakery/Fabulous Baker Boys - get own series on Channel 4 TV

Valentine's Day Pie is a Load of Old Bull Bighams in the Sun newspaper: aphrodisiac pie made with Bull's testicles.

All worth checking out.

RC

Award-Winning Bog Rolls With Attitude (and profit)

I wrote this cameo of Ollie and Dave's Source Supplies and they went and won the the award for Business of The Year at The Toast Of Surrey  


Everyone loves a story about the underdog; it is part of the whole small business and entrepreneurship ethos. The stereotypical Branson-esque story goes: find a dull industry and go in and shake it up by delivering a service that the customers want. Branson has done it in air and rail travel. More modestly, enter Ollie Rastall and David Piper at Source Supplies.

Rastall and Piper have quite literally attacked the cleaning supplies industry. They sell the stuff that every place needs: toilet paper, cleaning chemicals "for all your washroom and janitorial requirements". Sounds dull to me but as the saying goes, "where there's muck there's brass".

In their own way, Rastall and Piper have grabbed this industry by the throat. Competing head-on with well-established national and regional players they have put the fun into the industry. Their website is light, bright and breezy: the guys are passionate about the business. More importantly, they are passionate about blowing away their customers with what can only be described as legendary or remarkable service. By that I mean service worth remarking about.

Taking a leaf out of the books of well-known entrepreneurs who have put the fun into a tired industry and adding a bit of craziness to boot, they remind me of a combination of Innocent, Ben and Jerry's, and Branson.

Nice guys, Nice business.

With rapid growth over the past two years, how have David and his team achieved this "zero to hero" story. Dave says that they have been "capitalising on the lack of flexibility and customer service that the larger, national competitors offer". How long will that last?

The easy bit is sourcing what are essentially stock goods but their difference does appear to be in the service. In what is a highly price-sensitive industry, the boys insist on delivery with a big, big smile. And on time (or early). And with the actual things you ordered. And cup cakes. And chocolate brownies. And a Christmas party. And a barbeque. These are not gimmicks but a way of separating themselves from the competition. Neat.

With a small team of drivers who are trained to deliver not just cleaning supplies but a fantastic customer experience, David stands by the small business mentality "so many small companies model themselves on the larger businesses. There is a gap in the market for suppliers to be much more attentive when it comes to customer service". I think everyone could learn a thing or two from these guys who are not just talking the talk.

Watch this space!



In fact watch the guys at 2:17 mins on the video...

All Fitness Clubs Are Not The Same - EzeFitness Case Study

All Fitness Clubs Are Not The Same

Summary: There is the stereotypical story of the entrepreneur who sees their industry and realises that the way their customers are treated has to change. The story of Ceri Smith and Sean Thornton, who now run Eze Fitness, a gym chain based at 8 sites across the UK, is one such story.

What they saw that had to change

Most industries and market places are pretty dull places and the fitness industry is no exception: predictable, dull, vanilla, not to mention over-promising and generally under-delivering. They promise so much but rarely deliver, accepting the clients money and delivering a general induction that leaves the poor unsuspecting 'new member' on their own despite using the generic marketing line of promising that they will "change the life of the customer". Most clients lose the enthusiasm or passion for their membership pretty quickly.

The Standard Fitness Club Customer Experience

Empty, vacuous promises suck in the unsuspecting client to hand over their money. Feeling overweight, unfit or lethargic, one is seduced into believing that ownership of a gym membership card will equate to getting the body they have always wanted. If (and it's a big 'if') the clients actually come to the gym more than a few times then they do start to feel better, however most clients lack constant motivation. They don't understand (or wish to believe) that a quick fix won't work and that a change for life is actually required. As a result they will fail to stay 'on the programme'.

Clients drift away and ultimately cancel their gym membership. And they will have a bad taste in their mouth due to lack of service on the part of the gym and no sense of achievement due to their own lack of willpower.

What had to happen?

Ceri and Sean realised that gyms had to change the way that they sell to and service their clients/members. At Eze Fitness they have set out to do just that.

They made the decision to run fitness clubs where you were welcomed and the client felt special, where the staff were there to help, assist and nurture the clients on the way towards their long term goals. Programmes were set up to maintain a relatively high level of engagement between the gym team and the clients today and tomorrow.

One issue was that the client needed to be made to understand that they were embarking on a 'change for life'. This has to be made clear at point of sale. This journey of at least 12 months had to be at the forefront of the conversation. Yes, 12 months! Too-good-to-be-true-fixes simply don't work. Rationally we know it.

As a result of this new, long term, more honest approach to the job-in-hand, clients (who realise that they can achieve results over a realistic timeframe) receive what they strive for and make fitness a part of their life. In terms of the centre itself, Eze Fitness were able to see measurable client results and produce PR to reflect this. In turn, this made it a more attractive business for partners, clients, employees and investors. A virtuous cycle.

The learning point

For this kind of initiative to be delivered requires a change in mindset of the fitness clubs owner, managers and team. The fitness teams delivering it have to believe in the value of their knowledge and what they deliver. A key point for staff is that they are not glorified cleaners; they are in their jobs to help change peoples lives for the better.

At Eze Fitness you can sign up for a Big Rocks programme which claims to be "the original and most supportive, customer-focused fitness programme in the UK." No idle claim. They even run 'results guaranteed' programmes.

Of course Eze is a work-in-progress. But the passion and self-belief makes you want their recipe to work. They are trying harder than the rest. They are trying to break the dull predictable model of the fitness centre as money factory. They actually believe in their mission of improving the quality of life of all their customers.

Small, independent, privately-owned. Personal. Passionate.

What Eze has done is look at the whole gym experience through the eyes of the customer asking, Why do people join gyms? What are their hurts, problems and fears? What are they looking for? How can we help people achieve these goals?

Eze have then set about designing the entire piece for the customer.

Gyms may never be the same again.

“Would you like to increase your sales and profit?”

The dumb question most people say ‘yes’ to:
“Would you like to increase your sales and profit?”

And, the question most people nod their heads to is:
“Are you great at delivering your service but less sure about how to attract more clients?”

If you want your business to succeed, then you need to know why people should buy from you when they can buy from the competition.

Answer this question with confidence and you will be able to grow your service firm. It will become almost inevitable.

You need to find out the tools and techniques that you need to transform your often flaky, dream-like plans into actions and measurable, tangible results (= profit).

For instance: do you know how to:

·         identify the unique benefits of your service?

·         discover the most effective sales method?

·         connect with potential clients?

·         win new business?

·         get ahead of the competition?

Stop working too hard for too little reward. 

Start making your service business work for you.

Can this be done? Yes.

Is it just marketing hype? No.

Why are you not getting the results that you want? I’ll give you a clue. Take a look in the mirror! 

RELEVANT LINKS

see Grow Your Service Firm

 

What makes video viral?

I am a trifle bemused.

A rather cute/creative video has appearred about my latest book.



I love it. We love it. The publisher loves it. I can name names of people you know who say they love it.

Here's the BUT...

But... no-one presses the re-send/share button. No-one says "this is so funny that I must share it to my friends."

They obviously hit the re-send/share button for this video: Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth 28 million views since 5 Jan.

Well done them.

So what makes a great viral video?

The First Mastermind #mastermind

I was recently asked how and when I was introduced to the Mastermind concept.

Aged 21, I set up my first business with all the insufferable smug arrogance that I could muster. Pretty obnoxious I suspect.

Having read all the books and having attended all the courses (as well as having a degree in economics with business), I still felt things just weren’t coming together. I had accrued way too much theory and hadn’t learned all the lessons I should have learned. But then again, I was young, very young.

It was at this point, working my little socks off and feeling that I wasn’t really making progress, that I was introduced to what is now known as a Mastermind Group: expert sessions; ‘insider secrets’; golden nuggets of research and market research; exposure to genuine how-tos and tools, tips and techniques that actually work; regular coaching and feedback sessions; peer group support; regular info updates, especially about latest and proven techniques; selective introductions, and a whole host of myriad benefits that were too subtle for me to appreciate at the time.

The experience changed my life and I continue to be indebted to the expert business grower who is responsible not only for turbocharging my business career, but also for introducing me to a career that I would later follow: namely helping businesses to grow, and fast. So, what happened?

While my programme took place some time ago, the fundamentals have not changed. The recipe comprises:

·       An expert business grower that can inspire you to make the tough decisions and take the actions required

·       Regular (but relatively brief) coaching and mentoring

·       The creation of a safe haven, a club, of trusted peers who can share your issues and your dreams. People who are on a similar journey to yourself

·       A focus on results, how to get them and how to measure them as well as putting processes and systems in place to automate as much of the business as possible and to put you in a position of working ‘on’ and not ‘in’ the business

·       Regular prompts and mini-updates to keep you fired up and focused, and much, much more...

When I signed up for the programme I wrote my targets for the programme on a piece of paper and put it in a sealed envelope to be opened at the end of the 12-month programme.

What I signed up for was the insights and the golden tips, the priceless nuggets that the others could share as a result of their combined x years of business experience.

What I signed up to was a clear pointer of what worked and what didn’t work for a business like mine.

What I signed up for was magic fairy dust that I could find in no book.

What I had signed up to was my own personalised version of ‘What They Teach You at Harvard Business School’ combined with ‘What They Don’t Teach You...’

And did the programme deliver?

Yes, the programme gave me all of the above. And yes, I exceeded all the targets I had put in that envelope. But this really is the tip of the iceberg.

What I hadn’t accounted for was that the programme changed my view of the business, my view of the world and what exactly I was trying to achieve and it totally opened my eyes to options I had never imagined. (I was young!)

Most of all, the programme succeeded in pinning me down. It got me to declare my ambition, explore how I would achieve it, commit to the strategy and be accountable for the results and my behaviour) not only to the programme leader but also to the whole group.

In the past I had got away with murder by refusing to declare my goals (not that I knew what they were!) and refusing to follow-through on plans and so I was not in any way accountable to anyone for the success or failure of my results. Like most owner-managers I behaved like a law unto myself, taking credit (where credit was not due) and moving the goalposts or blaming some external circumstance if things didn’t go my way.

The programme was the wake-up call I needed; it also provided the key, the solution (the tools) to help me move on. In short, it changed my focus, my viewpoint and my horizons. I became a grown-up!

So, is this type of programme for everyone?

Emphatically the answer is ‘no’! It is not for the faint-hearted or for people content at playing at being in business. Likewise it is not for the fresh-face start-up or the business that is about to go bust (in search of a magic wand).

Who it is for is... people who feel that they have a business that hasn’t yet fulfilled its potential. They have had some success but often feel that they are now working harder than ever and not realising the anticipated results. People who feel they need the support, focus and attention of others, specifically a particular business expert (people who have been-there-and-done-it and can inspire you to do similar things).

There are not too many groups out there that suit your individual business experience, ambition, drive and character. But they are out there. Time to start looking...