Chairman’s Business Networking Blog Tuesday 11th March 2014.
20 Members present and 2 visitors, Chris Adams of CPA Technology and Iain Bell of Creative Re-Creations.
A good turnout enjoyed a buffet breakfast which saw scrambled eggs with green (chives to you) and a set up that is more fitting the way the meeting is run. Everybody had their breakfast before them by just after five past seven and virtually everyone had finished by the time we started at quarter past seven.
We will persist with the format and for those of a healthy disposition; apparently there will be cereal next week…as well!!
Nige Kirby delivered an excellent Ed Slot centred round the ten minute presentation using the 4 Ps as a guide. What are the 4 Ps you might ask, or rather cannot remember. Here it is:-
- Prepare it
- Practise it
- Perfect it
- Perform it.
He advocated the equivalent of marinating your presentation, get it initially prepared practice it and then put it away for a few days (thats the marinating bit) and then return to it and make any appropriate alterations before perfecting it and performing it.
And so to the 60 second round:
Ian Douglas made a virtue out of brevity but mentioned windows several times which effectively encapsulates his business. Ian Nicholson reminded us of our ISA Allowances. Iain Martin was offering a no obligation test to make sure you are getting enough from your TV and associated instruments and one of our visitors, Iain Bell declared that he spent 25 years in archaeology.
The only notable thing about the performance of these 4 individuals (have you spotted it??) They all sport the same sounding forename name although Mr Nicholson is the only one with the English spelling. The London Bus syndrome was maintained when Kim Redwood Lee followed Adam Hotson both dealing with accounting “stuff”.
Jim Henshaw is sporting a very well fitting pair of trousers which apparently he bought from a shop…frightening! Paul Lefever’s message was to make sure your electricity supply is checked and is safe. The scene was set for Nige Kirby to tell us the same thing about Gas but today he was showing his feminine side and suggested a water softener, particularly given the hard water we find in Essex, would be very good for our skin. This is probably because he is the singing plumber. I remember from days gone by the singing postman, but he was always asking for a light and that would never do with a Gas Safe Plumber.
Sun tan of the week goes to Mark Waller, who doesn’t appear to have lost much of what he picked up in Tenerife. He looked healthy, relaxed and ready for anything…. so just wait until next week! It was left to Adam Hotson to deliver the 60 seconds to catch our attention with a free assessment, which was sufficiently eye catching and interesting…yes interesting to win him the the Oscar.
Hugo Heij had the opportunity of delivering the 10 minute slot and he showed all the professionalism that you would expect from someone whose job it is to present to the great unwashed (us). He demystified many things and provided a good source of entertainment by having us draw a line and write words underneath that line and above that line, acronyms of BED and ARO that left us with visions of an eagle soaring and a duck feeding off the bottom of a pond. What it makes you do, is realise that there are some things more difficult than trying to understand how to run your business. Seriously Hugo, a very sensible and clear presentation that is a great advert for your business and the reason why we should make referrals to you.
Talking about referrals, the referrals and testimonial round continues to improve. This week there were 12 referrals and £1,300 worth of recorded business.
The business of the week for us to concentrate on as a potential visitor – a florist. We got one out of the two from previous weeks-IT Specialist. Let’s also try and keep our eyes open for general insurance broker.
See you all next week and hopefully with at least 2 further visitors.
So glad there is a buffet for breakfast now, I shall look forward to it next week.
I’m tempted to change the spelling of my name :o)
Another great meeting and the buffet style breakfast is a far better option however I did feel that the scrambled egg tasted a little fishy to me!!!!!!
Lets hope that Iain Bell decides to join up and add to the Ian/Iain count of the group.
Thanks again to Hugo for an insightful 10 mins
A very inspirational 10 minutes Hugo and thanks for sending me out the pack. I will let you know how this goes next week…
Buffet was a good idea even if there were a few queue jumpers. Hugo’s slot was indeed very thought provoking.
I should of course have paid tribute to Hugo’s 10 minute slot. Thought provoking and very interesting. Definitely need to be above the line!
Loved the presentation Hugo and think it’s an excellent idea to provide cereal alongside cooked breakfast. Do we get a reduction in the breakfast costs? Lol….. It’s alright I’ll take some toast to make sure I get my money’s worth……..oh and inspired by the request for someone to fill the florist catergory I visited both local billericsy florists and received similar excuses from both on not being intrested in joining us. The fact that they are at market buying flowers and then prepping them… I have one other outlet based at queens park and will pop in there when I’m there next dropping a fare.
I tried Queens Park florist Mark – no joy. Good meeting, good breakfast. Is Ian Douglas ia or iai………….?
I always enjoy reading the Billericay blog and had a little smile at the singing postman reference as my dad used to sing that very song when he was getting ready for work – he also had the record “Mary Linley , she smoked like a chimney, but she’s my little nicotine girl ” no doubt she would have been a testing referral for Brian.(I could pop a long and sing it to you if you like – I know all the words just not necessarily in the right order )