Business Networking Blog 17th November 2022

it was not as wet on arrival as perhaps anticipated but it was wet enough. 18 members were undaunted together with Rob Parfitt, a guest from last week, who is threatening to join. Added to this piece of good news was the fact that Stuart Smallcombe had organised a sweep stake for the upcoming World Cup. He had sold out by the end of the meeting. Thanks Stuart!

The Performance League

Two weeks gone and Scott Griffiths is out front followed by Matt Barry. Six members have already passed the monthly Call benchmark.

Education Presentation

Like many of us, Nick Cooke does a lot of writing. Mainly emails and reports. He is acutely conscious of using the right word, properly spelt when communicating in writing. Should it be  affect or effect. He often uses the term diaphragming which is often achieved ‘en masse’. This was a warning also against jargon. It was well received.

The 60 Second Round

Stuart Smallcombe was awarding the Oscar and emphasised the importance of the installation of suitable infrastructure around business premises.

Nick Cooke had arrived in the nick of time, was thrown into the education presentation and was second up in the 60-second round. He also revealed that he was very careful not to go up scaffolding when it was raining. He sat down exhausted!

Have you heard the one about the cleaning lady and her thick pile carpet. Brian Painter told us that she didn’t really like people walking on it, and raked it regularly. It became easier to maintain in a relatively pristine condition. As her friends and family did not visit, children did not use, and as close to a sterile atmosphere as possible was produced. Something was missing! Friends are now visiting and she is much happier. To hell with the shag pile.

There then followed two presentations reflecting the current state of the economy. Melissa Jackson warned businesses of being careful and weathering the storm that might well follow the Chancellor’s autumn statement……  it was slightly longer than that but relatively upbeat. Mike Rogers was similarly upbeat over fixed rate mortgages. If you’ve got one that comes up for renewal in the spring, apply now and Mike will get you the best current rates possible. These rates will be fixed for six months and if interest rates go down within that time a new application can always be made. Clever eh!!

Vincent Goode has had a bumper week for orders of service although other than for long lives well lived these can be sad affairs. Funeral directors and celebrants are his target audience. Fortunately, any gloom was immediately lifted by Jane Malyon. It’s amazing what you can do with a scone. She certainly demonstrated this with some of her Christmas alternatives. A subscription for a 12 or 6 monthly treat for a year was one of her innovative suggestions. Talking of innovative, Hannah O’Shea has a new line in her role as social media guru. She can help advise parents and make them more savvy in supervising their children as they inevitably discover social media, the children that is.

Nick Cooke’s education slot had warned against jargon and Terry Maylin more than followed this up. ‘Unburdening’ means pay as you go. ‘Discovery’ is when parties exchange evidence in a court case. The cynical would suggest that this is the occasion when both parties discover what the case is really all about.

Matt Barry has recently been involved in designing for a record label and its back catalogue. It is perhaps slightly more exciting than designing signs for John Hammond’s business but no less important or appreciated.

The two Pauls almost followed one another but their pitches were slightly different. Paul Dulieu had penned a verse or two, whilst Paul Booth could make your bookkeeping life easier by linking you up with NatWest who have a free bank account and the software package that might be useful.

This week’s Oscar was judged on not only content but the effort put into presentation which was applicable to many but bested by Leann as to how to maximise the benefit of your rooms through her services. Well done Leann for your first time win.

10-minute presentation by Stuart Smallcombe

As usual, a confident and informative piece by Stuart. He was all about unified communications. Your business phone line can follow you around to make you available to those to whom you do not wish to give your private number. Keeping in touch with your customers at all relevant times is an important part of a successful business and he explained how this could be achieved. An absence of jargon in explaining how things can be done is an important part of his companies ethos. A good quality and trustworthy service is at the heart of his business and  as long term member of EBF it partly explains why he’s still around to tell the tale. Let us keep him in mind as we go about our businesses and see what referrals we can find for him in the future.