When I said good morning to my fellow members as we congregated for today’s meeting I was not being strictly accurate. It was wet, it was cold and my voice was fast disappearing. However after 5 minutes, the consumption of a Lem sip and a sustaining coffee everything was well with the world and indeed with the 18 members who were in attendance. We had been depleted by the absence of regular attenders such as the Hammond twins but there one of the rare sightings of the lesser spotted John Freeman who is currently evading the lure of the Canary Islands and threatening attendance more regular in the New Year.
The Performance League
Results for the month of November showed Matt Barry well out in front with a record-breaking 489 points being followed, somewhat in the distance, by myself with 250 points and Scott Griffiths with 219 points. Get your referrals in and the acknowledgements for the money received over the year if you have not already done so, it is a short month (only two weeks).
Education Presentation
It transpired that Stuart Smallcombe, bright eyed and bushy tailed, was ready to give a guest presentation but enthusiastic Education and Development officer was having none of it and his offering this week had the theme of ‘using the right language’ in your business dealings, the truth often has to be sacrificed by adding encouraging question. Don’t say ‘I’ve been busy’ or ‘does this make sense to you’. Consider the alternative of ‘what would you like to know first?’ or ‘so what’s best for you?’ It’s all part of the more general message that we should be listening when we network or interact with our clients.
We will probably have to wait until the New Year before we here what Stuart Smallcombe might have delivered to us this morning.
New Member Induction & Existing Member Renewal
Almost as rare as the lesser spotted John Freeman….. But not quite!. Terry Maylin, membership director, was able to report the three renewals of Leann Reason, Tina Walker, and Melissa Jackson. Renewals are always heartening and there are a couple more in the pipeline that should heighten the anticipation of next week’s meeting.
The 60 Second Round
In the absence of Blake Hammond, Dave Roberts was the stand-in Oscar awarder who pointed out his company’s availability for call outs. This is not something that he normally flaunts but he did have one eye on his 10 minute presentation that was due later.
John Freeman along with several other members was not looking for work before Christmas but in the New Year he is looking for more substantial jobs including extensions. Neil Bellham is also not looking for work of any kind whilst he contemplates his upcoming holiday and neither was Mike Skinner looking for bookings until February. This stimulated Leann Reason to also declare that she was not taking on any work until after Christmas. Don’t let’s that put you off making referrals, it’s simply that any object of a referral will have to be patient.
If other members were not kicking the need for referrals down the road there were some one off requests. Vincent Goode has a related business called Martin Goode Watercolours which does what it says on the tin, in relation to watercolours that had been produced by his father. Scott Griffiths was suggesting a Christmas present of a purchase of your.com. Jane Malyon was urging homemade Christmas crackers so that small tins of tea could be purchased from her and included. The thought of a Christmas cracker being cracked and said tin flying out was an interesting image that formed in my mind at least.
By contrast Tina Walker was positively looking for work. Don’t close your office if you need to keep a line open to your customers, simply engage her services.
Ben Golding and Stuart Smallcombe were both warning of the proposed New Year price increases to get people signed up for their services. Ben can of course save you money as well but, the ultimate accolade for price saving went to Brian Painter with the award of the Oscar for saving a woman who had given up smoking, £2700 over a six month period. The saving of money being so important in today’s climate prompted David Roberts to make the award.
This weeks statistics and points of note
A good month for monies recorded, in the region of £70,000 for November.
10-minute presentation by David Roberts
It was David Roberts’ maiden voyage and he produced a well presented. On the basis that those of us who gained a reasonable number of points gained it by guesswork only, and very few people knew how to wire a plug, he could not have chosen a better illustration of how important and relevant his services are. A very good start!
Referrals and Testimonials
Given the marked reluctance of anyone to get too committed before Christmas, it is surprising that the referrals and testimonials round even got off the ground but it was reasonably busy and a testament to members ongoing commitment to provide referrals for each other
The Christmas party is on Tuesday 12th December and our final meeting on the following Thursday. Let’s hope for good attendance at both
Great, lively meeting!! David’s first 10 minutes was fab – though scary how little I know about anything electrical!!!
Sorry for stealing the ED slot Stuart!!
Looking forward to next weeks ‘Festive Fun’ for the last meeting of 2023!! 😁
Well done David. And great display of jumpers and socks!
My bacon sandwich was well done (literally), and so was David’s first presentation, well done! And everyone loves a quiz, so what’s not to like. I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the Xmas dinner, Toby’s going to be away apparently.
Well done David on your first 10 minutes and yes it was scary about how little we know about electrics- which is why we have David!
A good Christmas jumper turnout and £60 raised is always good to do.
see you all next week for the Christmas special and don’t forget your jumper and your Secret Santa present.
A festive meeting with everyone in their Christmas Jumpers!
Well done David on your first 10 minutes. A great quiz to get everyone thinking and highlight just how important it is to get a professional electrician to do electrical work and not attempt it yourself!
I’m looking forward to the Christmas meal next week and the secret santa at next weeks meeting.
Great lively meeting with the start of the Christmas Jumper’s; excellent first 10 minutes from David, had a few questions right but it’s good to have an electrician in our group. great Ed slot too Ben even though you stole it from Stuart LOL. See you all next Thursday for the next round of Christmas Jumpers.
great meeting and well done Dave on your first 10 minutes
It’s beginning to feel…………Did I detect a tear in Stuart’s eye when he was denied the honour of giving the ed slot? Never mind, Stuart, your day will come!Good quiz from David and thank you for the Oscar. See you Tuesday.
Well done David for your first and most illuminating (!!) 10 minutes 😀 Shows that I must never attempt home electrical wiring for fear of combustion. Thanks to one and all for another fun and Xmassy meeting. Great jumpers too 😀
Great meeting with everyone looking very festive. great 10 minutes from David, I now know how to change a plug, but I wont attempt it. Get a professional in.
Sorry to miss the meeting and David’s first presentation but, as I may have mentioned, I am away. Enjoy the party everyone!