Chairman’s blog Thursday 12th September 2024

Only 17 of us today but we finished up with bright skies, bright sunshine and 17 bright members ready for the networking fray. The normally ever present Paul Booth has had the audacity to take a holiday and add to the list of absences but the upside is that Paul Corrigan was the only Paul present and therefore we didn’t have to call him big Paul

The Performance League

The recording of the amount of business passed last week had gone awry but subject to correction Paul Corrigan is taking up where he left off last month and is out front with 103 points followed by myself on 100 points with Leann Reason in third.

Education Presentation

Toby Acton Excused himself for lack of preparation and then produced an interesting little piece on how to approach sales objections. There are apparently 4 types of objection that are likely from people you are looking to sell your services or goods to. They are as follows:

1. I’ve got no time
2. I can’t afford it
3. I don’t think it’s worth it
4. I don’t believe you

This apparently is in reality just one excuse namely, I don’t believe you. The lesson that we must learn is that we are not getting our message right. You must get them to understand exactly what it is you’re selling and the benefits to them. I suppose you will know that you have mastered your sales technique when no one offers any of the above excuses. There is the possibility that they do fully understand what your product is but just don’t want it. But they can only do that when they know exactly what it is you’re selling.

The 60 Second Round

We had an upbeat adjudicator in the shape of Clara Downton because she was very upbeat about the general direction of interest rates on mortgages i.e. downwards.

Although we have had very little rain over the last month, following copious quantities of the stuff in earlier months James Humphreys was targeting property insurance and asked us to beware of any absence of flood cover. Also looking forwards but with holidays in mind Chris de la Prida was looking forward to 2025 where there was an all-inclusive deal for seven nights in the Maldives at £1459 per person Although James Humphreys was looking for property insurance leads this week he was also looking for this for scaffolders and tradesmen generally and this was mirrored by Mike Skinner who is looking to promote his skills in promoting companies that provide trades. He’s apparently been working with Paul Corrigan this week.

Ben Golding focused his 60 seconds on the team that he has recruited who want to add to their income by selling Utility Warehouse products. They come from all walks of life.

Leann Reason was talking amazing spaces. The space around which she arrangers is at the heart of her service.

Last week I did say that if Blake Hammond mentioned Christmas before the end of October I would not make mention off his presentation but I have to report that he couldn’t resist pointing out the drop in temperature…. and the approach of Christmas was a reason for you to look at all the winter clothing that he provides. It’s time you select this year’s hoodie.

Jane Malyon went a little way to proving that’s her afternoon teas can solve almost any problem. The mother who went on holiday whilst her son was charged with riotous behaviour seems to be a case in point. If they had sat down to one of her afternoon teas everything would have been calm under control.

Terry Maylin has been known to indicate his willingness to sue anyone. This week he attempted to clarify this by providing a list of the sort of proceedings he has been involved in over the last week or so.

Scott Griffiths is to be commended upon listening carefully to the education presentation. He was able to take this a stage further by explaining that his website products are part of the process of making buyers fully understand your product.

Stuart Smallcombe was self-deprecating in the extreme. All of the big providers boast awards for being the best provider of various parts of their products. He doesn’t…. but his products are better. Don’t look for award winners but someone who can produce a good product. He was of course forgetting his acknowledged position as the best in his field a EBF and he has the quality mark to prove it. It did however make him the worthy winner of the Oscar.

10-minute presentation by Ben Ben Golding

The television appeared again with promotional video support both through Utility Warehouse’s Ben Fogle and a private one by a member of Ben’s own team. It was a very assured performance. And he had a captive audience in that most of us sitting around the room do receive them energy products through his company.

A finance synergy team meeting immediately followed our formal meeting with 10 members in attendance. It was a useful brainstorming session about how best to sustain our current quest for new members. Watch this space!