Members assembled, 22 in number, to greet a gloriously sunny morning that promised to be a ‘Phew what a scorcher’ type of a day. I felt it was all going very well until I realised that I had left my glasses at home. Last week’s sensory deprivation was loss of a tooth, a sore mouth, and the insertion of a denture. This week it was an assault on my eyesight that threatened to blight proceedings. Us EBFers are however a resilient bunch. Unfortunately this particular sensory deprivation also seemed to affect my brain from time to time but with a little help from my friends the meeting proved less of a challenge than I thought it would. Even my denture Failed to bring me a lisp.
It was also a meeting tinged with sadness as Richard Reed announced his retirement from the travel industry and also from EBF. We wish him well in his retirement.
The Performance League
We have of course missed a week this month but with a weeks’ worth of performance available Terry Maylin finds himself out front followed by Sarah Steel and Jane Malyon.
Education Presentation
Paul Booth, with typical accountants good cheer, chose his context for this week’s presentation as the continued presence of COVID, the continued effect of Brexit and the cost of living hikes brought about by the conflict in Ukraine. The prospect of Official Recession made it essential that we had a beautiful sunny morning to accompany this doom and gloom. Paul’s message was that whatever difficulties there might be in the economy, as business owners we either hide away or grasp the nettle of opportunity and look to ways of making money out of the current difficulties. He urged the more positive approach.
The 60 Second Round
The 60 Second round adopted the positive note suggested by Paul in the Education Slot. Kieran Peaty was last week’s Oscar winner and before going on to assess the presentations of his fellow members he warned of new building regulations coming in that put the onus very much on the client with any building project to make sure they were compliant.
Toby Acton suggested we should analyse whether we were morning, afternoon or evening people and organise our day accordingly. Not being a morning person is a distinct disadvantage to those of us who are EBF members.
Matt Barry urged us to make sure that wall space in our business premises was properly used to ensure an upbeat and relevant approach to what we do. Nick Cooke followed him and he was definitely optimistic. He clearly was looking forward to a day out visiting three separate clients to advise them on structural matters. The corroded tower seemed the most promising and interesting for him.
Brian Painter is always optimistic. He’s been consulted by a client who has a fear of flying. Apparently it’s only the take-off and landing that really concerns him, but to a lesser extent that is what concerns most of us when we fly. It was after this heartening presentation that Richard Reed announced his retirement although this was entirely coincidental. Of course if you are travelling a lot Paul Dulieu could be your man as he described himself as a specialist interpreter. Of course he was referring to his skill as a person who can help you best put your foot forward in business when describing your attributes. Another way of showing off your attributes is to get a brochure done, which certainly is something that the Mayor of Gants Hill Village was urging us to do.
Howard Bullock’s take on our turbulent economy is that we must be aware of where the markets are going and without trying to predict precisely what is likely to happen have a strategy this is capable of coping with the current ups and downs.
We needed our spirits lifting and Jane Malyon produced a very large gift voucher for her tasty and delicious goodies. An all in all a more sober series of presentations and overshadowed by Richard Reed’s departure Kieran Peaty awarded him the Oscar. Will he have to come back next week to present it?
This weeks statistics and points of note
Scott Griffiths was cheerfully upbeat because of the 20 referrals that were passed at the meeting producing an average value of £500 value per referral. Around £8000 worth of business was also written so the meeting maintained its air of positivity.
Synergy Team Report
Paul Booth’s finance group met on Tuesday at the George and Dragon at Mountnessing. He reported that a good time was had by all. He neatly lead us into the 10 minutes presentation.
10-minute presentation by Scott Griffiths
Scott estimated that during his time at EBF he had done about 40 presentations to which I can attest, having heard an awful lot of them. This was without doubt his best so far because it did what a 10 minute presentation should do. It set out the essentials of what he did, how he did it and the sort of situations where he could help a prospective client. As if to emphasise the quality of his presentation there followed at least 10 questions that were surprisingly sensible and very much on topic. I would be surprised if he didn’t get quite a few referrals arising from this presentation.
Referrals and Testimonials
The 20 or so referrals manifested themselves in a lively round and the lucky winner of the speakers prize was Mike Skinner. For once there were a lot of us ‘in it to win it’.
Before the meeting wound up there were the usual announcement to the meeting and the final word from Richard Reed made sure his legacy of participation in this part of the meeting would remain in the memory.
An excellent meeting, as always, tinged by the sad news (for us, not for him!) that Richard is retiring. Hope you have a long, happy and healthy retirement Richard.
Excellent lively meeting and the number of referrals going up is encouraging – shame about Richard retiring but all good things come to an end. can we all please look out for a travel agent who might want to join our merry band?
Good luck for the future Richard and do stay in touch.
Great blog Aiden, although you forget to mention Googlejuice! I’ll miss telling Richard to speak up, and wishing him a happy new year every week. Have a lovely weekend all
https://www.searchmetrics.com/glossary/link-juice/
Great presentation Scott. Thank you for everything you do for us!
Great presentation Scott and all the best Richard.
Wishing Richard all the best in his retirement. Another great meeting, excellent presentation Scott . We need to talk about what we need to do to help our ranking on google
Great meeting, although sad to see Richard leave us. Really on point ed slot from Paul and a great 10 minutes from Scott. I did note that Aidan mentioned above he had seen “an awful lot” of presentations from Scott. I am sure he got the wording the right way round there… I hope so
Well done, Jane for being an excellent Door Keeper. A fine presentation from Scott
Sorry to see Whispering Richard depart, I wish him well. Overall, a good meeting with a good atmosphere.
Fantastic presentation Scott!! You definitely ‘lead from the front’ in EBF. Loved it!!
Great Ed slot from Paul B too!
Sad to see Richard leave, I remember he looked after me on my very first visit!! Good luck Richard and congratulations on your retirement!
great 10mins dot scott!
As always our meeting was upbeat and with it’s usual positive vibe, sorry that I dampened the mood a little.
I have nothing but positive things to say about EBF and it’s members, both past & present, they provided me with my last booking pre pandemic and my first one after the handcuffs were removed and I thank everyone for the support shown me throughout the last 10 years or more.
I can’t finish without bestowing praise on this particular networking group and to say that the support it’s members offer to new members, especially if that member is just starting out on a new business venture, is invaluable – the expertise around the table priceless.
I will miss you all but I do hope to make the occasional appearance at a social gathering if that’s okay.
Thanks again.
Great meeting, well done Scott on your 10 minutes, and of course great Ed Slot Paul. Sorry to see you go Richard but have a happy retirement. See you all Thursday.