John Freeman left early to get his “Asphalt”

Between 6 & 6.30am., when most of the members were arriving, the heavens opened and rain and standing water abounded.  However with 25 members and 4 visitors, once we were in the building no one really paid any attention.

Not only therefore were there 4 visitors but it was a well-attended meeting that presented itself to Anna-Marie who was photographing the whole thing for our website.

Anticipating photographs many members attempted and in some cases succeeding in smartening up their act.  Howard Bullock, usually resplendent in French tablecloth designed shirts, led the charge.  Jacket, understated white shirt with a white handkerchief in the top pocket. Also cutting a dash was Mike Rogers, albeit without jacket. A very smart blue shirt gave him that “catalogue model for the over 50’s” look.  Further, it was much improved by the suggestion, that was accepted by him, that he buttoned down his button down collar.  Brian Painter was not noticeable because every meeting he attempts to ascend the sartorial heights.  My contribution was to keep my jacket on and therefore not reveal my red braces.  Generally, the dressing up accolade was well earned by the Naughty Corner. Vanity, vanity……… everything is vanity.

The Performance League

Terry Maylin was the winner for last month and was presented with his certificate.  With admirable solidarity this month’s leader so far was me.  Unfortunately my absence for 2 weeks will put an end to my aspirations for this month.

Education Presentation

Paul Booth was the presenter and he produced the 1-2-1 chart and suggested that we updated and carried on with our 1-2-1s recording them as we went.  Watch this space!

New Member Induction

Always the pleasurable part of the meeting, Mason Edwards was duly inducted, received his folder and badge and is now fully fledged.  Welcome Mason.

The 60 Second Round

John Freeman was up first because he had a scout hut to attend to and he needed to get there to get his asphalt.  Before he left he told us that he had just taken on an apprentice, no less than Jo Jones’ son.

Richard Reed was selling Railway Journey’s.  As many of us are of the generation that watched the Railway Children he needs to circulate more information on this.

Nick Cooke is absent on holiday but the Whimsey’s were otherwise well represented.  Alan Shaw talked of attending a planning meeting and his message was “don’t trust the local authority”.  We should all be looking for opportunities to get him to along to planning meetings and keep them out of trouble.  His fellow Whimsy, Brian Painter was fortunately delivering his 60 seconds after everybody had finished eating their breakfast; he has already told us of the lady who had a phobia about other people being sick round her/on her.  Another clients phobia was being sick itself.  This made her faint and worse…in projectile fashion she threw the puke around.  I am looking forward to the next stage of her treatment.  The image of said lady “rolling in it” created an indelible impression on my brain.  Probably most whimsical was Allan Moller who is on job in Rayleigh where the owner is a “feeder”. He starts with tea, moves on to toast, he then has tea and cake and then ham sandwiches for lunch.  A mix that was eclectic rather than electric.

Mike Rogers rose to his feet and not only stunned us with his shirt but also explained how you can now reserve products for up to 5 months with mortgage providers.

The Mayor of Trumpton, Vince Goode went all origami on us.  When he got out a piece of plain paper I thought he was going to do tricks but he simply folded it a couple of times in illustration of the sort of things he can do with leaflets.  To the member’s credit, no one else asked if there was any other use that it could be put to.

Jill Willis is now getting a group of collaborators around her and this is improving the quality and volume of what she produces.  She talked of 2 recruits, both journalists.  Hopefully neither of them works for the Daily Mail and standards will be maintained.

Scott Griffiths is looking for lots of other Scott Griffiths or presumably at least a Griffiths who does different things.  My attention must have strayed, I am not sure why.

Stuart Smallcombe was awarding the Oscar this week and he was impressed, as were we all, with Ben(pink piggie) Golding saving Ellen Beckenham’s mum about £200 per month. Not only was that impressive and deserving of the Oscar but if she actually wanted to take up smoking this would be money that could be liberated to do this for her.  She could then be referred by Ellen to Brian Painter…everyone wins.

This weeks statistics and points of note

• 25 members present
• 4 visitors
• 25 referrals
• In excess of £18,000.00 worth of business recorded.
• Ben Golding won the Oscar

Synergy Team Report

An excellent Business to Business Synergy group meeting took place Tuesday.  7 present and discussions revolved around exit strategies for business and death on a personal level.

10-minute presentation by John Hammond

It was the turn of John Hammond to present his wares to the group. He did this with the use of technology which was entirely consistent with his products.  There was a screen, there was a slide show and more importantly, there was a clear explanation of all the areas in which John works and therefore the sort of clients we can look out for him.  It was a great example of how to use your 10 minutes to effectively pull together all the strands that go to make up your business and present them in a way that will give us all opportunities to make referrals.  Well done John.  A special mention should go to his opening shot of a grasshopper and John standing knee high to it.  This was part of the illustration of when he actually went into the industry which seemed to coincide with the sort of early start that young boys in Victorian times were sent up chimneys.

Referrals and Testimonials

What had already been a very lively meeting continued in the same vain with plenty of business being passed and recorded. Finally Anna-Marie is to be commended for spending the whole meeting at curious angles and substantially on her knees. Look forward to viewing the results of her labours.