Business Mentoring Day

Business Mentoring

Today I am completing business mentoring with new start up small businesses through the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) #ownBossNEA. Thursdays are always the day I look forward to in my diary.

The day starts at 8.30 to be prepared for the first of my eight meetings, and should the day run smoothly I should be finished by 17.00. I am seeing each new entrepreneur in one hour weekly slots over the course of an eight week period, in order to get them prepared for self employment and give them the skills to write a comprehensive business plan and 12 month cash-flow forecast as part of the requirements of the NEA scheme. I am always surprised to see so many new faces, that are often eager to get started and have a burning ambition to be their own boss and take control of their own destiny.

Small Business Growth

Apart from the requirements of the NEA Scheme I also pay special attention to how they will give their small business growth, how will they deal with sales – that word sales gives so many the feeling of dread – yet without it a business will not survive or grow.

I actively mentor and coach each mentee through an individual sales process, how to define their target client base, how to approach them, and how to deal with asking for the money, and what to do if someone doesn’t pay.

I guide them about dealing with too many enquiries at once, and how to make sure you always treat your customers fairly, and of course how to cope with cash flow the main stay of any business.

Types of business

Over the last three years that I have been involved with this scheme I have mentored plenty of builders, plasterers, plumbers, cleaners, sales agents, and e-commerce based businesses. Some of the more interesting cases have been management consultants, furniture makers, upholsterers, clock makers/repairs and even a cigar box guitar manufacturer. However, not all of the individuals I see finish with the same business idea they started with.

The one thing that stands out about them all is the determined nature to succeed no matter what happens next, and I wish them all good luck and prosperity.

Author: Carl Bradshaw FInstSMM. Follow on Twitter @CarlBradshaw, Google+, or public updates on Facebook catch up with what I’m reading on Pinterest.
By Carl Bradshaw, MentorNW

Image credits go to Flickr Creative Commons Licence BK

Email marketing strategy

Before starting any marketing campaign you should look to set your objectives and goals of what you want to achieve from this campaign. ROI,Client acquisition or retention etc.

Remember, to include want your customers or clients are to achieve from your email marketing as this should be an important part of your overall strategy for any email marketing campaign so that you can measure the failure or success of each campaign as you go along.

Defining your objectives or goals helps you to determine:

– What type of content to put in your emails?
– How many emails you need to send?
– How often you need to send emails?
– To whom to send your emails?
– When to change or refine your goals?

The other important element to decide is – Do you have enough time to devote to seeing your email marketing strategy through to the end?

That’s time to create, develop and manage the campaign from start to finish. Do you have the skills and tools to complete all these tasks?

Positive Business Development outsources its email marketing to GoMyEmails making the best use of their expertise and experience in sending regular email campaigns to advise and direct us in the best overall solution to meet our targets.

GoMyEmails offers its clients the opportunity to maximise its sales via high value, fully designed 3D email marketing, to view examples of their existing work take a look here.

How to set and stick to your New Years resolutions

Setting goals or resolutions, whether it be for business or personal growth, is always a good idea, but do you stick to them? Watch this short video for some helpful tips. If you are struggling to set and achieve your goals why not try a personal or business mentor.

[howcast url=’http://www.howcast.com/videos/70571-How-To-Set-and-Stick-To-Your-New-Years-Resolutions’ height=’240′ width=’360′]

The changing customers you need to satisfy in 2011

As part of my freelance sales services to various different businesses this year I like to keep my knowledge up to date and bring interesting articles that I have read to the attention of others, this is one of the most interesting that I have recently found, that could have a large impact on your business in 2011, take head of what is said and consider how it affects your projected sales of products and services for the year ahead.

Customer / Client Profile

There are five new types of customers that have emerged from the current recession which business owners must keep in mind when delivering new products, services and experiences in 2011.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article titled ‘The Just-in-Time Consumer’ discussing new trends in consumer purchasing behaviour. The article highlighted the impact of the great recession on consumer purchasing activities and found that consumers are increasingly purchasing fewer products in smaller packages.

Today’s customer

So you may ask, who is today’s customer? In addition to the just-in-time customer, I would like to propose several other customer styles shaped by these challenging financial times.

• The value or discount customer – Following two years of heavy discounting, today’s customers face difficulties correlating value with price. Bargains have become the rule and not the exception for this customer.
• The mistrusting customer – Following the collapse of major brands from RBS, Halifax, Woolworths and Bradford & Bingley coupled with the challenges experienced by major brands such as Toyota, today’s customer is skeptical and lacks trusts in what where once reliable institutions.
• The fearful customer – This long economic distress shows no end in sight. Customers remain fearful over job security and their ability to help keep their loved ones afloat. This fear is becoming existential and persists during any transaction owing to the hesitation and fear over the short- and long-term.
• The do-it-yourself customer – Many personal sacrifices have been made during these challenging economic times. Customers have given up indulgences as well as other products and services they might have considered basic just a few years ago. Our customers today are inclined to do things themselves to ensure that their scope of sacrifices need not grow any further.
• The small indulgence customer – Our customers are still human and want little more than to catch the occasional break. All their fears and mistrust are weighing heavily on them and they are reluctant to indulge on expensive vacations or a lavish night out on the town. They are increasingly substituting their lavish desires breaks with small indulgences. Small and personal indulgences are the manner in which customers are creating a small sanctuary away from their pressures and fears.

The 2011 customer will enter the new year having faced two or three years of intense financial distress. Even if individuals didn’t personally lose a job, they likely experienced salary cuts, suffered losses in the stock market, witnessed layoffs among their family, friends and colleagues, and read about bleak financial news daily, causing more fear, doubt and uncertainty. Ignoring this state of mind will be dangerous for any company.

The longer this financial distress continues, the greater the long-term impact will be on consumer purchasing behavior.

We ought to take a lesson from the history of the great depression where many consumers simply couldn’t contemplate purchasing a luxury item, even many years after the great depression ended. While the financial outlook of today’s customers is uncertain, companies would do well to look back in history for guidance.

As you commence planning on your 2011 strategic sales plan, ask yourself about the manner in which you’re designing and delivering products, services, and experiences that are relevant to today’s consumer.

Just shrinking the packaging may not cut it anymore. Demonstrating compassion, understating and flexibility will go a long way. Like any relationship milestone, this is the moment that will define the future of the relationship with consumers. It is now your opportunity to elevate the quality and duration of your customer relationships to find out how we can help you deliver your sales strategy this year give Carl a call on 08444 123 174.

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