Wake up call

Edition 66 Monday November 8th  2010

Hi , A Big time wake up call…..heralded the start of my weekend as I failed a routine check point breath test on Friday night !!!. My heart was in my mouth as I pulled over and had to undertake a second test which mercifully I passed !. A couple of beers is all it takes to put you into this zone especially if you don’t eat anything. Two messages from a relieved Jones boy ;

1)    If you are drinking, preferably, DON’T drive.

2)    If you have to drive either,drink low alcohol or make sure you only have one drink per hour and eat something substantial during the event!!

A timely reminder as we hit the silly seaso and not something to keep up with the Joneses on !

I also caught up with some special friends ,hope you had a good one…..cheers Jonesey!!!.

Harry  the sober hound says Dad “Its not what you are drinking it is how you are drinking”. Also glad to survive the tension on the couch before the AB’s prevailed!

 

“Praise is like champagne; it should be served while it is still bubbling”  

Following the recent local music event I was so impressed with the confidence and talent of one of the performers that I sent a note of praise to her Headmaster …. I received the following reply;

“Thank you very much for your positive comments about one of our students. You are so right. She is a wonderful young woman and it gives you faith that our future is in good hands  when there are potential leaders like her in our High School community.

We are going through the selection process for our leaders at the moment and she is in contention for a leadership role.

It is great that you sent this e-mail to us because we see lots of young people like her but they do not get the publicity that others get. I personally believe that if the media reported the positives rather than the deficits, society would be better for that.”

WOW.receiving this feedback made me feel amazing and so glad I made the effort to pass on my 5 cents worth. Too often we blame and criticize when things go wrong but hesitate to praise the positive.

 Praise, either verbal or written provides the giver and receiver a feeling of satisfaction and recognition. Passing on genuine and ’bubbling’praise is easy but needs to be done as close to the event as possible for maximine effect .I challenge you all to look for and praise someone this week… GO ON !

“The worst mistake anyone can make is not to say ‘well done’  John Ashcroft

 

Promises

 

Edition 65 Monday November 1st  2010

Hi , I couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the weekend. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the local café on Friday night to listen to some amazingly talented locals. The Kaipara College music group including students and teachers and a sprinkling of famous grandparents treated us to a groovy evening.  Inspirational , ambitious teens, remember when that was us?.

Unfortunately my weekend went steadily downhill from there after offering a shoulder for Maverick to cry on after his first domestic !. Then  watching as  Auckland  and then the mighty All Blacks were cruelly beaten in the last seconds !! From the high of Friday night to the lows of rugby hell !!, I know you cant win them all but hey two last minute losses !!!come on !. There is more to life they say but I am having trouble figuring out what whilst still deep in mourning.

The weekend finished on a high meeting some creative local trick or treaters and spending time with some neat friends. I hope you had a great Halloween weekend. Cheers Jonesey!

Harry  the “All Black “ hound was hiding under the cushions as the big game came down to the wire ! just when we needed him in the defensive line !! Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh

 

“Never over promise or under deliver. Promises are like babies:they are fun to make , but sometimes very difficult to deliver” John Fenton

I am the consumate sales person, I cant help myself I get in the groove and sell all these wonderful features and benefits then have to PANIC about how I will deliver on the promise!! (know the feeling?). Or in other words I sell what I believe the company can deliver but then have to resell the deal three more times internally before I can actually get it to happen!(know that feeling too don’t you !!).

The secret to under promising and over delivering is communication and teamwork. I had a situation last week where I inherited a deal that had been started by someone else and that I had to tidy up and close!. The deal was headed for sales disaster given the high expectations that had been promised by the previous salesman . They were expectations that we were not capable of delivering. An honest and frank admission to the customer followed by a new set of delivery perameters that we knew our team could meet and actually exceed turned the situation around. Communicating and involving the team meant we didn’t have to sell the deal multiple times. Internalcommunication and teamwork =customer satisfaction.

“Communication is to (sales)relationships what breathing is to life” Virginia Satir