Edition 96 Monday 27th June 2011
Hi, there are some things you never grow out of and they tend to be lifes simple pleasures. Things like eating fish and chips out of the wrapper with copious amounts of extra sauce and salt (yum). Who doesn’t love skimming stones across the surface of the lake or foreshore in the world championship final with family or friends (judges decision on amount of skims is final). What about hunkering down in front of an open fire on a blustery winters afternoon watching an oldie but a goodie movie or some sport on the tele zzzzz. Or creating an old favorite like sweetcorn fritters or pikelets in the kitchen and then eating them all yourself ! (yum). Then you could head for the local beach or park for a walk wrapped up like Sir Ed against the elements! Like me I bet you too find it is simple things like this that often provide us with the most pleasure, fun,and long lasting memories. These are all things I happily remember from my past, things that were not planned days in advance but that were often spur of the moment things that became family favorites. They are all things we have done impromptu in the last few weekends without thinking about it and withoput it costing an arm and a leg that have been priceless fun to do. If you havent done some old favorites for a while why not promise yourself to take time out and do just that,…. soon.
Speaking of hunkering down in front of the fire, tennis and the footy, I remember seeing both the mighty Blues and the Crusaders heading for victory before falling asleep this weekend. Both live to fight again next weekend…good news. I hope you all had fun, some wins and a restful weekend with family and friends. Have a safe and happy week J ………………. cheers Jonesey!!!
Harry the hound cant believe I told you about him getting a blow dry last week!, a dog has a reputation to uphold afterall, crikey mate if only they knew about your grooming issues !!
“A competitor is a person who goes into a revolving door behind you and comes out ahead of you” Richard Branson
We had some great wins last week because we reacted quicker than our competitors to opportunities that came our way. The secret to our success was the speed of our response. It has been an interesting experience starting a new company in a competitive market sector that boasts a number of major players who dominate market share. When you are the big guy it is often harder staying there than it was getting there in the first place. Complacency and arrogance are the enemy of the market leaders. The bigger you get the harder it is to maintain that personal touch with customers. Large corporates often lose touch with the coal face, their customers , they forget that it is those very customers that got them where they are today. This however is good news for businesses like ours as it creates opportunities for us to fill the void between the automated phone system and the the personal touch so many of them crave.
We have set some simple standards that are proving highly successful that include answering all phone calls to our business in person and returning requests for quotes and service immediately. Our competitors prefer instead to hide behind automation and contractual red tape avoiding face to face contact at all costs. Like the simple personal stuff alluded to above it is also the simple things in business that make the difference between winning and then retaining customers.
We have combined the personal touch and speed of response with some good old fashioned kiwi ingenuity putting together deals that provide us with key points of differentiation. Just like the Crusaders and the Blues the key to success is often how well we do the simple stuff. By concentrating on and doing the basics well you will find you stay one step ahead of your competitors…….go for it !
“The successful person is the one who finds out what is the matter with their business before their competitors do”. Roy L Smith
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