The last squeeze

         

 

 

Edition 215 Monday December 9th 2013

 

Hi,hey remember our gas fitter plumber guy Mat Bowman from a couple of episodes ago?, well he asked to use our bit about him in the sizzle as a reference on his new website! How cool is that, one good turn deserves another and that is how the world revolves my friends…..good karma!

I like to get the last out of any container or product before accepting it is run out and eventually throwing it away. Christine is the opposite as soon as there is a hint of the end its gone so there tends to be a battle of the minds especially around the kitchen and the bathroom as things like toothpaste, shampoo, dishwashing liquid, showerwash etc all get used. Now even when there is visibly no product left I reckon a rinse frees up enough product for a final lash! Last week I couldn’t pump any more out of a moisturiser bottle so I unscrewed it and got enough off the tube running in to the bottle to have a bath in (well almost) .Sometimes I have to hide containers in order to get that last rinse/use or it gets noticed and chucked....hmm funnyJ….the irritating things you do !!!

Speaking of making things last I had been doing that with my running shoes until I spotted my foot protruding out the side! Off to the sales and some great deals but the pair best for my tender (wide) feet and the distance I plod annually was not on sale (hate it when that happens!).Some things are not worth crying about and for me running shoes is one of those…..my theory here is that of the Gucci Family.. “the price will be forgotten long before the quality is remembered and appreciated!” I am also an advocate of my shoe manufacturer(Brooks) battle cry and will always “Run Happy” J in their product! I hope you also had a happy time too this weekend with family and friends.

Have an awesome week ahead chasing your success and happinessJ……………Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon trying to make the dog biscuit container go further sucks

 

“As I grow older I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do”.

 Andrew Carnegie

 

Ever wondered what you would do if you lost your voice?, how you would communicate or get by?

Last week it happened to me!......now there are some who welcomed this phenonemon and rejoiced in the peace and quiet it created in their world……albeit only a brief respite!

I picked up a throat infection either compliments of my darling son or the dubious water quality of the outdoor pool at Onehunga!

The upshot was a raw throat and almost full loss of my normal dulcet communication tones!(voice).

Crikey that was a lesson for someone who has always been rather fond of my own voice I was reduced to actually having to listen more than I spoke….because I couldn’t and then having to pick and choose what I said when in meetings and on phone calls!...it was a battle but I got there!

What it demonstrated clearly to me was;

• I don’t listen enough most of the time !!
• I speak far too much and sometimes unnecssarily especially in a selling situation(oversell).
• I can and did get by saying a lot less.
• A well timed brief relevant word can be more effective than raving on for minutes on end.
• No one listens to half of what you say or understands half of that anyway!

 

So an interesting week full of meetings where I had to plan to survive and achieve what I had set out to using a lot less words and by being more strategic with the info I had to share. I learned a lot and it was a good wake up call. I appreciate my voice and that I have to look after it along with my health. I also realised I don’t have to talk as much as I do normally so don’t!!......enough said !!

 

“We do not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes we have to eat them”.

Adlai Stevenson

In the zone!!

         

 

 

Edition 214 Monday December 2nd 2013

 

Hi, I love December for lots of reasons but the main ones are;

 

·         The count down to Summer holiday time seriously begins.

·         Time to get the Christmas tree and fill the house with that amazing piney smell!

·         The outdoor pool at Onehunga is open, bigger, cooler and less crowded Yahoo!!

 

Just as well it is an exciting time after the weekend we have just endured having all contracted Fletchers gastric tummy bug for the second time in the last few months. We all spent most of the weekend in bed or the outhouse fighting the good fight grrrr. Poor old Fletcher also had conjunctivitus so what a happy crew we all were to be around. I train twice a day in an effort to stay in as good a shape as possible and to ignore the ageing process however I was powerless to stop the onslaught of the dreaded gastric bug which stopped me yet again in my tracks!. Lots of fluid and as much sleep as possible the tried and proven remedy and a renewed appreciation for good health when I have it!! But hey Santa is definitely coming to our house to place presents under the scooby doo tree we snaffled earlt at the local pick and chop man. Yep a real tree , real pine needles everywhere and that amazing pine smell through the house. Decorating the tree was a mission with our son removing the decorations as fast as they were placed.The after hours crew completed the job when he was asleep!

I hope you had a cool and fun weekend with family and friends and that you are allowing yourself to be slowly but surely captivated by the festive spirit and goodwill of the holiday season.

Have a great week ahead…………..Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon properly trained, a man could be a dog's best friend?

 

“When I feel like I'm doing my best work, there is a bit of a freedom, a bit of flight that you're not so much losing yourself but you're sort of in the zone.”Chris Cooper

 

Everyone has their optimum time in the day where they are at their best or “In the zone”

For me it is the mornings and the reason I know this is because it is the time I feel the strongest and most productive physically and mentally.

It starts for me everyday at 5am when I rise to exercise and it is during these sessions I find myself at my most creative so I always have a note pad in the gym or the bathroom whilst showering and getting ready for work. I have had the most brilliant ideas both business and personal during that first hour or two in the morning. I run Monday/Wednesday/Friday it always clears my head and I always think about the day and the week ahead. I havent managed to carry a notepad on the run yet but do manage to remember the earth shattering ideas I have for changing my world as I go.

I don’t leave it at that as I have a second session most lunchtimes where I head to the local pool and swim laps. I call it swimming where others may differ in their description but for me it is the ideal head clearer after a busy morning or a series of internal or external meetings. It helps me refocus and concentrate on what I still need to do in my day before I run out of gas. Mid/late afternoon can be tough if I am not focussed especially after burning so much energy prior.

I not telling you this stuff because I think I am gods gift to the 50 plus brigade!! I am telling you this because if you havent figured out what time in the day you are at your best then you need to and then you should make sure you go for it so you maximise your performance during that time.

We are all different in this respect but those of us who have identified this and work their day around their highs and lows are the ones who tend to succeed. Hope this helps you check it out, good luck!

 

“Being ‘in the zone is a very strange feeling. It’s as if time slows down and you see everything so clearly. “Mark Richardson Olympic Sprinter

'Never'

 Hi,thanks and well done to all of you who noticed I didn’t ‘update’ the ‘Upbeat’ date last week. I take back everything I said about you only scanning it quickly for scandal and gossip!! Good work!!

Funny old week just gone which started with me getting into trouble having a crack at one of my favourite passtimes…..’bin diving’ as I jumped into a huge 35m bin to remove some pallets that were contaminating a load of recyclable glass. It seemed easy at the time but I underestimated the difficulty of the task not to mention the effect on my business clothes.Apart from ruining my clothes and breaking all the companies health & safety rules I also managed to incur the wrath of the company hierarchy for wasting time and energy…ahhh try to please everyone and please no one!!J.

Then I was collecting a couple of 15 litre water bottles for our cooler at home when I dropped one in the Just Water reception and the bottle split spilling 15 litres of water onto the carpet!! I freaked as everyone was up to their ankles in water, I apologised and left quickly funny tho eh?J!!

Continuing with the irratating/ annoying theme  I got a phone call from a large potential customer contacts boss aggressively and rudely telling me to back off the sales pressure on his report!? Seems I had missed a couple of voicemails from the report telling me the same thing but more politely!!

 This series of dumb arsed events in the first half of the week knocked my confidence around a bit but in true ‘Upbeat’ spirit and fashion I fought back and and cleared my head and refocused for the rest of the week to finish strongly by unearthing a couple of golden opportunities and signing two deals. Adversity and set backs breed strength and resilience, so my advice is never, never  give in !!!!

Speaking of never giving in, what about the Kiwi League team and the mighty AB’s !!!! 20 seconds to go in their games and they come up with amazing converted tries to snatch the games from the jaws of defeat, brilliant. In life and sport, its never over till its over.Never give in folks……..ever!

I hope you had a great weekend soaking up the sun somewhere with family and friends. Have a cool week ahead and remember no matter what happens stay ‘upbeat’ and focussed….Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon they noticed the date thing last week….yeah right!!

 

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com

 Never underestimate the value of outstanding service!!

We had issues with our gas cooker at home so I called some gas fitters from our local directory.

The first guy I rang sounded put out and promptly told me he was far too busy to assist us. I must admit this experience put me off making the next call however Im glad I did. The next guy was the complete opposite in every way. His name was Mat Bowman and he asked a lot of questions about our gas cooker. He methodicly gathered information from me in an effort to establish what our issue was. Finally after a  thorough round of investigative interrogation in the most pleasant manner he was able to diagnose a simple fix which he took the time to explain to me over the phone. Now as you now I am no whizz with the techo stuff or as a practical trouble shooter however with Mats guidance I was able to reposition the top of the element to the bottom in the correct manner (yes that ‘simple’) and hey presto problem solved ladies and gentlemen. OMG what a breath of fresh tradesman air this was compared to the ‘cant be bothered’ or ‘you sound like a bunny’ rip off merchants we are normally exposed to !!! Mat saved us approx $150 in call out and hourly rate by taking an interest in our problem, identifying its (and my) simplicity and then solving the issue by offering his expertise and going the extra mile to do so.

Mat Bowman, mat@bowman.co.nz phone (027)559-9601 You are a legend and I will refer you to everyone I know plus anyone I hear of who needs a quality plumber or gasfitter.

Never underestimate the value of outstanding service….a classic kiwi example restoring the faith.

 

“When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” Robert Half

Treasure!!!

         

 

 

Edition 212 Monday November 18th 2013

 

 Hi,thanks for the awesome feedback in recent weeks, it is appreciated. I took some sage advice and had blood tests recently after my 50 something mates passed away suddenly and Crikey guess what……..I discovered that I have high cholesterol!! I have always prided myself in being below all the bad bench marks but now find I am exceeding most of them and need to do something about it!! A timely wake up call but hard to handle when it is something I have never worried about before. Now I find myself identifying what in my diet is contributing and having to put together a plan to reduce intake of the offenders and eat more of the good stuff.It didn’t help that Christine was first to discover my plight and has now taken on the head nurse role so I havent got a show of ever having another doughnut or a pie until I am back on the right side of the ledger!!.....why is everything that tastes so decadently amazing also so bad for you?? Bugger !!!

From the Fletcher file our poor little dust mite had his 15 month immunisation shots last week, three huge needles delivered the dose to both thighs and his arm, jeepers I am glad I wasn’t associated with taking him to the house of pain. His Mother has been blamed since for betraying him and outing him to the authorities! We have been managing some related side effects ever since but have all been brave and taken the necessary sedatives to get ourselves through it…..Yay no more shots till 4 years old!!!....he is such a treasure!!

Speaking of treasures, I love stopping at charity shops in my travels of a week. They can harbour the most amazing treasure and they all benefit worthy causes so it is our duty to support them….right? I have landed some amazing stuff at bargain prices and I have no shame when identifying these treasure troves and skidding to a halt outside them. It spices my days and weeks to stop and rummage through stuff and I can definitely confirm that one persons trash is anothers treasure!! Our latest edition is a much needed key rack for the kitchen made of beautiful kauri from yesteryear,what a find and 5 bucks off to boot!!

Speaking of gold how about those mighty All Blacks, you have to love them , they are everything that is good about being a New Zealander !!! I hope you are also feeling good about your lot at the moment and enjoying your family and friends. Have a great week………………….cheers Jonesey.

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon Fletcher is a good bugger taking 3 for the team !!!!

 

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Tony Robbins

 

Life on the road is tough at times as we do battle with lots of stuff including the traffic, the opposition and a generally poor perception of us as sales people.

So when we drop onto an opportunity it is gold and we enter the sales zone that has us amped and excited about doing business with a new customer.

For me this is generally when we are referred to or discover a new building project starting or about to be completed with a new builder or new tenant soon to move in.

A couple of weeks ago I disciovered such a site and set about trying to establish who was moving in and when. The process of finding out this information was frustrating due to no one really knowing what was going on. I approached a number of people and ended up with dead ends . So in desperation I went back to the site and ended up in the site shed but no one was there so I took advantage of the opportunity to go through the design/build plans on the drawing board! Well bingo the new tenants name was on the plans and as a result I was able to establish who was moving in and make contact  with the decision maker, we are now looking good for the business as a result,yay!

Sometimes you need to think outside the square and push the envelope a bit to end up with what you want! ‘Nothing ventured nothing gained’ and ‘never give in’ or perish I guess…over to you..good luck!

 

If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.” Sheryl Sandberg

Palmy

 

 

 

Edition 211 Monday November 11th 2013

 

 Hi, mortality is not my favourite conversation topic however in the last couple of weeks two guys I know, both baby booming, seemingly bullet proof 59ers have recently and sadly passed far too early from this world. Apart from knowing them well they both shared the same age and birth year (1959). This makes the bullet proof protection I think I have sometimes seem extremely vulnerable. It is times like these that I realise every day above ground is a good one and that every day I live that I don’t make the most of is a wasted one. Stating the obvious I guess but a timely reminder to focus on what is important and to leave what can wait!......Just do it!

I jetted into Palmy for the big Toastmasters gig on the weekend and competed against New Zealands best 150 second story tellersJthe tension in the Regent Theatre on Broadway (of course) was electric as the large predominantly Toastmaster crowd was treated to an impromptu speaking battle of the most impeccably high standard. Nine winners representing their Divisons from far and wide around the nation came with the highest ambitions and the sharpest skills all hoping to reign victorious however there could only be one winner………and the winner was……….another rooster!!!aarrrggghhhh

Yes you do hate it when that happens however what doesn’t devastate you emotionally and mentally for the rest of your life makes you stronger,wiser and better next time…..and even though you curse  and say there wont be a next time you sort of know that once the dust settles……….there will beJ

On a positive note I did manage to finish second although in the greater scheme of things it sucked.  When I was a coach I always believed that participation was fundamental and that to participate to the best of your ability everytime and to learn from mistakes and failures along the way was the key. Winning was important but not everything as long as improvement was obvious and tangible…..yes in the words of Arnie the Terminator…….”Ill be back and I assure you after this experience Ill be better”

Hey, speaking of winning and always striving to be better what about the mighty AB’s continuing on their victorious way against the French !!! England next week ….bring it on!!

Make the most of what you have with those you love and don’t waste a minute of any day above ground. Have a great week, cheers Jonesey.

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon Palmy is overrated !!

 

 

“Before you can work smart you must work hard.” Walt Disney

 

Cold calling business to business is tough work so why not simplify things! Sound good?

I have been going on recently about networking and attending business association and industry group functions and events………….. for good reason.

These events bring a months worth of cold call contacts into one room and if you are good at circulating you will come away with a handfull maybe even a sales satchel full of leads and potential orders and new customers.

I have talked about ‘working smarter not harder’ and this is one sure fired way of doing it. If you are not ‘linked in’ to industry and business groups related to your business then you are missing out while others are talking to potential customers (and probably your customers).

Even if you are not in sales then it is good to make yourself aware of what is happening in your industry and those that do business with your industry. www.linkedin.co.nz is a great tool for advancing this cause and at the very least you should be into it.

Like the Chinese proverb says, you will wait a long time for the roast duck to fly into your mouth in life. Those who invariably make the most of their time are the ones who find ways to work smarter at work and at home……can you put your hand on your heart and say you are one of them?? Just do it!

 

“It's not hard to keep up the image we chose. It's not hard to stay yourselves.”D Wahlberg

Strategically brilliant

         

 

 

Edition 210 Monday November 4th 2013

 

Hi, whoever thought of putting a sticker on every individual piece of fruit you buy needs to be identified and tortured slowly !!! Crikey is it annoying or what?...has anyone ever stopped to read what these actually say before they buy them?, how many are influenced by these half baked excuses for a marketing campaign? Yes I am annoyed and yes I did eat a couple this weekend before noticing them arrrrgggghhhh.Thing is I cant boycott fruit as all my favourite stuff has a sticker on it!

Moving on….literally in fact I pulled out in to one of the busiest roundabouts in crazy Auckland traffic last week (in Summer mode by the way) anyway I pulled in front of a angry man driving a modified vehicle synonomous with this particular part of town. If he was angry before I did that then he sure was angrier afterwards to the point where he stopped and insisted we had a chat!! Eeeeek,now I am no hero and from the looks of him physically he had eaten a great deal more pies than I had in his lifetime so I adopted a concillatory approach rather than a confrontational one and it took the wind out of his sails in fact he ended up apologising to me for being so aggressive! You see he was expecting me to be  exactly the same way and anticipating a fight and didn’t know how to deal with a gentleman, sheer strategic  brilliance I tell you, mixed with more than a tinge of luck that we didn’t collideJ!!!

Halloween and Guy Fawkes in the same week does my head in, we will have to be strategically brilliant later in his life to successfully avoid both of these imported commercial rip offs…arrrggghh!

Fletcher got given the coolest pair of Nike shoes as a hand me down from his mate Brooklyn. He lives in them and we have to hide them before bed or they would be worn in there too !!!

I hope you had a relaxing fun weekend with family and friends, have a great week, cheers Jonesey

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon Guy Fawkes sucks !! besides which there is never enough room for them in our bed when we are being attacked by fireworks!!!! Please be over soon!

 

“On any given Monday I am one sale closer and one idea away from being a Millionaire.”

 Larry D. Turner

 

Sales snippets from the week that was;

 

• Our late ex Prime Minister Sir Rob Muldoon once said :”Any advertising is good advertising” and judging by the feedback we got during the week after one of our trucks rolled over blocking a motorway onramp for most of the day he may well have been right ! Thankfully no one was hurt and all was eventually back to normal.
• Speaking of advertising we continue to benefit from strategically well placed sponsorship of high profile events, programs and environmental initiatives. The key is to definitely target specifically rather than try to be all things to all people (good luck or good management??).
• A guy came up to me in the street last week as I was getting into the Green Gorilla mobile and introduced himself and asked who we were purchasing safety equipment from? Turns out he has started a business locally specialising in this gear and wanted to know who in our business was responsible for these purchases. Great initiative and certainly the right way to generate leads and hopefully new buisness. A great example and motivation to me to do a couple of cold calls that day too!!
• I know I go on about Toastmasters a bit but Crikey there is no denying it has to be the best value personal development training in the world!! Where else can you get  fortnightly training, development, motivation,inspiration, evaluation, breakfast(at our club) and mentoring from experienced experts for $15 bucks a meeting. That’s one and a half hours of personal development for $10 per hour !!!! Now I challenge you to get approximately twenty three x ninety minute training sessions for $300 bucks per year What are you waiting for?
• www.toastmasters.org.nz use the club finder and make contact with some clubs that meet in your area. You can visit as many as you like as many times as you like for free before either deciding its not for you or the club you prefer to join….could it be any closer or easier!??....Ok I promise I will leave it there…….for this week J

 

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving”. Albert Einstein

Summer mode

         

 

 

Edition 209 Tuesday October 29th 2013

 

 Hi, is there anything better than a fine long weekend? I am so glad I took an extra day to recharge the batteries and stack up some much needed ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s. Fletcher is at a cool age at the moment exploring everything and pretty much still cute and doing as he is told (the calm before the storm?). We chillaxed and enjoyed the sun whilst also managing to get some stuff ticked off the to do before xmas (only 8 weeks??!!!and counting ) list….YAYJ.

We couldn’t believe how sluggish my new car was off the mark, it is so sssssllllowww we had started thinking ill of its Asian origins and wondering how long we would survive the many intersections we encounter daily/weekly. It was so bad Christine refused to drive it and was reluctant to even ride in it with me…….hmmmmm could be career and family life limiting so time to get it back to the dealer and hold my breath in the service area until they fixed it!!! Well I didn’t have to wait long as a crowd of service personnel quickly surrounded the car and insisted I unlock the drivers door and stop holding my breath !!! It wasn’t long before someone pointed out that I had been driving in ‘winter’ mode not ‘summer’!!!!! Seems it was rectified with the simple flick of a switch!, the difference between starting off in first gear (summer) and 2^nd gear (winter) the winter mode being used where snow and ice make 2^nd gear safer and slower to start off in…..eg; not in Auckland (hurry up dickhead, race to the death every day)) traffic conditions !!! I wish I could have shrunk into my sunglasses case and zipped it up to avoid the red hot embarrassment of the moment but alas I took the full brunt of the service teams sympathetic looks as the penny dropped!!! If in doubt of course I guess I could have referred to the manual that the nice Asian manufacturers had so kindly printed in ENGLISH!!!! Yes I hate it when that happens but at least we and all who travel with us will now be safe in Auckland traffic.

I hope you had a ‘safe’, relaxing and fun long weekend with family and friends and that you are looking forward to another short but successful week ahead, take care , cheers Jonesey !!

 

Harry and the Hendersons instinctively know the exact moment we wake up. Then they wake us 10 minutes sooner!!!!.....GGrrrrrrrrrr J

 

“Don’t freak, just speak.” C. B. Jones National Table Topics  finalist!!!

 

I talked recently about winning a Toastmasters contest and how chuffed I was about that…..well I am still basking in the glow and as a typical salesman I want to tell you more about how bloomin wonderful I am !!!!

You see I have now qualified for the national final and I will be representing a dozen Auckland Clubs as their representative…..one of eight finalists nationally fighting it out to be crowned New Zealand Champion!! Crikey, so close yet still so far.

The competition is even more intriguing as it is the ‘Table Topic’ competition which is all about the art of ‘Impromptu’ speaking or making something up off the cuff and on the run……perfect for someone like me who loves the sound of their own voice and is full of the proverbial on any topic…..or so you might think!! Thing is no one knows what the topic will be so no preparation is possible prior to!!

Impromptu speaking is tough going and you need to be on your game to make something up that has an opening, a body and a close all this in just 2minutes 30 seconds !!!

Crikey, no pressure but great training for the game of life where we are placed on the spot all the time and how we react dictates how successful or otherwise we will be……cant wait, watch this space!

 

Join now ; www.toastmasters.org.nz you know you want to !!!!!

 

“We all have butterflies, question is, are yours flying in formation?.” C.B. Jones