'The Naki'

Edition 126 Monday 13^th February 2012

Hi, few things beat getting out of town for a weekend, last week was extra short for us as we headed off to the ‘Naki’ on Friday to check out the Half Ironman event on Sunday. Wow talk about find the summer sun, we roasted in high 20’s degree heat all weekend and I paid the price now resembling a steamed crayfish! We went ‘back in time’ staying at a seaside motorcamp just out of town overlooking the Port and the Tasman Sea. It bought back some memories of family times spent at these type of camps up and down the country. We mixed it with a wide cross section of campers, all nationalities and ages under canvas, in mobile homes and cabins all off for a real kiwi adventure doing the same thing. It was exciting to share the experience with so many like minded intrepid travellers and to be reminded yet again what a great place this is we live in. There is some truth in another old adage and that is not to “ leave town till you have seen the country!” The Half  Ironman event was a buzz and further fuelled our desire to train hard in order to  have another crack!

Thank you for the ‘heart’ felt feedback from last weeks edition, things have quietened down for me nicely with  all systems in synchronised harmony. I appreciated your concern and the timely wake up call. I have focused hard on reducing the stress levels and relaxing more.

On that note I hope you all had a great weekend relaxing and having fun with your family and friends wherever you were and whatever you were up to. Life is too short to drink bad coffee, bad wine or not to take time out to enjoy it with family and friends.

Take care and have a great week ahead (don’t forget Saint Valentines day Tuesday !!)Cheers Jonesey

 Harry and the Hendersons met dogsitter ‘little John” who spoiled them rotten all weekend. They cant wait for us to go away again, thanks John, you are a dog legend!  

“Jealousy and anger shorten your life” Mainfreight quote on their building Sunday 12/02

I have mentioned it before and I will mention it again I am sure but Mainfreight are a kiwi success story. Started with one truck running on the smell of an oily rag  the business is now an International freight heavyweight and a favourite home grown stock for kiwi investors to support.

Mainfreight is  one of those companies you cant help but notice. Their vehicles are always immaculately presented and all feature motivational, positive quotes prominently displayed for high exposure. The appearance of their fleet is no accident as their company policy ensures that all vehicles are cleaned and polished daily before they leave their respective depots. Appearance, image and perception is everything , sharp look , sharp company!

Their offices all feature the same motivational vibe with quotes prominentyly displayed and in some cases electronically changing daily (like the one above on their Airport Branch). I had an appointment with one of their Auckland Managers recently and was lucky enough to visit their Head Office.

The atmosphere was positive and “UPBEAT’, their staff looked and sounded happy to be there and all made an effort to engage in conversation and to assist.

They have a Mainfreight training centre that all staff spend a week in being inducted to their business. All staff learn what the company does and follow an item of freight from its entry to the company to the time it is delivered to its destination and all the important stuff that should happen to it along the way! Mainfreight figure out if you have ‘blue blood’ in week one, if not then you don’t get to week two, if you make it through week one then it is highly likely you will be there for life which is what makes the company so successful. They are there because they want to be and they make you feel you are lucky to be doing business with them. I felt priveleged to be exposed to their culture.

I think we should all be looking for a business like Mainfreight to model our own on and one from which we can learn from personally and collectively. I know I drove them nuts asking heaps of questions about why they were so good….to me this is a key secret to success, how about you??

“Think, believe, dream and dare” Compliments of Walt Disney and the team at Mainfreight NZ

"In a Heart Beat'

Edition 125 Tuesday 7^th February 2012

Hi, someone once said “Don’t sweat the small stuff…and its all small stuff”. It’s a pity I don’t adhere to that philosophy enough on a daily basis. Last week was a case in point and a real wake up call for me personally. The week started normally enough after a nice long weekend but I soon wound myself progressively into a hypertensive knot over what was in essence a bunch of minor stuff. I have a bad habit of letting little stuff that I have no control over take control of me. The upshot was a couple of bouts of cardio arithmia during exercise and the motorway commute that reduced me to a sweaty breathless basket case. Apart from being scary for me and those around me it was a huge wake up call for someone who should and does know better. After eliminating other potential triggers I decided conclusively that my old enemy self induced ‘stress’ was the key perpetrator. After calming down a bit , a couple of calls to the Auckland Heart Group and some honest self analysis I was sort of relieved to find that no one else was to blame but me ! It is so important to focus on things you do have control over and not waste time on sweating the small stuff. Reminds me of another old adage about us “not worrying so much about what other people think of us or what we are up to if we only realised how little any of them do!”  Even superb athletic specimens like me find it hard running up hills cycling or swimming km after km when the top and the bottom of the heart are marching to their own beat……scary , you better believe it. Calm down Mr ‘Upbeat’ the last thing you want to be remembered as is Mr ‘No beat’ !!!  A useful wake up call , listen to your heart, its in charge so don’t mess with it or let self induced stress invade or restrict your lifestyle.So to that end I hope you , your family and friends had a relaxing Waitangi weekend together. Have an awesome short week ahead. Take care. Cheers Jonesey.

 Harry and the Hendersons have developed the perfect ‘stress free’ lifestyle. Its all about keeping life simple as follows; sleep, eat, exercise, sleep, eat , exercise, sleep Zzzzzzzzzzzz  

“You only live once, but if you work it right , once is enough. Joe Louis

I just finished the last chapter of the book ‘Ultra Marathon Man’ the story of this amazingly committed long distance runner Dean Karnazes.Crikey it has been an inspiration to read. Like most autobiographies it is an insight into an incredibly driven individual. Here are a couple of extracts from his conclusion that  sum up a life well lived….have an inspirational week, good luck.

On ‘passion’

“Running has taught me that the pursuit of a passion matters more than the passion itself. Immerse yourself in something deeply and with heartfelt intensity-continually improve, never give up-this is fulfillment, this is success”.

On fulfillment….

“Most people never get there. They’re afraid or unwilling to demand enough of themselves and take the easy road, the path of least resistance. But struggling and suffering, as I now saw it, were the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not constantly demanding more from yourself-expanding and learning as you go-you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”

On ‘life’…

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW!! What a ride!”     

"BIG" is GOOD !!!!!

Edition 124 Monday 30th January 2012

Hi, happy birthday Auckland, and thanks to our city forefathers who decided we should all receive an annual Anniversary long weekend to celebrate! Anniversary weekend is a time for us Jafa’s to reflect on what a great place we live in. It’s a day we can take some time out to enjoy one of many jewels in Aucklands crown.I hope you were able to do just that either in parks and forests or on beaches, boats,islands,mountains or tracks there is certainly a lot to do and be grateful for if in this great city.

The following is favourite extracts from a Herald article over 100 years ago describing the Anniversary regatta on Waitemata Harbour, check out the amazing word pictures, I love this…..

“The harbour gleamed and rippled so that one understood why the Maori’s named it ‘Waitemata’ or ‘shining water. Shining it was with a thousand hues-golden and opaline. And over its broad expanse swept scores and scores of whitesailed boats; the finest squadron of sailing craft in the southern world manned by the finest class of sailors. Purely from a scenic point of view yachting on the Auckland Harbour was something worth studying. The stately beautiful creations gliding with noiseless speed over the water, their sails white against the clear surface of azure blue made pictures fascinating. So varied so extensive are these sailing grounds that none among the oldest of Auckland yacthsmen knows them all,and he who knows them best longs the most to still explore”.

Nothing has changed over the years as yesterday the Harbour came to life again with thousands of Aucklanders taking to the sparkling Waitemata against the background of Mt Victoria, North Head, Bastion Point and triple coned Rangitoto Island. Yes we are blessed so best not to be complacent about where we live, best to get out and enjoy it,happy birthday Aucklanders…cheers Jonesey

 Harry and the Hendersons love anniversaries, long weekends and any chance to party hard and then sleep it off while the vacuum chokes on the furry fall out !

 “Fish where the fish are”……A learned fisherman

This quote might seem obvious but every day, week, month sales people everywhere waste a lot of time fishing for sales in all the wrong places.

Its all about knowing your products and target market for them. Again this may seem obvious but too many sales people and companies don’t know their customers or their market?

Here is a recent example of mine……there is a large multi national company that is a prime candidate for our range of environmental services. I am responsible for sales to that customer. They have a staff cafeteria located in their head office that is also open to the public. Not many people know this but I was lucky enough to find it out through one of my contacts in this company. I now make a point of meeting this guy over a coffee in their café. By doing this I have been introduced by him to a number of the other divisional managers who are now also contacts. I have also established that most of their divisions are members of their respective industry associations (eg; Master Builders, Contractors Federation etc) This is called fishing where the fish are and can result in a lot of leads and sales being made. It is not rocket science and good business for sales people to quickly establish where the fish are by simply asking plenty of questions and for referrals to other contacts within the same industry sector. I asked for referrals last week when I was with a good customer and received two full pages of leads from within their industry sector. I was pleased that our hungry green gorilla sales team had called on most of these but receiving the list was a good result.  I called on a govt department last week and asked about others in the same sector and discovered they were about to combine their environmental requirements into one tender. We got the short list of preferred tenderers! Lessons; 1)Find out where the fish are and fish there 2)Always ask for referrals 3)Join industry associations related to your business 4 )Read industry publications related to your business.

“Excite, Ex=excellence, c=customer,i=integrity,te=team” Mega Mitre 10 internal values…….. BIG is good!.....best of luck sales sizzzzzzlers!!

BIGB

K.I.S.S.

                                                      

Edition 122 Monday 16^th January 2012

Hi, Happy New Year and welcome to the start of 366 days (yes 2012 is a leap year !) full of opportunity, challenge, success, failure, happiness, sadness, wins, losses, grins, frowns, laughter, tears, celebrations, deliberations and above all else excitement ahead.

Life is too short to drink bad coffee so we were happy to beat off all other Trademe bidders for our very own Breville Barista machine complete with milk frothy thingy. The Latte’s and Flat whites were cranking and legendary status was soon reached at café 48 ! Needless to say the caffeine investment has paid for itself many times over (doesn’t take long at $5 bucks a pop !).

We were also lucky enough to do a deal on a pre loved leather lounge suite for a bargain so decided to sneak it in to the budget and the house as our chrissy present to each other,problem is we love it so much we have spent a lot of time relaxing on it in the last few weeks….yes,the perfect gift.

To that end I have enjoyed finishing the Shaun Quincy book Trans Tasman Trespasser 2 about him rowing the Tasman single handed emulating his Dad (recommended amazing read). I also read a book called ‘Ultra Marathon Man’ about a guy Dean Karnazes who was an amazing athlete who pushed his body to unbelievable extremes to cover hundreds of miles without stopping. In one example he ran from his home in San Francisco 100 miles through the night to the start of a marathon in the Napa Valley, he arrived 5 minutes before the start grabbed something to eat and then proceeded to chop out the marathon in 3 hours 15 mins !!! another recommended read.

We moved 10km to the local store 3 times in 2 weeks and in between caught plenty of Zzzzzzzzzz and enjoyed hosting family for chrissy day and friends. We boogie boarded and exercised between naps, watched TV movies and generally embraced the change of pace…life doesent get any better.

Boris the cat has mended well and is now out of his cage and loving his new dedicated ‘dog free ‘ area downstairs. The free spa pool trial nears completion in Ranui Heights and life is generally good for the Joneses, hope the same goes for you and yours….looking forward to another big one !

I hope you all had or continue to have a relaxing and enjoyable festive/holiday season with family and friends and that 2012 has started and continues well for you privately and professionally.

 Have a good one, Cheers Jonesey

Harry the hound loves being in the ‘Dog Box’…only place for a hound to be truly happy !

 “In the Dog Box?......flowers help” Seen outside flower shop Henderson…..clever marketing.

Crikey another year is upon us and already off to a flying start, things to do , people to see sales figures to meet. Tough times don’t last, tough people do though.

Lots of hype about new year resolutions and goals as you come to expect at this time of year.

Rather than come up with an elaborate list of goals and things you are committed to changing I am in favour of a K.I.S.S. solution …. Yes there is no substitute for keeping things simple my friends.

So….here is what you do……you only need one goal, one focus for 2012……..wait for it…………………:

GOAL 101……Continually strive to improve everything you do this year………..so;

• If you are in sales …sell more every day, week , month continually challenge yourself.
• Seek opportunities to improve, training, reading books, join clubs, industry groups
• Communicate more effectively……join Toastmasters (you knew it was coming !!)
• If you are trying to give something up, try harder seek more help get better.
• Help others get where they need to go and you will grow, develop and achieve yourself
• Be a better, son, daughter, mother, father, friend, husband , wife, partner…commit.
• Get it?.......go to it………good luck, have a great year.

“If its to be… its up to me”.   Daily quote for all ‘Upbeat’ people to say as they look in the mirror!

Tis the season !!!

                                                      

Edition 121 Monday 19^th December 2011

Hi, Christmas, it can be the best of times and it can be the worst of times ! For six people I know who love it and get right into the spirit there are six who cant wait for it to be over ! For me christmas is about family and in particular the kids. It is a magical time to be a child surrounded by excitement, fun and loving family.I am grateful I have wonderful childhood memories of christmas. I can remember being devastated when Billy Tanner told me at Browns Bay Primary there wasn’t a Santa Claus and searching for hours for Santas sleigh and reindeer in the car park of the Browns Bay RSA at the kids christmas party ! I believe it is our role as adults to create these lifetime memories for the kids in our lives by making sure christmas is a happy, loving family time. As adults therefore we have a responsibility to make this happen at all costs.In some cases this will necessitate us forgiving and forgetting historical ‘family stuff’ that threatens to torpedo the day. Time to bury any bitterness or grudges and to focus on the importance of family and the joy of giving. Life is too short to be left with regrets for not making the effort. This may well be the last christmas some members of your family get to share with you (who knows?) so don’t you be the one responsible for missing the opportunity to be together! To this end our Jones clan will be venturing out West to our shack for Christmas this year and we look forward to hosting for a welcome change. We are looking forward to some annual leave and plan to enjoy the summer on the wild west coast as well as taking in the action at the Tauranga and Mt Maunganui half ironman triathalon events in the new year,

We hope you have a stress free, loving and enjoyable christmas and new year break with friends and family. Thank you for your continued support and feedback, we have loved bringing you the ‘Upbeat’, there is no way we could have sat down 121 times to do just that without every single one of you.

The team at ‘Upbeat are taking a break and will be back on Monday 16^th January 2012.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Clinton, Harry and Boris Jones, Cheers Jonesey !

Harry the festive hound cant wait for his 8^th summer holiday at the beach…surfs up bro!

There are three rules for success: the first is-Go on. The second is-Go on. And the third is –Go on! ………………..Frank Crane

Bob is a chimney sweep and he is a legend !

A what? ……I know you didn’t think they still existed but think again because they still do!

Bob is our local chimney sweep and he has called me at least 20 times over the last 3-4 years. Everytime  he is in our area I will get a call to tell me and ask if I want to take advantage of him being in our neck of the woods.

Each and everytime I have declined hoping Bob would get the message and stop calling but…..religiously he would call me again next time he was in the area.  He would also say stuff like, “when was the last time you had a ‘safety inspection” or “did you know that even log burners get a build up of soot”. These were things that I ignored initially but also things that I couldn’t help thinking about after declining Bobs umpteenth approach to do business. Crikey you couldn’t fault his follow up , persistence or persuasion…….so this weekend when Bob called yet again I finally relented and totally impressed with his follow up, spirit, persistence, persuasion and thick hide I agreed to do business with this modern day ‘Fagan of the West !!.

What a pleasurable and professional experience it turned out to be as Bob and his helper Michael completed their safety check and clean in no time at all. They left the house in pristine condition and even had time to admire my rugby memorabilia and tell me how much I looked like famouse All Black captain Gary Whetton (correct apart from the slight height differential of 300mm) nice one Michael !

Some great lessons here for sales sizzlers,NEVER give in, sell the SIZZLE (safety, insurance, clean burning, compliance, longevity, warm, cosy etc etc). Good example to us all in sales and in life of the importance of some basic sales principles not to mention a clean chimney for the fat fellas visit!!!!!

“Don’t be discouraged.Its often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.”

"Giving a Continental !!!!"

                                                      

Edition 120 Monday 12^th December 2011

Hi, Ive never been that great with measuring things or areas, I always seem to underestimate the room required to fit stuff in. If I do happen to allow enough room then I tend to overlook the room required to get said article to final resting place. That said, I got that familiar sinking feeling on Saturday when I turned up to pick up my latest trademe purchase and realised immediately there was no way it was ever a) going to fit into our allocated area b) or going to be able to fit in any of the entry points to our property!  Crikey! I hate that feeling….you know the one where the payment is electronically past the point of no return and the one heightened by the happy seller as the 5 burley men load the goods( and new problem)on to the trailer of the not so gleeful buyer! A word of advice , always allow more space than what is required! All is not lost however as a fleet footed 11^th hour deal was done with one of the burley male volunteers that now sees him free trialing the scoobey doo ‘chick magnet’/therapeutic/rejuvenating late model spa pool(large!) at his pad in ritzy Ranui Heights. Back to the drawing board on this Christmas project for the Jones Boy for now !

Some good academic progress in the Jones camp of late with niece Stacey graduating and snaring her first teaching position whilst son Mark enrolled on an exciting new tertiary adventure in Sydney!

Hey, its not easy being a ‘Jones’ you know and having to keep one step ahead of you lot !!

I hope you had an awesome weekend trying to keep up all the same and enjoyed being with friends and family. I hope you have a great week ahead, try to stay calm as things get hectic in the lead up to the Christmas/New Year break , take care, have a good one. Cheers Jonesey .

Harry the business hound is disappointed the spa wouldn’t fit, he had told all his mates and he, Kate and Oscar were selling tickets to locals for when we were at work!!!!

“Quality is never an accident; It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”  Continental Stairs Quality statement

I read this statement last week on the wall at Continintal stairs Ltd one of our customers. Before I saw this statement I knew there was something different about this business. Businesses have a look and feel about them from the moment you get involved. It can be by phone or physically but a business that is focused on customers and quality will engage and capture you immediately.

Invariably that engagement will be through that business’s most valuable asset…… its people. Their enthusiasm and their energy levels will be a clear indication of how good they are to deal with, how successful they are and the quality of their service and their products.

Continental Stairs run a slick operation in a competitive market sector, they are a family owned business with a commitment to their people and the quality of their service and their products.

This is a successful recipe for any business, ask Don Braid the General Manager of Mainfreight one of New Zealands most successful home grown companies.

He is New Zealands ‘Business Leader of the Year’ for 2011 and just like the team at Continental Stairs his philosophy is all about investment in people, service and quality!

Mainfreaight have expanded worldwide and continue to experience annual double digit growth, recession, what recession? is the question they pose as they close in on the $2billion turnover mark for this financial year. Not bad for a bloke(Bruce Pleisted) who started the business from home in the 70’s with $7500 and an old Bedford truck !

Neither Bruce or Don have  a reserved car park or an office in the Mainfreight car park or head office, they slot in just like the rest of their team ready to do what it takes to deliver quality service.

Setting a great example for their team and to those of us who are striving to deliver a similar outcome……..good luck on the journey.

“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with quality.”

Running Happy !!!!

                                                      

Edition 119 Monday 5^th December 2011

Hi,its hard to beat the smell of freshly chopped pine from our ‘real’ christmas tree that will fill the house with a forest floor fragrance for the entire festive season. It is a smell synonomous with Christmas and the annual first weekend in December tree hunting mission. Our ‘local tree man’ features personal tree selection and chopping from a large field where your tree is replaced with another seedling as you remove it which is kinda cool in a sustainable green sort of way (this green gorilla is saving the planet).Into the trusty truck and off home to painstakingly erect, trim, straighten, shift, adjust, trim, straighten, decorate and redecorate!! it is all so exciting and soooo christmas. Staying on the end of year christmas get sorted mode/trend/theme I ever so slightly loosened the purse strings over the last week and replaced a pair of work shoes and my beloved Brooks Adrenaline runners ,my best mates(apart from Harry & Oscar) for 30km of fun every week! Once I got over saying goodbye to the old pair I couldn’t believe how amazing owning some new shoes made me feel (no wonder some people have so many pairs!!). We headed to the big smoke with every other Westie on Saturday night where we screamed(and sweated) the night away with Aussie rockers Jimmy Barnes and Cold Chisel! You know you are getting old when you have trouble tolerating a crowd for a couple of hours and with that this slightly grumpy old man admired Jimmy and the boys for making a better fist of it than he did ! I hope you all had a chillaxing(my word of the week) first December weekend spending time with friends and family as we all look forward to another big week. Have a happy and successful time, cheers Jonesey!

Harry the jogging hound would love someone to invent some runners for hounds!!!! (harden up mate)

“Every runner has a dream. A dream of the ideal run. Our job is to make it come true.

This isnt just a pair of the worlds finest shoes. Its our passion. What you see here is the result of paradigm-shifting technologies that have been tested and re-tested (again and again). Years of research on fit,ride, comfort and biomechanics and an almost frightening obsession with every last detail.

Brooks mission is to deliver ‘the perfect ride for every stride’ . Tucked with care in this box is your ‘Run Happy’ revelation. Go set it free!”…… Brooks running company passionate mission

We are all customers with wants , needs , likes and dislikes. If you are anything like me you will pretty much be a creature of habit and you will have favorite labels and proven winners when it comes to purchasing things.

Running shoes are  definitely a good example of this for me. I bought my first pair of Brooks running shoes over 10 years ago and the love affair has flourished ever since. I was captivated by their commitment to what they do and from day one I felt like I was important to them and an integral part of their quest , their frightening obsession with every last detail. I accepted their invitation to let them know what was important to me as a consumer, a customer and above all else ‘a runner’. I pay extra to own a pair of Brooks, it is something I think we all need to strive to get our customers to do. The ‘Run Happy’ battle cry and the ‘perfect ride for every stride’ mission that every pair of shoes is designed to achieve gives me as the wearer a sense of responsibility and ownership for helping ‘my brand’ win that race.

It is something I think we all need to concentrate on getting our customers to buy into with our own brands. We are striving to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of our customers by providing them environmentally sustainable solutions to their waste removal requirements. We are part way there but we have some way to go before our customers feel the way about Green Gorilla as I do about owning a pair of Brooks Adrenaline runners….how do your customers feel about your company and its products?, a good time to ask them and establish why…..good luck with that…have a good one !!

Passion “One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” Helen Keller