EM Superhero

I admit it. I’m a hotel snob. I have stayed in all sorts of hotels in my life – big ones, small ones, luxury ones, ever-so not luxury ones and quite frankly completely awful ones, 5*, no-star and so I feel quite experienced enough to announce my hotel snob status!

So what do I like? Small, personal (I like people to know my name), individually designed rooms and outstanding food and service, spotless bathrooms, no shower curtain, fluffy towels, comfortable beds (not too soft), a choice of pillows – oh my goodness, the list could go on…..

Last week I was needed in Birmingham for an event which started at 9am – so I had no choice but to stay over the night before.   I googled for hotels close to the venue – and top of the list was Premier Inn.    Exactly the sort of place I tend to avoid – however I recognised their vivid purple branding and recalled their advertising campaign with Lenny Henry.   I could visualise Lenny jumping backwards onto a soft, clean and inviting bed.  I remember his deep bath and a yellow plastic duck.    Having worked in marketing for many years, I knew that the hotel wouldn’t be exactly like this – but because of its proximity to the venue, I decided to give it a go.  My expectations were low.

We arrived quite late on Wednesday evening – it was easy to spot  – who could miss bright purple branding after all?   No, they didn’t know my name – but the receptionist was extremely friendly.   To my surprise, the room was exactly like the TV ad.   The beds did look inviting – with a choice of pillows and a duvet.    A good size bathroom with no sign of mildew or limescale.  I even felt I could walk on the carpet!

Premier Inn... or Premier Out?

Breakfast was good – freshly made porridge, huge selection of everything – cereals, muffins, croissants, teas, coffee, juice – and everything was freshly cooked.   And the restaurant was really busy.   All sorts of customers – a chap with his son who had stopped off on his way from watching Liverpool beat Tottenham,   suited sales executives,   families with and without children and us!

So what’s my point?

• Good, memorable advertising works.  It will generate awareness and should encourage ‘newbies’ to try your product/service.  Don’t be tempted to cut your marketing budgets – simply make sure that you are speaking to the right customers with the right message
• One-time customers are not profitable ones – in order to grow and develop your business, you need repeat, regular business.   And in order to achieve this, you need to “deliver” your advertising promise – in terms of product and quality and more
• Businesses are surviving and thriving – particularly those who are taking time to understand the needs of their customers and delivering.   Premier Inn understand exactly what is required – good quality hotel accommodation, good service and outstanding value

Premier Inn get 5* for the congruency in their advertising message and their product.   They delivered over and above my expectations and would I stay there again?   Yes, I would!

All businesses, regardless of what product they sell or what service they offer, have one thing in common: customers.   In order to be successful – to generate a turnover, customers are essential – and yet so many businesses today still have not grasped the very important fact, that customers really are king.   Customer-centric businesses offering bespoke products or services are doing well in spite of the current economic trading conditions.  Consider Apple;  Consider Dell – they both ensure that their customers get exactly what they want, on time, and to the specified budget.

WHY? It’s simple – they have invested time in understanding and getting to know their customers inside out – back to front – there is no stone unturned.   In fact, they know their customers so well, that they are able to anticipate what they are going to want – and let’s face it, this is extremely powerful information.

OKAY – we are not large, global organisations with unlimited budgets – but there are lots of things we can do to ensure that we understand and get to know our customers.   It doesn’t matter how large or how small your business is.

We can talk to our customers.   One very simple question which can be asked is –“Why do you buy from us?”  Imagine the knowledge you will have with the answer to this simple question.  Decision-making in all areas of your business will be so much easier – your marketing planning – not simply the message, but also to whom.  For a start you will understand whether it is your products or services which are superior, perhaps your pricing is better, perhaps pricing is not even a factor – it is simply because they like doing business with you.   Whatever the answer to this simple question – you will have powerful information – peculiar to you and your business.

Of course, knowing something is all well and good – you need to take action and use the information you have to make a positive impact on your business.

If you are finding that you have to consistently find new customers for your business – you need to find out why you are not gaining repeat business.  If you don’t know whether your customers are new or not – you really ought to!   It is far more expensive to attract new customers than it is to sell to existing customers – so this information is vital for success.

I leave you with this final thought – Do you know the journey your customers need to take to do business with you?     You need to know whether working with your business is a walk in the park on a beautiful sunny day – where the sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky, the picnic is lovely and the children are not arguing (!) – or whether it is a hellish ride on the Northern Line tube in rush-hour.

Do you know?

If you don’t – you need to find out – and fast….

I am hearing a lot about the word FOCUS at the moment – I use it myself! Focus on your business…. Focus on your objectives…. Focus on what you really enjoy….. Focus on your priorities. I am wondering whether I am just hearing the word a lot – because it is relevant to where I currently am, or whether everyone really is talking about it – because it is the beginning of a new year, a new decade?

The ability to be focussed on exactly what you want to achieve and being able to ignore distractions along the way is a significant achievement and is something we should all strive for.

My eldest son, William is a shining example of what “FOCUS” can achieve.

A couple of years ago, William started to play cricket at school. It was embarrassing. He was hopeless. He was picked as the last man for the 1st team as he is a “sporty” young lad, and perhaps he showed potential. Who knows? In the very first game of the season, the match was stopped whilst William was given a lesson on how to hold the bat. I hid behind my deckchair – mortified! When he came off the field, I could see in his eyes the determination to improve. That summer, I spent endless amounts of time, bowling a ball to him in our garden, so that he could improve his batting. I spent endless amounts of time, standing in front of his stumps, whilst he improved his bowling. The following season, he made the first team – and improved up the pecking order – no longer 11th man – perhaps mid-way…. He continued to practice and he continued to improve. About 12 months ago, he announced he was aiming to be selected for the South Dorset Cricket Team for 2010 – a tall order from someone who clearly had “room for improvement”.

William was unswerving with his focus. He practiced. He joined a local team. He played through the winter and remained committed and focused on his one goal.

Yesterday we received a letter, confirming William had been chosen to be part of the squad for South Dorset. I was jumping for joy. My son had achieved his goal – all because he chose to focus on it without being too distracted by his other passions (for your information – football and his X Box!).

I was reminded of the quote by Somerset Maughan:  “It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you’ll very often get it”

Let us all learn from William.

• FOCUS on our end goals
• DEFINE your priorities
• AVOID distractions
• REFUSE to fail

I don’t know about you but I have had to really focus to gain any sort of excitement for the year ahead let alone the next decade.   I feel a real fraud writing this for everyone to read as so many people refer to me for inspiration and motivation and yet, this last week has been really difficult for me.   I can’t explain or provide any reason why it has take me longer than usual to be positive, motivated and fired up about 2010.     Reading  Twitter and all of the positive 140 character tweets delivered by those I follow have actually made me less enthusiastic.   As everyone around me appears to be so positive – why have I felt so different?

I feel even more of a fraud, because in my book BOOM! 7 Disciplines to control, grow and add impact to your business – I extol the virtues of having a strategic vision for your business – and I truly and wholeheartedly agree with my statement.  This vision not only provides direction and focus  – it should also be so positive and motivating that on those “bad days”, there is something to refer to – to remind you why you are doing what you are doing.     And of course, to know that you have achieved – you need to establish desired outcomes/goals etc.      So I truly understand the importance and value of establishing goals – achievement is far more likely when you know what you are aiming for.

Why, then, have I found it so difficult to set any goals for the next 10 years, or indeed 1 year?   I know that the New Year/New Decade is an ideal time to set down some clear goals – both short term and long term – and yet reading and hearing about this everywhere – and I mean everywhere – the media, social media sites, the TV – I have felt a bit of a failure.   I haven’t been able to focus on any sort of goals – up until yesterday.

I am writing this blog, because I want everyone who is struggling with feeling positive about the start of another 10 years to know that they are not the only ones on this planet who is perhaps lacking direction.    We are all human.      But what has changed in the last couple of days – why have I been able to start to get excited – how have I managed to focus on everything exciting which is just around the corner?    More importantly what can you do to establish some sort of focus in your life – albeit short term or indeed long term?

I was asked the simple question – What have you achieved in the last 10 years?   It was by reviewing the last 10 years which has made me recognise just how much is possible in the next 10 years!   In the last 10 years, I set up my business, sold my business, married my husband, had two more children – taking my family to three, moved house several times and started a new career as a speaker/mentor and of course written a book!   Just even considering this, has made me realise that the next ten years can be just as exciting – and what I want to achieve is basically down to me.     All of our achievements are different but are as equally as important – I asked the same question, to a friend of mine, who simply replied, I have achieved contentment. What a wonderful achievement.   It was her answer, which made me realise that anything is possible.

Even so , I still wasn’t quite ready to be excited about 2010 and the next decade – I still felt a fraud – I kept telling myself that others expected me to be positive, focussed and motivated and to have clear goals in place, and I still wasn’t able to do this.   Then I remembered a part of my book, (Business Discipline No.7- Personal Motivation) which reminded me that we can’t always be highly motivated.    I say in all my talks, that perhaps the hardest part of running your own business, is to maintain personal motivation and that in fact it is sometimes the hardest part to do.    It is also the one part which you can’t “outsource” such as accountancy, design, HR or indeed marketing – you need to find it for yourself.   When I accepted that I couldn’t always be this highly motivated person, and indeed gave myself permission to not be as expected, I started to feel better about everything!

So what have I done?

What can you do?

1. Write down your key achievements for the last 10 years – be honest and true – these are for no-one but you – so no need to exaggerate or overstate – simply be honest.
2. Consider how you felt at the beginning of 2000 – did you really believe that you would achieve everything you have?
3. Write down what you would like to achieve in the next 10 years – don’t put up barriers as you write these things down – simply write down what you would like to do.   Remember – these are just for you – so no need to consider anyone else and their reaction.
4. Take the most important elements and consider them as an end destination for a journey (in this case, a 10 year journey).  Consider the most appropriate journey you would like to take to get to this end destination.   There are always many ways to arrive at a destination – even from London to Cambridge, you can walk, drive, take a train, take a coach,  fly, go by river and even go via Lands End if you wanted – none of them are wrong;   you need to find the right route for you.
5. Now consider the stop-over points on your journey – where you may take a rest, review your journey so far, reconsider where you are heading – and these become your smaller stepping stones – your shorter term goals.

Really focussing on the above 5 steps, has helped me get excited – particularly about my final destination and my first stop-over.   I must admit I haven’t defined all of my stop-over points yet, but there is no need I know where I am going – I can review my 2^nd stop-over when I have arrived at the first!    It has suddenly all made sense again……   Establishing Goals/Outcomes really do work – but only when they are yours – and they come from within…

I have done these 5 steps for my personal life and my business life and I truly suggest that you do the same.

I was worried for a while – I can tell you.    Lack of motivation, no enthusiasm and no direction is not a good starting place for anyone let alone a Motivational Speaker/Small Business Expert. I am sharing this with you because it is important to know that everyone is human and if you are truly lacking direction and don’t know where to begin – this blog, may just help you.

As I entered the LBC Studios in Leicester Square yesterday, I was fully prepared to stand my ground and declare myself totally against positive discrimination – particularly in relation to our topic of Women in Business. A headline in the Sunday Telegraph – “Women Directors earn 50% less than men” was somewhat misleading, but it was James Max’s opening statement in his show – and it was one which set the tone. I immediately responded with my views that only the RIGHT person for the position should be employed – regardless of gender.  Julie Hall, founder of www.women-unlimited.co.uk put forward her point of view – that positive discrimination is a good thing and cited Norway, where companies were given 2 years to increase the number of Women in Board positions to 40%. The percentage in Norway is currently 43% and they have, as a country, actually fared better than any other country in the world with the current economic climate. OKAY, so should I be listening to this strong evidence? Or am I wrong to support James Max’s point of view that “Positive Discrimination equals Mediocrity”. Julie does have a fair point. Women should be actively encouraged to apply for Executive Board positions if they want to – they should not be discriminated against because they are women, nor should they be taken on because they are.

As a mother to 3 children, 1 daughter and 2 sons, I believe my role is to encourage them ALL to have no limiting beliefs about their future achievements and their gender. Be who you want to be. Become what you want to become. There may be compromises and decisions to make along the way – but ensure that you take the “right decisions” for you.

Julie continued to put forward her point of view and suggested that “Promoting Confidence” workshops for Women, and “Leadership” courses for children, should be mandatory. I wholeheartedly agree – providing that boys/men are not discriminated against. At one point, a caller rang in to express his absolute shock at my comment regarding women’s confidence. Let me explain. I made a sweeping comment in relation to Women Executives at Board Level – “if you don’t have the confidence to apply for the role in the first place, then perhaps you don’t have the confidence to be at board level”. This was described as toxic. I must stress, I was not referring to women in general – I agree that women as a whole do lack confidence and this needs to be addressed and indeed, I spend a lot of time working in this field – but quite frankly, do I want the FTSE 100 companies run by women who are perhaps lacking in confidence?   No I don’t.

In summary, a great debate.   Julie Hall is founder of perhaps the best website for supporting Women in Business in the UK.  She runs exceptional events and is a fabulous role model for women – with 2 small children under the age of 6.   I, too, work with women in business, supporting, developing and encouraging them to reach their potential – both at home and at work.  There are always two sides to every story – and it was fabulous to have the opportunity to express them on air at LBC – we both remain committed to supporting women, and have proven, it’s better to have an opinion than to sit on top of the fence (that’s if I could find one big enough!).

So, Lloyds TSB have announced their pledge to support 300,000 new start-up businesses over the next 3 years. John Maltby, the bank’s Commercial Managing Director, says: “We hope to give businesses across the country the confidence they need to grow and lead the UK out of recession.”  Business Minister Lord Davies said: “This move by Lloyds TSB will improve access to credit for thousands of small businesses, which are the life-blood of this country.”

I expect Lord Sugar has been told by the government to keep quiet on this issue in case he embarrasses them further – yet why? He told the truth last week.  Credit is not a right. Each individual business needs to demonstrate not just their commitment but realistic return on investment.  We need to bear in mind that 43% of Lloyds TSB is owned by the tax payer. That is you and me.  Yes, small businesses are the lifeline of the UK but don’t let small business owners off the hook; they need to approach their business as if it is their own money they are spending.  Too many business owners don’t have their fingers on the pulse.

Dragons Den is an excellent place to learn how NOT to conduct yourself as a business owner!

In the daily press today, Lord Alan Sugar is under siege for dismissing struggling firms as “moaners” who live in “Disney World”. During a recent question-and-answer session for bosses of small to medium sized businesses in Manchester, (an event set up by Business Link North West and the Northwest Regional Development Agency), Lord Sugar claimed that only 15 per cent of businesses turned down for bank loans had anything to complain about. He went on to say, “I can honestly say a lot of problems you hear from people who are moaning are from companies I wouldn’t lend a penny to. They are bust. The moaners are bust. They are bust and they don’t need the bank – they need an insolvency practitioner”.

OKAY. A controversial point of view, and certainly one which will cause unrest in the House of Gordon Brown – to whom Lord Sugar was recently appointed as business advisor – and he has provoked fury from business leaders and opposition MPs who have accused Lord Sugar of contempt – But does Lord Sugar have a point?

Is he right to accuse young entrepreneurs, who have never endured a recession , of having unreasonable expectations about obtaining credit? We hear about government directives to the banks to start to lend money to the small businesses – who are the life line of this country – but is there now an expectation that obtaining money is going to be easy? Where is the focus regarding profit and return on investment. It is not a given-right to be supplied a never-ending line of credit. The whole reason behind setting up and running a business is to generate income and to make a profit – within a reasonable timeframe. The Dragon’s Den style programmes demonstrate this point perfectly. You need to agree with the idea, understand its positioning in the market place, believe in its desirability – but above all it has to be a financially viable project. If the Dragon’s Den contestants are indicative of those small business owners who apply for finance – is it no surprise that they are turned down? They fumble with their figures and actually stall their own progress because all they show is an embarrassing ineptness towards money. Would you lend your cash to someone who didn’t understand budgets, pricing, margins (or whose performance made you cringe like that)? Exactly – so does Lord Sugar have a point? Perhaps he does.

But instead of moaning about the situation – why not take action to improve and take time to understand WHY the finances have been declined. So many entrepreneurs believe in their own hype and consider themselves above questioning and yet with a large dose of self-honesty – and formal assessment – it may become apparent why additional lines of credit have been refused. Review your business plan – assess your competition, know your figures, understand your margins, have total comprehension of the market place you are in and make your proposal standout. A me-too scenario simply will not work.

So let’s not berate Lord Sugar for his honesty. Let’s applaud him for his guts to say what is actually necessary. Now is not the time for complacency and second best – stand up and be counted.