12 tips for effective pre-Christmas business communications. And a partridge in a pear tree!

Let’s be thankful we’ve made it this far through the year, although some people believe the world will end on 23rd September. Assuming we get through the latest apocalyptic prophesy, businesses should be looking at how to best communicate with their customers, now ... before it's too late!

Here are some tips to ensure as stress-free a time as possible for you in the run-up to the festive season:

1.       Publish your opening hours on your website, social media and wherever else is appropriate, well in advance
2.       Ensure you give an emergency contact name and number if appropriate
3.       Remind customers about special offers or seasonal services
4.       Give special offers to existing customers as a thank you for their loyalty
5.       Do seasonal competitions to increase your database for New Year promotions
6.       Offer free delivery before Christmas if appropriate
7.       If you have a small business and giving anything free is difficult, give something extra by way of great service or a very small free gift to make people feel good (like a coffee and mince pie if they’re coming into your shop) – or team up with another company and do something together to share the cost
8.       If you have a food, clothing or other appropriate business, give some left-over products to a local charity
9.      Take on seasonal staff – you might need extra help to cope with the extra business 
10.      Product returns usually increase after Christmas; make sure your customers and your staff know your policy so everything runs seamlessly (especially if you've taken on seasonal staff or part-timers)
11.      Make sure you train new staff as well as refreshing the skills of existing ones who might be under pressure if you get really busy, and explain your seasonal offers to your team so everyone is up to speed
12.     Reward your team with a bonus to say thanks for working hard – if times are tough financially, you’ll be amazed how much a kind word, a smile and a few extra hours off can help!

I'm off to buy some Easter eggs now. I believe they're already on sale in M&S!

Never knowlingly under-managed

I read a piece in the media recently about companies like John Lewis, co-operatives which give their staff a stake in the company, keeping salaries realistic while still motivating hard work, good customer service and sales. Their profits are rising. Royal Mail staff will get free shares in an effort to gain their buy-in and engagement, as part of the organisation’s privatisation process.

When I go into John Lewis, I certainly get a feeling their staff are proactive in selling while caring about giving a first class service and offering top notch, quality products. Can the same be said for Royal Mail, albeit prior to the share pay-out?

Every year, the postage increase gets worse and worse, so much so that this year’s hike and associated parcel size fiasco can only be classed as someone’s idea of a joke ... on the British public. It begs the question: how can they beat that next year?!

Have we got a better mail delivery system as a result of increased postage? Do we get deliveries first thing in the morning like we used to? Do we get a second delivery mid-morning? Of course not. We’re lucky if we see mail by lunchtime, and in some cases by suppertime. The Edwardians probably had a better service than we do. Yes I know there was far less post but in bygone days, they could post something in the morning and it’d be with the recipient by the afternoon. New technology should mean things improve.

Being British, do we complain? Again no, for fear they’ll take umbrage, go out on strike, picket our picket fences and stop deliveries altogether.

At this point, I should say that in the main, postmen and women are absolutely delightful and at least I get my post mid-morning. It’s not their fault that Elf & Safety and the unions won’t let them carry anything heavier than a bunch of A4 envelopes or a lightweight parcel or two, and advise them to keep away from a ‘Beware of the Dog’ sign in case there really is a monster pooch ready to take a bite out of them – quite sensible, really, and it’s to protect them. When the postman can’t get something through my letterbox or I’m out, I have to drive miles to the nearest delivery office, and there’s no Elf & Safety concern over whether I put my back out to carry it.

And don’t get me started on their offer to deliver packages to neighbours. You can’t specify who, just anyone else in the road who’s in. The last time this happened, they left a parcel with someone I’d never met, in a property I didn’t know, about a quarter of a mile away.

Increased costs should mean increased service. Maybe the bosses at John Lewis should take a turn as operational leaders for Royal Mail. Now that would be first class!

(Originally published in The Argus on 27.9.13)

No-one ever went to their grave wishing they’d spent more time at the office

By the time you read this, I will have completed Phase One of my summer break – a long weekend last month! This will be followed up with Phase Two – another long weekend – this month. Rarely one for lengthy holidays, this is more or less as much as I can expect till the Christmas shutdown because thankfully we’re as busy as ever in this, our 10^th birthday year.

I’m sure I feel like many small business owners when it comes to a work/life balance: sounds fantastic but this is reality. While it’s essential to be mentally and physically fit to carry out my work to the level my clients expect and deserve, I have to make sure there’s a snug fit between this and taking time away from the business to regroup, relax and revitalise. After all, a worn-out and exhausted PR and marketing consultant is no use to anyone!

I’m lucky, of course, because I have some truly delightful clients with whom I work closely and effectively. And I have a team of exceptionally talented associate consultants working with my company. I have no problem delegating projects or tasks although ultimately I’m responsible and have to be on top of what’s going on.

I’m not an avid sun-worshipper and I don’t like hot climates, so I don’t crave weeks away on end in idyllic locations, although as I’m writing this, I may be having a change of heart! Fairly recently I’ve started working with a personal trainer who has revolutionised my approach to health and fitness. You’ll be able to see this for yourselves when I update my photo in the weeks to come!

One great result of the healthy diet and daily exercise regimen has meant I’m brighter, sharper and much more energetic. The first month’s detox wasn’t as hard as I’d imagined and I’m enjoying doing different exercises and gym routines. My business benefits from me having even more capacity for ideas and outputs, and now I really differentiate the working week from the weekends, when I value every ‘down-time’ moment. I try not to be computer-obsessed at weekends now, only respond to emergencies and rarely now work unless it’s absolutely necessary.

So what have I learned about having a good work/life balance? There’s no magic formula, just whatever works for you.

Remember no-one ever went to their grave wishing they’d spent more time at the office!

First published in The Argus on 25 June 2013

It always pays to know what your clients do - especially if it means you have to be pampered in the process!

As PR and marketing consultant to a wide variety of different clients, I need to know just the right amount about their businesses. Not too much, as it's their business not mine and they're the experts. Not too little, as I can't promote what they do effectively.


So, purely in the interest of research you understand, dear reader, I couldn't pass up the offer of a spa pedicure at a leading beauty salon in the area, Euphoric, a client I've been working with this year. 


Of course I'd been to the salon several times before, given advice on business matters, PR and marketing, image, branding and so on. I'd even been to take photos for a press release and been there for support my client as she was filmed for her first corporate video. I'd looked at the products and all the state-of-the-art equipment - some of which looks just like something out of Transformers.


I thought I knew what needed to be known about pedicures. But I was wrong. I'd never had a 'spa pedicure' before. 


Now let's be clear - my feet are not my best feature. Far from it. Working as hard as I do, there's very little time for pampering treatments and I have to admit I don't take much care of my feet these days. 


After a warm welcome to the salon, I was encouraged to relax with a drink of my choice and then I met Katie, who would be braving the delights of my plates (of meat, I'm a Londoner). I duly chose a shade of OPI nail polish for my toes I was taken into a relaxing treatment room where a warm foot soak awaited. But the best was still to come...


The couch was just sooooo comfy, the lights were dimmed, the music played something soothing - and Katie started her magic. For an hour and a half, my feet were smoothed, massaged, lotioned, potioned and primped. I lost count of how many times I drifted off; when the lights went up, I looked down at my extremities and shining back up at me was a delightful pair of feet, barely recognisable from the 'before' version! And the bonus was - I felt wonderfully relaxed for the first time in ages. 


So what did I learn from this experience?! I can now promote my client even better with the benefit of having experienced one of their wonderful treatments. AND I'll certainly go back for more in the future, so they've certainly won another client themselves. 


Several questions arise, though ... which treatment will I choose next time, and shall I take my own advice when it comes to experiencing my dentist client's business?!!


Check out Euphoric on www.euphoric-beauty.co.uk to see more about the treatment I had, plus all the others.

How effective communications can save lives

Recently I have had to spend much time at an NHS hospital where a close relative is very poorly. 


During my hours there, partly spent talking to consultants, doctors and nurses of every rank, and partly spent sitting by the bed watching what goes on, I have come to two conclusions about communications.


Firstly, with each different department and ward my relative was on, contact details were at least eight years out of date. This matters because if they had to get in touch with next of kin urgently either to update or to take instruction, they couldn't. It also matters because if the contact details are out of date, what else is? Maybe the patient information, maybe the medication information - it doesn't exactly instil confidence. Worse still, having told each department or ward the right information, it wasn't passed on either to Central Records to put it right, or to the next department or ward - so I have to keep remembering to check.


Secondly, in certain units there is little communication about patients between staff during shift changes. On one occasion I gave some important, useful and perhaps crucial information. During a subsequent phone call I asked what had been done, to be told: "People are only supposed to be on this unit for one or two days so there's never much of a shift briefing". How outrageous is that? The unit in question is for serious medical problems - won't they get more serious (possibly life-threatening) if staff don't know what's really going on? 


Let me make one thing very clear, dear readers, the care given by doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants is second to none. I'm highlighting a need for more effective, joined-up communications - from the top down, cross-departmentally and from grass roots up.


Is it likely to happen in the NHS? Am I hopeful? What do you think?


And don't get me started on the topic of charging for car parks in hospitals!