I just love ludicrous titles like this.

Well we are growing. We are in a recession. So I thought I'd have some fun anyway.

And the commenter on my last post - you're right - if a bank says yes, I can always say no. So I'll get the proposal in.

Meanwhile, here's the fun:

The IT Crowd Goes To Holly Wood

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After going through explosive growth once before, I have a dilemna. You see last time, we didn't realise it would explode. And it did.

Am I scarred by my past so much so, that I can't take an opportunity to grow?

You see the touch-paper is lit. We're about to fly into the sky. And if we decide to jump aboard, we're a little scared this time that someone has stowed gun-powder again.

This time though, it's a bigger rocket. The deals we are doing are bigger and badder than before.

But then again, we've already done some big deals. And they weren't bad. In fact, the retainer income and the ease was proportionally less effort than we anticipated.

We had some adjusting to do, but the second and third big client became easier than the first.

I have written a business plan. I have the financials for 3 years. I have discovered some potential government-backed routes.

Anyone who has read this blog before - firstly sorry for losing the continuity - but secondly what's your take?

The global recession is working in our favour. The quotes we have "live" right now, exceed our entire last year turnover.

My gut says find a way to do it. My mind is scarred by past experiences. But the quality of what we're doing is opening doors. We're very good at establishing growth.

But have we learned our lessons?

Should we consider a partner to guide the ship (even a remote control partner) while we go do what we're best at?

Myself, Steve and Angela are an unstoppable force when we get going. And the rest of the team is the best we've had (by far).

But when it comes to finance and borrowing to justify the momentum, I get nervous. I suspect we qualify for the new government-backed finance.

The plan fits the criteria exactly.

I got in an accountant who is accusing me of pessimism in it!

Or do we "merge" with someone else to plug the gaps?

Or are the banks really lending? In terms of the new guarantees, they are approving £1M a day for small businesses in the UK right now - and that's only over the last few weeks.

Or should we re-trench, slow it down and miss an opportunity that is ripe for a company that can outsource an internal IT function with ease (and reduce costs for organisations that need to)?

IF ANYONE IS STILL LISTENING, I'd love your views. While this is a muffled shout to the big place which is the internet, if anyone hears the first cry for opinion, please give your views now.

Cheers

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I'm not surprised I haven't produced a blog post for absolutely ages. Been a little busy!

It's close to 2 years (May 2006) since we went bust and started again.

But, I came up with 8 things you need to do (2 of which you may laugh at - see below) which I guarantee will lift the gloom - unless you're an irreversible pessimist that is!

But now the recession is official, I thought it was about time I reflected on the lessons I've learned, the state of mind I'm in, how optimistic or pessimistic I feel.

And for anyone who once picked up the odd strand from my little story (are there?), give you an update on the personal and business position.

After Going Bust In The Good Times, How Am I Faring In the Bad Times?

For those who don't know, our company went bust in 2006 and re-started. It seemed impossible to do, but we scraped ourselves off the floor and tried again.

With a repeat prescription for blood pressure tablets, a little coaching from a good friend in being able to mentally cope when everything around you has actually collapsed, and alot of moral support from too many people to mention and thank, we got going again.

After protracted negotiations on an insurmoutable level of personal guarantees on business debt, we managed to achieve what felt impossible and satisfy them all.

Before I could even take a sigh of relief, the personal debt (which was really business debt!) struck home too. And I managed to stave off bankruptcy by negotiating a 10 year repayment plan, and in most cases freeze the interest to make it achievable.

The actual numbers involved are scary and a little embarassing to detail. However, it was far more than a 6-figure sum.

And in between all this, we had to re-start a business.

And learn not to repeat the mistakes we made. And be able to sleep at night.

And also try and find the energy to be positive again. It took maybe a year to re-discover that entrepreneurial spark that made us want to go into business.

When we re-started, there were 5 of us.

Most of our clients stuck with us. And while touched by their loyalty, some of them we had to let go. Quite simply because we didn't think we could service them all having reduced our workforce by 75%.

So we fell on our sword and in many cases facilitated their move to alternative suppliers.

And that was a pleasant experience - we're still very friendly with former clients who have found good suppliers since. I have a coffee or beer occasionally now with several former clients, who I now think of as good mates.

Where Are We Now?

Well we're up to 16 staff. Our client base is still smaller in terms of numbers, but our retainer income is at the same levels it was in the former company.

Our cost-base is lower than it ever was (we have more part-time and junior staff than before).

And a good number of clients we honourably let go to others have begun to return - without us asking (and I won't ask those who haven't called because it aint good form to do so!).

How Are We Coping With The Recession?

Despite the history of this blog where at times I have obviously been a little unhinged, by nature, I'm positive. My glass is never half-full - it is overspilling.

But even the most fervent optimist can't help but be touched by the non-stop flow of negativity around them. And from time to time, I find myself beginning to buy into the gloom.

...before I quickly kick myself up the arse.

You see it is the optimists who will spark the turn-around. And if they buy into the gloom, then we're all doomed.

At some point, people will tire of the pessimism and tune into the optimists. A tipping point will be reached, and we will all start believing again.

Personally, I tune into the optimists. And there are many of them about.

Some of them have thrived through downturns and scoff at the doom-mongers who ignore the opportunity around them.

And much of the current malaise is caused by how we choose to perceive what's happening around us.

Could it be as simple as fashion? If the current vogue is doom, then we're instantly unfashionable if we don't buy into it.

Personally, our retainer revenues are up by 33% over the last 5 months. So how can I possibly buy into the new trend for talking things down?

Fair enough, if I was being pedantic, our growth slowed in December and early January. And that's when most of the media-gloom descended as the focus of their reports was the down-turn, Xmas spending reports, and the closures in the high-street retail sector.

But how much attention was given to the explosive growth of online sales? How did Amazon do? Why has the Woolworth's brand name been bought to re-launch as an online-only retailer?

To what extent was the trend away from the high street and towards online purchasing going to happen anyway?

I would agree that overall spending was down, but not nearly as much as the doom-mongers believe. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy as people cut-back - even though I suspect it was marginally.

How many online-only retailers went bust?

So, while my pedanticness could have associated our December/early January blip with some mysterious global problem, how true was it?

In reality, we always have a dip each year. And in years gone by, we never worred about it. In fact we expected it. So why was this year any different?

In reality it wasn't.

As I write, we noticed the same pattern as the previous year. People have started spending again with us. And it has followed the same pattern - the new year "hangover" ended around the middle of the month, and the usual level of enquiries/demand ensued.

BUT I very nearly - for about an hour - got sucked into this negative void.

What Lessons Have I Learned 2 Years After Going Bust And Re-Starting?

Well, the first thing to note is how I feel. I don't worry nearly as much as I used to. I don't fret about negatives any more.

Yes, we still have challenges, but when you have over-shot rock-bottom and had to dig yourself out of the grave, any challenges we now experience don't affect me nearly as much as they used to.

Okay, the challenges we have nowadays are minor.

But the one thing we have discovered that is more important than anything else, is....FUN.

The more fun you have, the better pretty much everything else becomes. What seemed impossible to achieve in a company that was floundering and eventually went bust, becomes achievable.

I knew back then that a key point behind our sucess was delivering a fast service. Achieving it though against a negative background felt like an arduous journey that would take years.

Just last week, we decided to change our average IT support incident fix time from 2 hours to 1 hour. We'd examined for just a few days the methods which would make this possible (a simple logistical reorganisation).

So we announced it on the Friday in a team meeting and introduced it on the Monday.

On the Monday, we achieved a 51 minute fix average. On tuesday, it hit 21 minute as we all realised that is was not only achievable, but acutally very easy.

If I turn the clock back to the end of the previous company, things had gotten so bad back then, that we couldn't figure out how to make a cup of tea without an extended consultative process that was pretty much doomed from the outset.

Now, we can dream something up, examine how it can be achieved, implement it, and celebrate our sucesses - sometimes within hours.

Towards the end of the last company we had an average of around 100 outstanding support calls at various stages of completion. Today, we had 5. And those 5 were outstanding only because clients have asked us to delay the work until they were ready.

The key to implementing things at the speed we now do is essential - the right people.

With the right people, you can achieve anything.

The atmosphere in our office is fantastic. It's fun. I love going into work every day. There are genuine smiles.

And in an industry where you answer the phone knowing something has gone wrong, that's an amazing achievement.

One Small Confession

I broke one of the rules I had on re-starting. Particularly over the last 4 months. I've been fortunate to meet (ahead of schedule), the right kind of people for our company.

And because I knew they were exactly the kind of people we needed, we took them on - perhaps a couple of months ahead of schedule.

But I remember the advice of someone I admire who says that the right kind of people can do pretty much everything.

And that advice has been vindicated with the performance of the new folks. They have actually supplemented the positive atmosphere we have. And accelerated our development (and inspired me too!).

To round off this meandering blog-post, I'll finish off with a bit of advice for these troubled times:

1) Seek the company of optimists

2) When you meet them, supplement their optimism with your own

3) Reply to any negative viewpoints you hear with an optimistic alternative viewpoint

4) Question what the media portrays and read between the lines - good news is not in fashion, so when you hear it tune iN.

5) When you hear bad news, tune out - it will only slow you down in your journey towards good stuff

6) Analyse facts - and when they are negative, imagine you are a PR person who is tasked with adding a little spin - perception can become truth. And negativity can become lies if you give it the chance

7) Whenever you see snowfall, rejoice. There's nothing better than chucking snowballs around your street. Snow is beautiful. And when it slows your car journey, instead of moaning, look at the brightness around you, and admmire the sheer majesty as it floats to the ground around you.

8) Support Everton FC. They are eternal optimists who are seeing results despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, lack of investment, and amazing over-performance despite the odds!

Thank you for listening (Mum).

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I was recently asked a question by a friend. He had a client who was awash with enquiries, but was struggling to convert them into sales.

And I had the answer. From bitter experience! A few years ago, I'd had the same problem.

And it's a really easy one. But first, this tip works best in business-to-business sales. It's really simple, but the answer is not always obvious.

It's all about conversion rates. The rate of enquiries you receive for example when you send a mailing. The conversion of those enquiries into appointments to meet the client. And the conversion of those meetings into sales.

Treat it like a relay race. To cross the line and clinch the sale, you have to keep hold of the baton. But it is so very easy to drop it.

The first baton change is often where it is dropped. You see too many people attempt to close the sale too far from the finishing line. The objective of the first baton change is to pass it to the next person without dropping it.

And that means making an appointment to see the prospective client.

Too often this goes wrong. And there are numerous reasons:

1) The person making the appointment is not skilled enough

2) Being overly-polite. Gently asking someone to meet can drop the baton. They will have numerous reasons NOT to meet you, even though they enquired!

3) Too many steps. For example, emailing the customer to ask them when they are free. This then needs them to think. And respond.

In our line of work, it is almost impossible to provide a quote for IT support, which reflects what the customer wants, without meeting them first.

So the first thing you need to consider are the reasons why you need to meet the prospect to take the enquiry forward. In our case, we need to look at their IT set-up. But think of your own reasons.

The second challenge is politeness and salesmanship. If an administrative assistant is tasked with making the appointment, they may fail simply because they lack the sales skills.

Remember, you are NOT selling your product or service at this point. Your objective is to make an appointment. So you have to sell the appointment.

If you don't have the staff with the skills, consider creating an email template which does the job for you. A message that will always deliver a consistent message and give reasons for the appointment.

And it needn't be long. Nor complicated.

In fact it needs to be polite, but assertive. And the most important element is that of suggesting the data and time of the appointment rather than asking when they are free.

This cuts out email or telephone tennis. It also does alot to cut out the most common objection - "I'm too busy". People say that because they feel busy, when their diary may be relatively empty.

So by suggesting a date/time, in a high percentage of cases, people will accept it if they are free.

We've found that around 60-80% will accept the first date offered. Those who don't, aren't saying no, they tend instead to either suggest an alternative, or state they are not free.

I'd suggest this format for either the telephone or as an email template:

John,

Firstly thanks for your enquiry. To help us give you an accurate quote for our widgets, I have taken the liberty of booking you in to meet my colleague, Sue Smith, on Friday 29th August at 10AM.

During the meeting, Sue will run through a series of questions which will help us arrive at a proposal which perfectly meets your requirements.

If I don't hear, I'll assume you're free, and Sue will see you next week.

Many thanks etc

This simple approach works wonders. It is light and polite. And cuts out much of the telephone and email tennis which is generated by being too polite - i.e. asking when they are free.

It maximises the chance of a smooth baton change and passes it to your last-leg salesperson.

Your chances of converting enquiries to sales are therefore increased dramatically.

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