What a great turnout! More than 60 guests for our first breakfast meeting of 2010. The Chatsworth Hotel provided a great breakfast to start the day on and the information was fast flowing.
We started with an overview of the economic climate from Adrian Wood of HSBC Bank. CLICK HERE to read this review.

It will be interesting to see how things develop through 2010.

We then we listened to the top tips from the panel of specialists all happy to inspire us to start the year at full speed.
We had hoped to have more Q&As but we ran out of time and left with our heads spinning.

Marketing Strategy is always a very popular topic, we had the following four top tips for marketing success in 2010 from Molokini Marketing.

• Review your marketing strategy: Consider that what you have done before may not be appropriate for the current market.
• Research & segmentation: 2010 is all about a more focused approach and understanding of your target audience.
• Use the right marketing tools: The last few years has seen an explosion in new marketing tools and a shake up of traditional approaches. Get clued up, and then apply the right tools to your market. Don’t just throw budget at marketing activities because everyone else is, think about how it will really drive sales and brand awareness.
• Take a fresh look. Think of new ways to engage your market and differentiate yourself from the competition.

Clifford Thomas, Managing Director of the Business Development Consultancy, confessed that we can’t get it right all of the time and he is always striving to do better in his own business but the following top tips will help you keep focused to succeed:

• Don’t forget Market and Customer Research.
• Know who your customers are, why they buy from you and what else they would like to buy
• Competitor Analysis: What are they doing, etc
• Be clear about what your business does or is. Do you have a Lift Pitch.
• Mystery shop your business
• Have a COSTED sales plan and WORK the plan
• Have a blended lead generation strategy and measure your results
• Do not fear risk and invest in what works. Review your business systems. Are they efficient, are you getting the most from them, your self and your staff. How well does your business run without you?

In summary: Be tough. Be sure everything is working. Be innovative. Be persistent. Be profitable.

One topic that is not easy to discuss in an open forum is credit control and this was covered by Graham Sands of credit management specialists Amril. His advice is that good customer care can help you avoid those awkward and slow payments.

• Know who your customers are. Regular late payers may need a tougher approach than first-timers.
• Plan the call. Is it a first request for payment or the latest in a long sequence of calls on the same overdue account? Focus on objectives. What do you want to get out of the call?
• Prepare for excuses. What reasons might they use not to pay? Have your answers ready n Keep it business-like. Don’t allow the call to get personal or you’ll not be objective
• Call direct. It’s easier to get whoyou want on a direct line than through a switchboard.
• Keep accurate records. Record promises made and by whom – especially important if you have to make a further call.
• Insist on action. Don’t be fobbed off with vague promises of settlement. Agree firm dates and methods of payment.
• Follow up. Make another call if the customer doesn’t honour commitments.

There was a general feeling this type of event is really valuable and we will put some more on during the year but hope to allow more time for questions as many people stayed to talk with the panel and of course to network with others.
Our special thanks to the panel who gave their time free of charge and also to the Chatsworth Hotel for their hospitality.