Another solid agenda at this month’s meeting of the GKIC London chapter (slightly later this month on 27 June 2014).
The meeting kicked off with guest speaker Robert Craven. Robert has been described as “the entrepreneurship guru” and is a professional speaker, author and consultant. He is active in both the academic world and the mainstream business arena. Robert set up the first of several businesses (restaurant, cafe, training company, sound studio) in his final year at university. He then spent five years running training and consultancy programmes for entrepreneurial businesses at Warwick Business School. Running his own consultancy since 1998, he is now one of the UK’s best-known and sought-after speakers on entrepreneurship.
In under an hour Robert delivered a no-nonsense presentation on 10 fundamentals of business success. Think of any business as having 3 key areas…finance, marketing and operations. It’s the combination of marketing and operations that produces the financial results BUT…in most cases it’s the finance side of the business that needs fixing first. The 3 suggested steps…
1. Increase prices
2. Decrease direct costs
3. Fix underperformers in the business (products, customers, staff, suppliers)
Obvious and simple? Perhaps…
…but if your finances aren’t what you want them to be, are you doing these things?
Once the basic business model is on a sound basis, then you can look at growing the business.
Robert made some good points about the importance of retaining clients and what really keeps them loyal to you (the real reason might surprise you). To end, Robert then presented not one, but two ways to craft an effective and compelling “elevator speech”.
More about Robert at his website robert-craven.co.uk.
David White followed with the main topic of the meeting…
“18 Ways To Extract Maximum Value From Your Existing Customers”.
The first three…
1. Offer more products or services
2. Make offers more often
3. Reward frequent purchasers
A host of further good ideas…with the very strong suggestion that it’s a good idea to make offers…more often!
Finally, Fergus McClelland conducted us in a series of fun exercises to boost vocal power. Everything from Beethoven through to Shakespeare…and the surprising way whispering can make you more persuasive.
Remember that much of the meaning and power of your words comes from the way you say it, not simply what you say. Most people in business and marketing don’t really understand this point and yet it’s straightforward to improve your vocal technique.
More about Fergus at his site FergusMcClelland.com.
Another excellent GKIC London meeting. The July meeting is on Tuesday 22 July 2014. Get the details and reserve your place at GKIC London.