Tuesday, 18 March 2014

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Sunday, 3 November 2013

The XMAS shutdown - and how to avoid it

Many people comment, (complain), about the appearance of Christmas decorations and paraphernalia in the shops as early as September or October.

But I was somewhat astounded to hear a business owner talking up the infamous XMAS Shutdown already in October.

But another business owner in the same conversation had an interesting solution . . .

Cover via Amazon

Before we get to that however, it got me to thinking . . .

How much do business owners actually create the Xmas shutdown phenomena just by talking about it and expecting it.

You could get all metaphysical about it and say that The Secret predicts that you will get what you most think about.

But it is even more practical than that.

When business owners literally and physically are planning for a slowdown in business, how can this not slow down business for them, and in general?

And the more people that talk about it and plan for it, the more it is going to happen. Stands to reason.

People shutdown their business over Christmas because they expect that everyone else is going to do the same. It becomes self-fulfilling.

But what if they didn”t ?

The Solution

Well, there are several solutions.

The first and most obvious is this:

Do not talk about or plan for a shutdown!

You can plan to be busy or you can plan to be quiet. It all comes down to the actions that you take.

Xmas (Photo credit: rsfrd)

It might mean thinking “outside of the box” and doing something different from what you would normally do.

Which brings me to the strategy taken by the other person in that conversation . . .

At this time of year, he starts running introductory seminars and promos that generate client interest in his services.

They may not be ready to buy, (especially if they are stuck in the Xmas shutdown mentality), but it gets them thinking and planning for the new year.

And of course, some will commit to a start in January.

This way, he can hit the ground running in January with clients and prospects in the sales pipeline.

Businesses that take the Xmas shutdown approach face January with an empty sales pipeline.

Where would you rather be?

Also consider this . . .

If your competitors are all closed down over Christmas, what opportunities might exist to service some of their clients during that period . . . ? ?

And possibly retain them as your clients in the new year!

Well, that is quite simple really!

What should you do now?

Ask yourself – Do you really need to shutdown for Christmas?

How are you contributing to the Xmas Shutdown?

Want some help or ideas? Just contact us at Hotpink Websites now.

Quote

My heart goes out to all the incredibly strong kids fighting cancer right now. Hope their christmas wishes came true.
~ Unknown

Remember – The XMAS shutdown – and how to avoid it

Affects of Shutdown on Small Businesses

12 Saturday’s Until Xmas!!!!

Santa And Chimney Cross Stitch Xmas Card

Xmas Cookbooks

Camping grounds filling up fast for Xmas

The XMAS shutdown - and how to avoid it

Thursday, 31 October 2013

How to deal with bullies

Last week I talked about Bullying in Business and introduced our client Melinda from Applied Leadership.

Thanks everyone for all of the great feedback on this article. It really seemed to touch home with some people.

What came out of that conversation is that there are many ways to deal with bullies . . .

Physical bullying at school, as depicted in the film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s a story about that.

We had designed and developed a really modern, smart looking website for this client.

He approved the design and then handed control over to his 2IC to manage the delivery.

This 2IC guy was a home grown “website expert”, having put together their previous website.

I think that he was a bit put out that we were called in to build the new website, because he promptly set about requesting a long series of changes to the new website that made it look pretty much like the old website again.

The upshot of all these changes was that not only did the website start looking like the drab old out-of-date website, but it was getting late on delivery as well.

Perhaps understandably, the client was not happy, but this was down to the management of the 2IC.

So the client rang and left a voice message with several F-Word expletives.

“What the F#@k is going on with our website?”

Not sure how to take control of the situation, the client resorted to bullying to establish control and dominance of the situation.

But after dealing with the 2IC guy for several months now, the fixed-price project had gone way over budget, and we were less than impressed with this outburst from the client.

So I remembered something that I had learned in communication seminar years ago . . .

Meet a Force-10 argument with a Force-9 response.

You are not escalating the argument with a Force-11 response, but you are making a stand that says “don’t mess with me”.

Bullies in Business are just like schoolyard bullies.
They usually lack confidence themselves, and use the bluster of bullying to cover their lack of confidence and get their way.

My response was along the lines of . . .

Yes I totally agree with you. I am not F-ing happy with the website either and it is all down to numerous changes requested by your 2IC. He has taken our modern design and made it look like the old website and wasted a lot of our time in the process.

Oddly enough, or perhaps not, after that we had no more problems.

So the moral of the story, and the advice for people feeling bullied, is to meet a Force-10 argument with a Force-9 response.

Well, that is quite simple in the end !

What should you do now?

If you feel that you are being bullied, stand up to the bully.

If you think you might be the bully, then take a deep breath and look for another way.

Want some help or ideas? Just contact us at Hotpink Websites now.

Quote

Drama is Drama. bullying is bullying.
No matter what reasons people do it for, it will usually be out of self-interest or for their own enjoyment.
~ Isaiah Harden

Remember – How to deal with bullies

Bullying in Business is not OK

What To Do If Your Child Is Being Bullied

When did suicide become the answer to bullying?

7 Ways To Protect Yourself If Your Boss Is a Bully

Bullying in the Workplace

How to deal with bullies

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Newsletter Sidebar Feature Post - edit here to change in newsletter

Newsletter Sidebar Feature

Merry Christmas

Wishing you the best Seasons Greetings

From the dynamic team at Hotpink Websites.

Newsletter Sidebar Feature

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

When your customers do not understand

What do you do when your customers do not understand what you are saying?

There will come a time in your business when a customer does not understand what you are trying to explain to them.

No matter what you say, they just won’t get it. And yet it is vitally important that they do get it.

Here is what you do . . .

An optical illusion. Square A is exactly the same shade of grey as square B. See demonstration. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This happened to me just recently when Bob the Jeweller, (name changed), contacted us to get a new website.

The conversation went something like this:

Bob: Can you build a new website for us please?
Me: Sure, let’s get together and discuss what you need, etc.
Bob: What do you suggest that we do next?
Me: I suggest that we meet to discuss your requirements and what we can do for you.
Bob: We are very busy. Can’t you just build a website for us?
Me: I do need to get some information from you about your new website.
Bob: We just want you build a website for us. Can you just do it . . .

Clearly I wasn’t getting through to Bob.

A website should not be an “over-the-counter purchase”.

If it is, then you are not getting the best service, or the optimal website for your business.

How I Turned This Around

The solution for this and many other miscommunications is to use METAPHORS.

I knew that my dad was going to push me to do some stunts . . . he was pushing me to the very edge.
If we were to use a metaphor, my feet were sliding off the rocks of a cliff and I had my toes hanging over the edge.
~ Jaden Smith

A metaphor is a figure of speech that says that one situation or scenario is another different situation or scenario, so we can use fewer words.

It makes the reader or listener find the similarities between the situation or scenario you want then to understand and a situation or scenario that they may be more familiar with.

The English word metaphor is derived from the Greek word metapherin which means “transfer”.

So you are transferring the meaning of one thing to another thing.

Simply put – use a story that matches with the situation you are talking about, but in a scenario that the client can understand.

Here is what I said to Bob.

OK, so I come to you and say, can you make a ring for me.

You say, sure, what type of ring, what stones if any do you want in it, what sort of design, etc?

But I say to you . . . No time to discuss that, can you just make me a ring!

Is it likely that I am going to end up with a ring that I like?

With this simple use of METAPHOR, Bob immediately understood why it was important that we spend some time talking about what he wanted to achieve in his website.

A web developer who is not willing to spend up to one hour to meet with you before committing to buying a website probably is not going to get the best result for you!

How could he/she get the best result for you, when they do not understand your needs and wants, the nature of your business, etc?

That’s why at Hotpink Websites, we always start off with a “get-to-know-you chat”.

By the way, using METAPHOR also works well in personal, non-business situations. Give it a go next time you get stuck in a conversation where you are not conveying your message clearly.