For some companies there are clear benefits, but for others the opportunities may not be so clear. However, whether you are selling to consumers or to businesses there are several benefits to engaging with this latest phenomenon. It can help you to raise your website profile and ranking in Google, attract new customers or keep existing customers happy.

We are embracing social media and it would be great if you can check out and like our FaceBook page and we will return the favour – The Sanderum Centre’s Facebook Page.

Social media ranking high

It may not come as a surprise that Alexa rankings reveals that five of the most visited websites are social networking sites. Areas that have seen increased use are IT support and recruitment. Social networking is becoming more popular and an accepted part of everyday life, with companies recognising that it is both useful and possibly a new and vital method of communication.

A no brainer

I think for companies marketing to consumers it is almost a no brainer, but it does require careful thought and planning. What is the main aim of using social media channels? Is it to generate new business, improve customer relations, and increase your website SEO ratings or all of the above?

Social networking is undoubtedly a great way of keeping in touch with colleagues past and present, as well as connecting with new business contacts. The social networking phenomenon also makes networking easier; it enables you to reach out to limitless individuals around the world via a wide variety of different methods such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn , Google+, podcasts, vodcasts,  instant message, blogs, forums, wikis, the list is endless.

LinkedIn for New Business

For businesses LinkedIn particularly is a great way to help generate new business sales. There are now facilities to add company products and services. You can then get existing clients to write testimonials and help you to promote your solutions delivering hundreds of new visitors to your company profile.

There are many more ways that social media can help you to develop your business and online profile. For more information contact John Bancroft at www.incognate.com

Key people in target companies are constantly bombarded with numerous approaches from emails, ezines, direct mail and telephone calls all vying for their attention and generally creating what we call ‘white noise’.

For those unfamiliar with the term ‘white noise’ it is the sound that the television set used to make when there were no programs being transmitted – essentially a lot of noise but you can’t hear anything.

The Incognate Q.U.I.C.K. Methodology™ will help you to cut through this white noise and make sure you get your message across.

Qualification with a difference!

Most of you will recognize qualification as a key component of the sales process, but when you think of qualification you may think of it in terms of ‘opportunity qualification’, but qualification using the QUICKstep Methodology is in the context of ‘customer qualification’ and checking whether you are focusing on the right companies.

Qualifying your target accounts in or out early in the process will save you hours and will also mean that you are focusing your limited time on key accounts that are more likely to produce the results you need.

Understanding target accounts

By this, I mean how does the company tick, is it centralized, decentralized or is the company headquarters located in another country? Who owns the company? Is it a Plc or a Private company? Do they have a central buying function? Have they just been acquired or are they about to buy another company? All of these questions and more can reveal a lot about a company and also have an impact on whether you call them straight away or wait a while and keep a watching brief.

Information – knowledge is power

Knowledge certainly is power, but it has a shelf life. If you don’t use it – you will lose it. It is no good sitting on good information; if you get a tip off from the inside use it as soon as possible. If you don’t somebody else will. There are many places to find information both internally and externally and one of the core elements of the QUICKstep Methodology? is the use of information to create sound bites that will get you the results you need.

Clarification

There was an old saying that ‘buyers are liars’, which I think is a bit strong, but you will get potential buyers who won’t reveal everything to you. Where possible it is always wise to double check information you have on an account, ask two people the same question; you will be surprised by the results. To put together a killer proposition you need to know that your facts are right.

Killer Propositions

I mentioned earlier that there is an increasing amount of ‘white noise’ with buyers and decision makers being flooded with various approaches on a daily basis. Much of this they will tune out, including your proposition, unless you know how to tailor it in such a way that will make them sit up and listen. By following the QUICK steps you will find yourself frequently in a position where you have the right information to deliver a proposition that you know will knock the buyers socks off!

The QUICKstep Methodology has been developed over a decade and is a proven methodology that will help you to have more fruitful telephone conversations and produce better quality opportunities.

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Are banks really 'open for business?'

Chris Roberts and Stuart Walsh run their finance broking and business consultancy businesses from The Sanderum Centre. They specialise in raising bank and leasing finance and have a 95% success rate where they prepare the client’s business plan.

Chris’s view on the banks is based on the current market, his 25 years as a banker and 11 years since ‘on the other side of the fence’ as a Business Consultant ….. “ Yes, undoubtedly Banks are open for business, providing the proposition they are assessing has been correctly thought through and presented by way of a professional and viable business plan.

This means not only that the plan has to show how the money is going to be used, and how and when the borrowing is going to be repaid, but also a host of other important things. For example: the personal finances of the owner/s themselves, recent and up to date trading accounts (if the business is already trading), the basis on which the financial projections have been prepared (i.e. providing some evidence to back up the assumptions), and some comment on the market and the competition, explaining why the business is going to be competitive”.

Stuart adds “Bankers will always be looking for ‘a safety net’ in case things don’t go according to plan so it’s a good idea to cover this if you can, e.g. that you or someone else can invest more funds if absolutely necessary. That’s also why banks sometimes like to have security. However, if you do not have any available (e.g. sufficient equity in your house) then the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme may come to your rescue.

We would be pleased to tell you more about this, help you with your business plans and/or arrange your finance.”

Chris Roberts and Stuart Walsh

Franchise Finance Ltd

www.franchisefinance.ltd.uk

Tel: 0844 8099144

Business Planning and Finance Ltd

www.businessplanningandfinance.co.uk

Tel: 01844 355586

Caroline Cope, 3 February 2010

Would you like to join our team?

The Sanderum Centre based across 2 site locations, Chinnor & Thame is looking for an enthusiastic person to join their team.  We operate as a Business Centre and provide fully serviced Office Space and Business Services to small to medium size businesses.

The role includes: -

1. Spending time working at both sites – Chinnor & Thame (own transport is essential)
2. Answer the telephone in individual company names; patch the call through to the relevant client or alternatively take a detailed message and pass through accordingly by email or TEXT
3. Provide backup support to both Chinnor & Thame Receptionists including lunch and holiday cover
4. Procurement of kitchen supplies, stationery and building maintenance items
5. Secretarial & Administrative support (both to resident and non-resident clients)

Hours of employment are 08:30 to 17:00 Monday to Friday.  Salary is in the region of £12,000 pa and remuneration includes 20 days holiday per annum plus statutory Bank Holidays.

Please apply in writing only with covering letter and CV to:

Mrs Caroline Cope,
The Sanderum Centre Ltd, Sanderum House, Oakley Road, Chinnor, Oxon OX39 4TW.

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding viruses and what viruses actually are, what different forms they can take, how to spot one and what you need to do if the worst happens and you find you have an infection.

What is a virus?

A virus is a computer program that has the ability to infect a computer system without the permission or knowledge of the user. A virus also has the ability to replicate itself to other machines. Once malicious code has infected a PC the damage it causes is only really bounded by how the virus was written and what protection you have on your PC and network.

Anti-Virus Software

Anti-Virus (AV) software is a program that should run on all your PCs. It seeks to identify and remove virus code before it can do damage. There are certain things that all PC users can do to help protect your machines before you even get on the internet:

• Chose software carefully – All AV software uses some resources and the more comprehensive packages use more. Buying the most powerful AV system on the market may be counterproductive if it makes your PC unusable. It’s best to choose a package that provides the features you require but no more.
• Licensing – Keep an eye on your licenses as AV updates are almost always paid for on a subscription basis. If your subscription runs out you are no longer protected.
• Firewalls – A firewall is a piece of software or hardware that filters network traffic to only allow traffic that has been authorised by the user. Experience has shown that miss-configured or malfunctioning software firewalls can lead to a huge array of IT problems and downtime.

Keeping Yourself Safe Online

Keeping yourself safe online needn’t be difficult. Follow these simple steps for trouble free browsing:

• Keep your PC updated – Viruses often exploit security flaws in users’ web browsers and updates are released to plug these flaws. Often viruses will be written that exploit bugs that have been patched many months previously but as numerous users won’t be keeping their PCs updated the viruses are still successful.
• World Wide Web – Computer viruses can be transmitted any time data is exchanged between computers. All web users should be aware of the potential for viruses when surfing the net – especially when visiting unusual sites. Avoid downloading from sites you don’t trust and even then be very cautious.
• E-mail – Most e-mail viruses are transmitted via e-mail attachments so users should be careful when opening any attachment that is unsolicited.
• Removable Media – Removable media such as USB pen disks, floppy disks and even iPods and iPhones can carry viruses and other malware.
• ActiveX – Ever received a message on the gold bar at the top of the browser saying the site needs to run some software to continue? These are browser based applications and are a way virus’ can get on to your PC. Never agree to install software from a publisher you don’t recognise.
• Spoof Sites – The spoof sites look like real anti-virus software sites, so the tendency is to follow the instructions but in doing so you end up infecting your PC. Click nothing on the site, shut down you PC and try to avoid the site.
• Other – Ingenious new viruses are being written every day and users should be aware that ANY time data is transferred between devices there is the potential to transmit a virus.

Most importantly, if you feel you have a virus on your PC don’t attempt to fix it yourself as you can easily make it worse.

The truth is, of course, that no matter how hard you work, there are just so many hours in the day. And they are not best spent on doing things that divert you from developing and building your business. Delegate effectively, however, and you can hugely expand your productivity where it really counts.

So where do you start?

Delegate the day-to-day

It helps to know the tasks you spend time on to see which ones make the best (and worst) use of your skills. Begin by writing down everything you do in a day and keep this going for a week or so. Then check the list to see how much of your chargeable time is spent on those day-to-day administrative operations that would be better, and more cost efficiently, done by someone else.

The next step is to see how these could be carried out more cost efficiently – by reallocating them among existing personnel, recruiting a new member of staff or, if existing resource is already at capacity, considering an outsourced solution.

Remember the key decision here is to clear the delegation hurdle, and let go. Take an honest look at what’s really going on in your business and you’ll move from being a frustrated owner who struggles to do everything to a budding entrepreneur with expanding horizons.

The Sanderum Centre offers a range of administrative and secretarial services on a permanent or ad hoc basis to support your business. Check them out here.

Microsoft needed to get it right first time with Windows 7 and initial reports suggest that this is what they have achieved. Windows 7 is based on the Vista interface with significant improvements in terms of speed, accessibility, compatibility and security.

Highlights

• Improved Interface – Windows 7 features a similar interface to Vista, along with a number of much needed improvements. The task bar has been completely redesigned which may take some getting used to but is worth the effort. Accessing your favourite programs is easier than ever and handling multiple instances of applications is simple.

• Improved speed – Microsoft has implemented a number of changes to improve interface speed in Windows 7. It will run on far lower specification machines and most users should have no problems installing it on their current hardware.

• Improved Compatibility  – Windows 7 features a number of new compatibility options meaning your old legacy software should run fine on the new operating system (O/S). Microsoft has also introduced a new ‘XP Mode’ which can be used to run software that will only work in XP.

• Increased Security – Windows 7 builds upon the improvements made in Vista to bring you the most secure O/S to date. Windows 7 won’t win the security battle overnight but it’s a step in the right direction.

Welcome to the Sanderum Centre, Chinnor

Following the much-admired refurbishment of our Thame Centre reception,  our Chinnor centre reception was next to get a brand new look.

We’re thrilled with the result and feel the bright and welcoming design perfectly matches the warm and friendly welcome clients and visitors are sure to  receive at The Sanderum Centre. Why not come along and see for yourself?

Come in and say hello

You're guaranteed a warm welcome

There’s a saying in management circles – ‘what gets measured gets done’. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it and if you can’t manage it you can’t change it

Why is it important to select the ‘vital few’ KPIs for your business?

With so many things that could be measured, it’s important that measurement doesn’t take too much time and burn resources. Monitoring a few, well selected KPIs will enable you to keep control of your business. If results month by month are not on plan, you will be able to identify problems. Then you can focus on developing action plans to solve the most pressing problems.

What parameters should you monitor?

In business, all key functions need to meet targets to deliver a profit. So it’s logical to think in terms of the functions:

• The Managing Director/General Manager must deliver shareholder value which will be driven by profit.
• The Sales Director must deliver top line revenue and gross margin.
• The Technical Director must deliver new products on time.
• The Operations Director needs to deliver products and services to customers on time, at the right cost and to the specification.
• The Marketing Director needs to deliver market share within a budget.
• The Finance Director needs to deliver profits by controlling costs, expenses and cash flow.

Most of the KPIs will be measured in monetary terms but you should also have a few that aren’t. These are often to do with people. For instance:

• Customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Employee motivation and satisfaction
• Employee turnover
• Brand awareness
• Market share
• Shareholder satisfaction

How many KPIs should you keep track of?

There are no rules – it’s your choice. We would suggest, as a minimum, one for each key function plus one for customer satisfaction and one for employee motivation. So for a business with five key functions the minimum would be seven. The optimum would probably be two for each key function plus one for customers and one for employees i.e. around twelve. Any more than twenty is far too many.  However, remember the saying: ‘spending too much time weighing the pig doesn’t make it fat!’

How will KPIs help you to improve business performance?

Keeping track of a few KPIs will enable you to identify problems before they become critical. For instance, if you don’t carry out the right prospecting activity this month it could impact profits and cash flow in a few months time. When a KPI shows a negative gap between actual and the target, this becomes a problem. Once the problem is clearly defined, it’s easier to get people working together to develop solutions and translate these into actions. Training your people on problem solving techniques is a great way to develop teamwork and quality processes. It’s also cost effective – your own people do the work and feel ownership of the process. The team work together until the performance gap is closed.

One of the characteristics of quality companies is that they set themselves the task of continuous improvement. However, if you have no objective measures of performance it’s impossible to achieve improvements year on year. Selecting a few Key Performance Indicators and managing activities to ensure the targets are met will focus resources and help ensure success.

If you would like to explore how Key Performance Indicators might help you, please get in touch with John Champion at EBS Management Resources by phone (01844 211084) or by email (johnc@ebshr.co.uk)