FREE TRAINING SEMINARS IS JUST THE TICKET FOR LOCAL BUILDERS

Leading construction industry partners successfully launched the first of a series of free training sessions for local small building companies in Exeter on 1 February at Matford Centre on Marsh Barton.  Sponsored by premier builders merchants, Bradfords Building Supplies, it attracted over 50 attendees.  Rolling out across the South West over the next couple of months it delivers a major new green and low carbon training initiative which will prove to be a great business opportunity for the local smaller builder.  The main topics covered are conservation of energy, ventilation, heating, electrics and the new water safety and usage regulations. 'I've been updated' van stickers were allocated to each attendee at the end of the one day workshop.  This means that builders can demonstrate they have been fully briefed on the latest industry changes and have the essential knowledge required to offer ongoing advantages and service to their clients.

(L-R) Mike Kerslake Area Sales Manager, Bradfords Building Supplies, Tom Harper Director of Constructing Excellence SW, Anna Thompson Director of Training LABC, Dave Easterlow General Builder, Yvonne Mazzotta H& S Awareness Officer HSE and Andrew Sutton Associate Director BRE  SW

Bradfords Building Supplies Limited with 27 branches nationwide including Cornwall outlets in Redruth, Liskeard and a new branch in St Austell due to open this spring, has teamed up with key national construction industry organisations  including Local Authority Building Control (LABC), Constructing Excellence South West, BRE, HSE and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). The series of one day training seminars being held across the South West region provides updates for builders on important legislation changes with the unique opportunity to meet experts in each of their individual fields and to share information and concerns with associates in their industry. The Cornish seminar will be held at The Dragon Centre in Bodmin on the 16^th February 2011 with the programme eventually being rolled out nationally.

Mike Kerslake, Area Sales Manager for Bradfords Building Supplies Ltd, Exeter. Says: “We were keen to support the key industry organisations in the region and Exeter was a natural choice as the first venue to launch this new initiative.  We were very pleased with the turn out and are hoping to increase numbers across the region as we roll out the programme; it is then the intention to push this out nationally.  The sticker for the van proved very popular with the builders as it adds value to the great service they already provide and offers peace of mind to their customers."

Director of Constructing Excellence speaking at the first seminar in Exeter.

Tom Harper Director Constructing Excellence says: "85% all construction companies employs 5 and less people therefore it is good for the industry to build knowledge and expertise in the local sector.  By displaying the 'I've been updated' van stickers it shows that small building companies are staying up to date with technical issues, regulations and challenges which gives consumer confidence.”

Further events will be held at Bodmin, Poole and Taunton.  Places are limited and allocated on a “first come” basis.  For more information please visit: www.bradfords.co.uk

What's my name?

I don't know about you but I physically can't work in silence, so I always have the radio playing in the background. One track I keep hearing is Rhianna's new song 'What's my Name?' and it got me thinking about the importance of learning people's names. 

Just how do you remember names?   I will go through a few ideas for you but first I think it’s very important to ask yourself a question. How important is it to remember people names? How do you feel when someone remembers your name? Each and every one of us will have at some point had someone forget our name, not a great feeling is it? Questions like 'Am I that forgettable?' begin to plague our minds but only a select few have the gift of putting names to faces and keeping them there. Below are six tips to help you become one of those people. Try them out and let me know how you get on by commenting below.

6 tips to remember names and faces quickly

 
Here are a few tips which work for me…

Tip 1: The reason you forgot my name is that you did not give me 100% of your attention. You were too busy thinking about the next question you wanted to ask or you were looking at someone else you want to talk to or over there at the food. My name is very important to me and if I am your key contact then give me 100% of your attention and stop thinking about anything else. 

Tip 2: Say my name conversationally 3 times during our chat. I will love that. Not like a parrot Glen, I see what you mean Glen, I totally agree Glen. During the conversation try to bring my name in, saying it out loud will help you to remember it.

Tip 3: Sometimes a name just won’t stick, so I ask for a business card, look at it carefully and try to make an association between the person’s face and their card.

Tip 4: If someone’s name badge is visible I often take a sneak look at it. It is easy to do this when the other person is speaking as everyone, at some point, will look away – this is natural. So peek at their name badge during one of those moments. If you watch people carefully when they are speaking, you will notice that they do have a pattern of looking away. So watch and read – and go back to tip 2 ie use their name in conversation to lodge it in tight.

Tip 5:  Sometimes they will really hold eye contact and there is no opportunity, also if you are like me, my eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be so just lean over and tell them you are just straightening up their badge as it has gone askew and get a good look!

Tip 6: If all else fails be honest, be sincere, smile and ask them to tell you their name again. People really don’t take offence if you ask. Chances are they have forgotten yours and you have just let them off the hook by giving them permission to ask you as well.

EXPOSE YOURSELF!

You may have the greatest product or service in the world but if nobody knows about it, then it’s like waving in the dark………. YOU know what you are doing but nobody else does!  The secret?  Expose yourself.  An excellent way is through networking!

Love it or hate it, networking is the modern day marketing tool and proves very effective when you know how…

With technology creating an environment of communication via telephone, email and the Net, we have inevitably lost the personal touch.   It is a fact that people buy from people.  It is important, therefore, to learn how to sell yourself, before selling your product or service. 

Networking is one of the most effective marketing tools in today’s business community. The Art of Networking is about building relationships, being seen and becoming well known, liked and trusted in the business community

I am affectionately known as “The Networking Queen” because I really enjoy attending events and get excellent results.  Networking however, does not come naturally to all and if the thought of entering a room of strangers fills you with horrors, I hope the following techniques and tools will help you to feel at ease and work the room to your advantage.

Making the most of your time:

Plan Ahead :-

• If you are able to, obtain an attendees list and mark your targets – do a little research on them if there is time as it shows you are interested in them and gives an opener to conversation.  The internet is a good research tool and source of information
• First impressions count – think of your dress code:
• Are your shoes clean? 
• Is your nail varnish chipped? 
• Be prepared – what are you selling?  Who are you selling to?
• Why should they do business with you and not your competitors? 
• Emphasise your USP – specialisms
• Take plenty of business cards – these are one of your most useful marketing tools*

On arrival:

• If appropriate, pick up a copy of the attendees list
• Mix and mingle – think of it as a cocktail party – Enjoy!
• Don’t see the room as a “sea of strangers” – see it as an “ocean of opportunities”!
• If you don’t have something interesting to say, merely ask others what they do – people love talking about themselves
• Show interest, be friendly and open and try to bring others into your group

Work the room:

• Look at your attendees list and prioritise
• Not confidant?   Look for someone you recognise and speak to them first.  This will get you in the relaxed mode of networking and also attracts others to approach you
• Make that all important first contact and give the right impression - SMILE
• If you have trouble in remembering names, always repeat their name back to them when introduced ie “it’s good to meet you John”.  This helps to retain the name in your memory
• When speaking to someone, do not immediately offer your business card* – if there is not a natural opportunity during conversation, then offer it as a parting gift, as in…………. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, here are my contact details”.  If they do not reciprocate, don’t be afraid to ask them if they have a card
• Don’t rush away from the event early, speak to one or two more – it may just be the opportunity you have been waiting for

How to get your Golden Goose:

• If you have a good relationship with someone who knows your target, ask him/her to personally introduce you
• Alternatively, ask the organiser/host to make the introduction
• If you are a “brave bunny” – go up to them and say you have been wanting to meet them for some time as you have a great service/product that you feel would greatly benefit them

How to get rid of “Dead Ducks”:

• Bring others into the group and then you can slip away unnoticed
• Say that you have just seen someone who you really need to speak to and thank them for their time
• Say that you are going to get a drink and hope to catch up with them later (then make sure you are always on the other side of the room)!
• Introduce your “dead duck” to another person and move away quickly

Follow up: a very important area:–

• If you have a chance, scribble a few points from the discussion on the back of the relevant business card as a memory jogger whilst it is still fresh in your mind
• Write to them and send some literature so they have your details on file and your name is put in front of them
• Tailor each letter to their individual needs
• If appropriate, follow up with a courtesy telephone call after 7/10 days – this keeps your name in the frame

*Business Cards

§     Do you fully utilise your business card?

§     Is the back of the card blank? 

o    You are losing business by not utilising this space

o    Utilise it to tell people exactly what you do and what services/products you can provide

Most importantly – ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE…

SOUND ADVICE

“To be cut off from hearing is to be isolated indeed.”

Rebecca Millington meets hearing specialist Curtis Alcock of Exeter based Broom Reid Harris who is actively raising awareness of the importance of hearing and modernising attitudes to both ongoing care and treatment.

Hearing v. Sight

The average person communicates over 16,000 words a day, just imagine the number you hear! This never ending flow of information through our ears affects some of the most important areas of life such as relationships, effectiveness at work and keeping our minds sharp. No wonder American author, political activist and lecturer Helen Keller who was both blind and deaf wrote, “To be cut off from hearing is to be isolated indeed”.  She was in the unique position of being able to compare the differences of being without sight and hearing, concluding “After a lifetime in silence and darkness, that to be deaf is a greater affliction than to be blind.”

We’ve all experienced temporary blindness; we simply need to close our eyes, but few can truly feel the reality of having reduced hearing and how it impacts on quality of life. So we often take our hearing for granted!  But many aspects rely on good hearing including safety and awareness; how we communicate with people and enjoying simple day to day pleasures such as listening to music. Watch a movie without the sound and you remove the emotion; the suspense of a horror film evaporates, the ‘tear-jerking’ scenes of a romance dry up.

The power of hearing

Apart from bats – humans are more capable than any other mammal at distinguishing pitch. A trained musician can detect a difference in vibration of one millionth of a second. It is so easy to take for granted the complexities of our hearing without realising. “When we close our eyes to go to sleep at night they are resting, however our ears are constantly monitoring the environment for any potential threat allowing us to sleep through a thunderstorm but wake instantly at the creak of a floorboard” says Curtis. “We take our ability to converse so much for granted that we become frustrated when the flow of conversation doesn’t just ‘happen’; when it doesn’t just flow from one mind to another.  Hence our unintentional impatience with people who ask us to repeat ourselves or when people can’t get their words out.”

Imagine yourself in a busy coffee shop talking over others to a person across the table. Your ears selectively push away the background hum of conversation to hear that person better, whilst picking up on the rhythm, intonation and subtleties of what is being said. The English language is extremely complex and we use our ears to decipher it to make communication successful.  Think of the number of e-mails and text messages that are misread without the help of our ears.  “Should we find ourselves in a foreign country where our grasp of the native language is minimal or non-existent, we feel robbed of our intelligence and our sense of humour.  We begin to realise just how much of whom we are as individuals is grounded in our ability to interact in a shared language” says Curtis.

"You could be missing all sorts of important things and be none the wiser"

Caring for your hearing

In the past people used to see hearing aids as a symbol of ‘being deaf’ but now that hearing technology has become more discreet and effective, they are increasingly used by people who refuse to miss out on everything their hearing can give them.  “Like wearing a pair of glasses, hearing technology is a way of correcting or enhancing what we already have. If you are having trouble with your sight then a trip to the opticians is a logical step, but if you don’t hear something, how do you know there was something there to hear?  You could be missing all sorts of important things and be none the wiser.  You don’t know how good your hearing really is unless you are having regular check-ups.”

Curtis explains how hearing care has only had the last 100 years to evolve in comparison to eye care which has been around since the 13^th century! “But evolve it has.  As a family run, independent hearing practice we have the freedom to tailor our service to your exact needs to make sure you are getting the best out of your hearing. The technology is becoming less and less noticeable, which is a huge step forward, but ‘out of sight, out of mind’ also means it’s unfortunately harder for some people to forget their old fashioned attitudes towards hearing problems.”

 www.brandh.co.uk

Take me back ‘ome

Cast your minds back to the glittering seventies when flamboyant outfits, platform soled-boots and dodgy haircuts meant glam rock was as much a fashion statement as it was a musical phenomenon. Famed for his pudding bowl haircut and a fashion sense that would today leave Lady Gaga in a state of shock is Dave Hill, one quarter of the foot stomping Slade.

Dave remembers growing up on a council estate in Wolverhampton, strumming the first guitar he bought for seven pounds fifty and meeting up at the local youth centre to ‘make a row’. But at the tender age of eight Dave discovered he wasn’t born and bred in the Midlands at all, life for him actually started in Devon – and in a castle no less!

“The war was over, Mum was pregnant with me and Dad had been offered a mechanics job in a village near Kingsbridge. It sounds quite fantastic really being born in a castle, but it was a maternity ward. Plymouth Hospital had been badly bombed and so Flete House owned by Lord Mildmay was opened up for women to have their children. I went back to see it a few years ago with Don Powell, my drummer, my wife and his wife. It was such an experience to go and see such a wonderful place and meet some charming people.”

Flete House where Dave was born

So it seems Devon is quite close to your heart. I believe it’s actually where Slade played some of its earliest gigs?

“Yes that’s right. It would take us all night to get there. It was before the days of motorways and the road to Torquay was like the road to Cairo! It was like a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby film on the road to somewhere. We used to stay at the Beverley Caravan Campsite and go down every night and play the 400 Ballroom. I remember The Tremeloes who were number one in the charts were playing there and they said to us ‘Do you mind if you go on after us?’ and this is The Tremeloes! And we’re going, ‘What! We go on after you!? But you’re number one in the charts!’ I think they must have had somewhere else to be!

In the seventies Slade scored an incredible 17 consecutive Top 20 hits, six No.1 smash hits and sold more singles in that decade than any other group. What was the highlight for you?

“Our first number one. Like most bands about to have success, we had no money and were all still living with our parents. We’d had a hit with ‘Get Down Get With It’, which was our first hit but the next one ‘Coz I Luv You’ just took off!  I remember standing on the top of the Mander Centre in Wolverhampton pointing to the sky for a photograph with the Express and Star saying ‘They’ve hit number one!’

I must ask, who came up with all the misspellings of your songs?

“That was me ‘cause I couldn’t spell! It used to really annoy the education people because they said we were teaching kids to misspell.”

One song you’ll always be known for is Merry Xmas Everybody, almost forty years on do you love it or hate it?

“Oh no I love it! You’ve got to love something that does so much for people like that song. It was released in 1973 when there were a lot of strikes. Britain was on a low and it lifted the spirits of the country. And no one wrote Christmas rock songs, it was all jingle bells in those days. The thing is you’ll never get forgotten, and I can go to anybody’s house in December!”

Slade’s original line-up has changed slightly and you’ve lost front man Noddy Holder, how different, if at all is your sound today?

“I think you’ll find it very close. Nobody replaces Nod, nobody could replace any of us. We can do all the old songs and we can do them well. The music lives on and as long as you have a respect for what you do. I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t good enough. As a guitarist hopefully you get better as the years go by and I still have that fire and Don is a great drummer, a unique drummer and it would be a shame not to be doing that.”

Whether it’s original Slade fans coming to see you and reliving their youth or new and younger fans, your music has such a feel good factor.

“People will say to you, ‘thanks for making my youth great’ and that’s a good line.

The way we wrote, love songs or rock songs, they were uplifting, lyrically interesting and melodies you remember.  There’s a line in a Shirley Bassey song and she sings ‘I bought a ticket for a lifetime’ and that’s what I felt I did buy. I bought into it for the whole of my life until I’m unable to do it. It’s not about the fame for me, it’s about the people. It’s about what you do and the difference you make.