Archive for North Devon Events

Trip Advisor: don’t get Mad, get Wise

Hi all, I’ve been asked to give this event a shoutout to all NDBA networking folk. I spoke recently to one of our members who had some astonishing tales to tell about using TripAdvisor so this may well turn out to be a worthwhile course. Obviously I have not been on one of these courses but any feedback from anyone who has would be most welcome.

7th of March 2012

Exeter  

A short, simple, powerful and effective 3 hour workshop for Managers, Owners, and Team Leaders in the Hospitality Industry by Customer Feedback and Sales Expert Guy Arnold, to give you the tools and skills you need to:

·         Avoid suffering from unfair reviews on Trip Advisor and similar feedback sites

·         Get good reviews

·         Boost your ratings

·         Reduce your marketing costs

·         Empower and motivate your staff

·         Continually develop and improve your customer experience

Many people are wary of Trip Advisor (and the like), but fighting against them is as wise as King Canute trying to stop the tide coming in.

You have to accept the tide is changing (and changing very fast) and then take the right actions to turn this to your advantage.

This workshop will teach you the:

·         Knowledge of what to do

·         The skills of how to do it, and

·         The attitude to understand why doing it well can be such a benefit to you

Guy has used his ‘Great or Poor’ system to help hospitality businesses across the Country: achieving remarkable results in short spaces of time (one hotel increased it’s rating from 3.4 to 4.2 in just 6 months, and one pub increased turnover by over 800% in under a year).

This will be followed up 2 weeks afterwards by a ‘Go the Extra Inch’ workshop, to help you communicate these ideas to your staff and set up a system of continual ongoing development.

You can take these ideas away and use them immediately, or you can work with Guy and his associates on a longer term basis to make sure this happens effectively in your business.

For further information and to book, please follow the link: http://tripadvisor.eventbrite.co.uk

This invaluable course is ONLY £42 and you can receive an additional 20% discount by using discount code greatorpoor (all one word) when booking.

North Devon Apprenticeship Film

January #NDBA #NDevon lunch

What a great turnout, we had 23 attendees for our first lunch of 2012.

A few mentions – it was great to see both Polly & Molly from Pollyclinics in Mill Road who were enthusing over the infrared heating panels that have been installed for their hot yoga classes!

It was also good to see our accountants finding time from their January 31st deadlines to pop in for a bit of relaxation, Sadie Procter, James Hellyer & new member Kate Parsons.

It was also good to see Ian Starling from The Voice North Devon’s own radio station – currently online and soon to be on FM.

A good turnout of twitter folk – star attraction was Taxi Anne – attending her first ever business networking event – go on give her a follow – I hope we didn’t put her off coming back.

Some of our regulars deserve a mention too – Lance Rice, Graham Lofthouse, Barbara Fryer, Robert Zarywacz, Jimmy Jewel, Gloria O’Connel, Elaine Isaacs to name a few!

To find out what these people do, and to network in an informal atmosphere, why not come along to our next lunch – at Serendipity in Bideford on 24th February. It is important to book first as numbers for this event will be limited to 20!

It really is informal, no elevator speeches to give, as it is all about talking to people to find out what they do, rather than being told! It all adds to the atmosphere!

Contact me, Kevin the number on our home page to book your space.

If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter please also contact me, as it will remind you each month what is happening in and around North Devon, and where each month’s lunch will be!

I hope to see you there

Kevin

 

Are you willing to make the North Devon Leap? #NDleap

2012 is a leap year giving each of us one extra day on 29 February.

What could we do with that extra leap day? Are we going to carry on working or doing whatever we usually do or do we want to do something special with that time?

I’m blocking the day out so that I don’t do everyday work. I want to split the time between developing my business and enjoying the day.

There are so many ways to use our extra day.

Perhaps look at doing something you’ve planned to do in your business but never get round to doing. If you do have to work, can you take just a portion of the day to do something different or even try a different approach you’ve been meaning to take?

You could take the day as a well-earned holiday and relax. This can be just as important if you’re working flat out most days. Or perhaps there are things outside work and business that you want to use the time to address?

I’ve pencilled in a couple of North Devon Google+ leap day hangouts – at 9.30am and 8.00pm. Are you interested? All you need is a laptop/device with webcam and a Google+ account.

Whatever you choose to do with your extra day, let’s make the North Devon Leap Day into something positive.

Please tell us below how you plan to spend your #NDleap.

 

Exhibitions and training.

The Barnstaple and District Chamber of Commerce Business to Business exhibition could not have come at a better time for me.

Last week I attended the first part in a series of three training events that cover preparing for an exhibition, a field trip to the NEC Spring Fair to view good and possibly bad practice and a final one covering after the exhibition and feedback from the field trip.

These sessions are run by Business Buddies, through which my company is receiving mentoring and access to this training.

The first session covered:

  • Why exhibit?
  • What exhibitions are right for me?
  • Stand management
  • Managing enquiries
  • Making the most of the exhibition
  • Following up and deciding which leads are priorities
  • Stand design
  • Display
  • Maximising your space
  • Developing a plan

The most important thing to come out of the training was that no matter the shape or size of your stand and however fancy your display/support materials are the most important person is you – your appearance, your posture and where will you be in relation to your stand. on’t stand there eating, using your ‘phone etc remember first impressions last. The second most important thing is the customer – where will they be? How will you interact with them?

The training was very comprehensive so as I have decided to exhibit at the Chamber of Commerce exhibition I am looking forward to putting some of what I learnt into practice. I’m now looking forward to the trip to Birmingham with the rest of those that attended the training to get some ideas of how to improve when I exhibit.