English please not Business Jargon

By Jacqui-HoganNo Comments
Professionals in every field have their own words to describe what they do as a short cut to communication within their own expert group. Unfortunately, we often assume everyone else understands these terms. No one will own up to it of course for fear of sounding stupid. No one likes to question a term or say “Sorry, I don’t understand.” Business is no different. These are some of the jargon terms even business people may not understand. For non business-speaking people i.e. most small businesses, this may help you to understand what that 'smarty pants' consultant or coach is telling you! Balanced scorecard. A tool that measures financial, customer, internal business process and growth. Most small businesses do not use it, preferring to use an excel spreadsheet, which is both easier and more useful. Cash flow forecast. An assessment and understanding of the expected cash coming into and flowing out of the organisation in specific periods. Contrary to belief, this is a mystery...
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How to use the phone for business sales calls

By Walter Blackburn2 Comments
Nigel Temple @nigeltemple asked me the following question: "Do you have any tips for using the phone in business? What is the earliest time of day that is acceptable to start calling? Do scripts still work? What is the right way of calling a LinkedIn contact and what would you say in the opening 10 seconds? Is it OK to call prospective clients from mobile phones?" Earliest time to start calling: 8am if you’re calling someone in their office on their landline. If you’re calling their mobile I would leave it to 8.30 or even 9 because you don’t know if they’re working from home and most people don’t want to be disturbed there if they’re getting the kids off to school or whatever else they might be doing to get ready for the day. I would be careful calling mobiles if you don’t know them. Most of us are quite protective of our mobile numbers - but I believe it’s ‘fair...
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Using stories in marketing

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
People love stories - are you using them in your marketing? Story telling makes it much easier to remember information. Think of the stories you heard as a child: can you remember any of them now? Here are some ideas for you. Tell the business founder's story (adversity overcome). Tell stories about the brand (creative thinking personified). Write customer case studies (problem - search for a solution - finding your product / service - benefits derived - what has changed - next steps). Run a story ideas brainstorming session. Write story ideas up on a whiteboard. Ask customers for their stories. Bring your stories to life with a storyline, characterisation, dialogue and images. By the way, if you read quality fiction, the way the author uses these devices will jump out of the page at you (which reminds me, are you reading any good books at the moment?) I trained for three years as a professional copywriter. We were living in Bromley, in...
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