The Business Owner Magazine - May 2021

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THE BUSINESS

OWNER MAGAZINE MEET THE BOSS Learning from other successful business owners can be a great way to better yourself.

Each month we speak to a different inspirational boss who talks through their experiences and successes.

HOW IS YOUR PHONE VOICE? Creating a great first impression over the telephone can be a challenge! Phil Coley from iPlus Sales talks through some excellent tips to help you sell well on the telephone.

ARE YOUR BUSINESS FINANCES HEALTHY?

Letter from

Welcome to the latest issue of The Business Owner Magazine.

The shoots of recovery are certainly now showing through and fingers crossed that we can begin to navigate our way out of lockdown and move towards the new normal.

There won’t be a return to the old ways and we can now all embrace the new way of working, where people can adapt and change, along with using technology for a better work/life balance.

In this months issue we cover a number of different articles and some great interviews. Enjoy this issue.

the best maga z i ne sp eci f i ca lly f o r b u si ness o w ner s

THE BUSINESS

OWNER MAGAZINE

Business Owners come in all shapes and sizes and have a variety of different needs and wants, but what we all have in common is the desire to build something and share it with the world. This publication aims to share those stories, struggles, innovations, tips and glories, positively.

NO click bait, NO hard sells, NO doom and gloom, NO whining, NO rehashed PR content.

YOU WILL GET ALL YOU WANT IN LIFE, IF YOU HELP ENOUGH OTHER PEOPLE GET WHAT THEY WANT. - zig ziglar

table of 06

Management buyouts rise in popularity

08

what is rev pr?

11

all aboard the ecommerce train

13

company overview - The FE People

17

The 100th winner

19

Principles for healthy business finances

22

get your phone voice ready

25

Meet the boss - Karen sykes

No material may be reproduced in any way, or translated, without written permission of the publishers.

COPYRIGHT © 2020 IPLUS MEDIA

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure that adverts and articles appear correctly, but The Business Owner Magazine cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the contents of the publication.

The Business Owner Magazine is published by iPlus Media.

Editorial: hello@iplusgroup.co.uk Telephone: 01242 312121 | Website: iplusmedia.co.uk Head office: Suite 2, 14 Union Street, Stroud, Glos, GL5 2HE

The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of its publisher or editor.

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operational

risepopularity in

Undoubtedly, current market conditions are making traditional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) more difficult.

Some potential purchasers are taking a more conservative approach to expansion given the prevailing economic conditions, with their primary focus being on protecting their core businesses while conserving cash.

Similarly, many lenders are (quite understandably) having to focus their resources on pandemic-related support for their customers rather than looking at funding deals.

Added into the mix are the challenges that remote working presents to the due diligence process.

Despite these obstacles, we are finding that many business owners are re-evaluating their own situations and are still keen to exit. Increasingly, management buyouts (MBOs)

in various forms are providing neat solutions.

A management buyout (MBO) is a type of acquisition where a company’s existing managers acquire a large part of, or all of, the company.

Variations on a theme include a

management buy-in (MBI), where a new management team is parachuted into the target company, and a vendor initiated management buyout (VIMBO), in which the vendor proactively promotes the sale of the company to management as part of an exit or retirement strategy.

Lately, we have seen a flurry of VIMBOs, with some common characteristics that tackle the traditional M&A difficulties.

The sellers take the lead and drive the process, and there are willing buyers in situ; both of these factors can help to speed up the negotiation process.

In this scenario, sellers are generally prepared to be realistic about how much cash they take out now, with the balance payable from the company’s future profits over a sensible timeframe. In addition, the management teams tend to have sufficient knowledge about the business to help simplify the due diligence process. While the benefits of an MBO are numerous, anyone thinking of taking part in one should naturally still take sound legal and accounting advice.

Critical to any proposed MBO is funding. This can come from a range of funding providers including the company’s managers, banks, private equity investors or the vendor shareholders in the form of vendor loans.

External investors will always want to know what they are funding, so rigorous due diligence is still needed, although the management’s knowledge of and involvement in the business can make this simpler, as mentioned above. Similarly, sellers may be reluctant to offer anything but the most basic of warranties on the basis that the management should know plenty about the company.

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when planning a mbo Make sure you are being as open and transparent with executives and shareholders as you can be

Get all your financing ducks in a row

Do your best to remain friendly to everyone involved Don’t drop the ball on the business operations while confirming the deal Research the realistic ability of the MBO happening

training

what is

rev In 2015, Rev PR was born as the brainchild of Lucy Archer and Sally Anne Butters. As a PR agency specialising in franchising, the pair had truly found their niche.

After a positive launch and initial success, the two directors found that they themselves had become an obstacle to future growth.

Both felt that in order to welcome the next stage of the business, they would need to split their roles. But despite the vision, the duo didn’t know how to make this a reality.

“We initially started working with Kevin for the launch of ActionCOACH Warwick, supporting him with PR activity,” said Lucy.

After many months of showcasing his business, along with the fantastic results his clients were experiencing, he offered us a free consultation. As a stroke of luck, it was around the time Sally and I were deliberating on how to split our roles, so it was great to receive his input on how exactly we could do that.

“A new structure was vital to help us take the company to the next level; however, we were also up against a deadline and secondary driving factor – I was expecting my son just three months later! We needed to be sure I could take time away, without the business

being affected. We brought as much information as we could to our initial chat, and the takeaway was huge – Kevin validated every single one of our feelings towards the change along with some epiphany-inducing advice. And that’s when it became clear he would be the one to help us make it happen.”

In March 2020, Sally and Lucy invested in weekly one-to-one coaching, initially as a pair and then alternating between themselves to focus on their new specific roles and responsibilities. Although the beginning of their coaching coincided with the first UK national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it didn’t stop the team from making significant progress.

THE INITIAL IMPROVEMENTS “Prior to Lucy’s maternity leave, we had the opportunity to focus on the foundations of the business,” said Sally.

“With Kevin’s support, we created a five-year plan, with distinct steps on how to reach each milestone. The first few goals were to implement proper systems and processes to stimulate growth and expand the team,

bringing in new publicists for client delivery.

Our documentation was overhauled resulting in a comprehensive suite of guides and quality checking to maximise efficiency and minimise my input where possible.

“Through economic upturns and downturns, of any nature, PR and comms never stops.

With both Lucy and I now focused on our new roles, we began to see results almost instantly.

We experienced record highs with enquiries, being the only PR agency working within the franchising arena, and it was now up to us to keep it under control.

“Luckily, with our newly implemented systems becoming the first port of call for employees, we were able to grow the size of the client delivery team – doubling from two to four – to meet the demand whilst, more importantly, ensuring our gold standard of work wasn’t compromised.”

THE RESULTS SO FAR “The biggest benefit initially, was the ability for me to take time out without the business being negatively impacted. Ongoing, the balance of accountability and motivation that Kevin provides means that there’s no way you can’t continually move forwards.

Whether that’s in tangible business achievements, personal learning or confidence in ourselves as business owners,” Lucy explained.

Within 10 months of working with Kevin, Rev PR exceeded year two of their original five-year plan. At the beginning of January 2021, the trio reconvened to map out the new future of the business. If the first stage is anything to go by, then their self-confessed “ambitious” targets are easily achievable.

“Before we started working with Kevin, we

were turning over around £250,000,” said Lucy. “By the end of our next financial year, we’re on target to comfortably exceed half a million. Our monthly client income has increased by 72%, and if we continue on this trajectory then by the end of 2021, we will be turning over around £72,000 a month, bringing us within reach of being a million-pound business – something we didn’t even consider as a possibility before now.”

“With our next objective being to transition from working IN the business, to ON it – something which Kevin emphasises during our sessions – we understand what needs to happen to allow us to achieve it,” Sally explained. “We’re focused on getting the right team in place, people who complement the existing workforce, and bring them up to the level we currently operate at. I think I speak for both of us when I say we’re perfectionists when it comes to client delivery, our reputation for quality and service remains one of our most powerful assets.”

“Without a doubt, working with Kevin has been revolutionary for the business, it was the catalyst we needed for growth,” added Lucy. “But more than that, it’s been an extremely transformative experience – Kevin really gets you to think about your ‘why’ and ensures that you’re working towards achieving personal goals as well as professional ones. I’m 100% certain that we wouldn’t have achieved this level of success on our own.”

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E E R F R O F Y R T ITMEN M M O C O 1 4 DAY, N

T TRIAL

operational

the ecommerce A staggering 17.2 million Brits have turned their attention to online shopping in recent times and it’s a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

At Stratford Storage and Distribution (SSD) we have seen a significant increase in enquiries and new customers in the Ecommerce space. It’s an exciting time, for new and existing online sellers, but the complexities and jargon can also feel like a blocker - luckily, we are here to keep it simple!

train

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT? Opportunities in Ecommerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, have never been greater yet in other ways more complicated - including the confusing Brexit import and export red tape and the rising costs and limitations to using fulfilment centres, such as Amazon.

THERE ARE ECOMMERCE:

MAIN TYPES OF

B2C (Business-to-Consumer) B2B (Business-to-Business) C2B (Consumer-to-Business) C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer)

Product: If you’re just starting out, the first step is knowing what products you want to sell and it’s quite easy to feel like you’re in a ‘sweet shop’ but there’s a few key questions to ask yourself, to ensure you create a product offering that’s timely, relevant and meaningful: - What products, niches or industry are you particularly passionate about or interested in?

- What products, niches or industries are your friends passionate about?

- What pain points do you have in your own life?

Storage: Start-up’s in particular often don’t factor in storage, both in terms of cost and capacity (often your living space!) You’ll need to think about where your product is being taken once it has been dispatched to you from the supplier – your home, office, lock up or unit? All of these options have overheads and may also not be the most secure option.

For existing sellers, planning to ensure you can scale quickly for your business is key, to ensure you have greater capacity for both permanent or intermediary space between your product arriving and going to a fulfilment centre, such as Amazon.

Fulfilment: What does fulfilment mean? In essence it’s the process that ensures your orders leave where they are stored, in the way that fits with your offering. It’s important to think about using a partner who understands your fulfilment needs - via an easy process, on time, in great condition and presented in a way that represents your brand. If you are existing seller make sure your provider is able to easily integrate with your existing platforms; at SSD the Mintsoft

platform meaning sellers can check their stock in real time, customise their brand and reporting.

Distribution: The most important outcome is that orders are delivered on time, whether it’s to a fulfilment centre or directly into the hands of your customers.

If you are a start-up you might have already spent time queuing at the Post Office - not ideal if you want to grow the business and get the best rates for distribution! Make sure you work with a partner who gives you great accountability, with full tracking and proof of delivery; we think this is absolutely key to ensuring that your customers get a great service, and you get peace of mind.

For those operating on a larger scale, from platforms such as Amazon, QVC and Ebay, SSD are able to ‘Fulfil By Merchant’ (FBM) to your customer.

Our experience means we know the areas that sellers, new and existing, can get stuck on. Our approach means we can flex and work with you on your journey, to grow, scale and everything in between!

Talk to us about how we can support you, so you get your products into the hands of your customers in time, cost effect and stress-free way – you can also download a copy of our Get Started In Ecommerce Guide HERE. April marks our 5th Birthday – join us over on our social channels to celebrate!

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company overview Welcome to the Business Owners Magazine quick interview – conducted in a very socially distanced fashion! Here we try and get an insight into a company leader and their industry to find out what makes them tick and how their challenges and lessons could help you in your business.

- Name

Faye Harding

- Company

The FE People

- Position

CEO

- Industry

Further Education

What does your company do?

The FE People is a new development, short for ‘The Further Education People’. It is a web-based platform that allows colleges and training providers to connect with further education freelancers. Currently if a college of training provider require a member of staff for an interim role, or short-term cover for sickness/holiday cover, or last-minute courses they have to approach agencies.

Agencies can be inefficient. They have multiple clients they are trying to support and a limited database of candidates. The FE People aims to build a national database of all freelancers working across a range of roles including: Tutors, Assessors, IQA’s, EQA’s, EPA’s, Curriculum Writers, Bid Writers, Interim Directors plus enrolment and invigilation staff.

Every freelancer is fully vetted before being added to our platform. We ensure they are on the DBS Update system meaning they can instantly start work the next day, we also check their ID, insurances, right to work in the UK and certifications to ensure they are qualified to do the role they are being hired for.

This means a college or training provider can literally start a candidate the next day without waiting weeks for recruiters to source candidates or hold ups due to DBS checks. Also, freelancers have an availability calendar, so when a college does a search for a freelancer, they only see the profiles of those that are available on the dates they need them, meaning they aren’t wasting time discussing opportunities with candidates that aren’t available.

The benefit for freelancers is that we market them for free, there is no charge for them to use the platform and they get exposure to colleges and training providers across the UK. Since Covid there has been an increase in courses being ran online and remote working which this platform supports.

There is also an app coming in the next few weeks meaning that freelancers can manage their bookings on the go.

What changes or challenges do you foresee for your company in the next three years?

The FE People is the first of many platforms, we own the software which has taken a year to develop. We plan to revolutionise the recruitment industry across multiple sectors.

Watch this space.

Are you optimistic, realistic or pessimistic about 2021?

I am very optimistic There has been a lot of funding allocated to the Further Education Sector as a result of Covid, many people requiring redundancy or retraining due to cutbacks in their industry. This will mean a surge in demand for freelance staff in this sector. Also, we provide training for those looking to become Tutors and Assessors, so anyone with 5 years industry experience in their sector could retrain to become an educator, we hope to support people from Retail, Hospitality, Care, Construction etc to qualify so they can help train the next generation of young people that will move into these job roles once the world returns to normal and the industries recover.

What is the most important task you carry out each day?

Every day I come up with new ideas for the platform to make it better for our users. I have 6 years’ experience of working as a consultant to many colleges and training providers across the country and still carry out some of this work now. By identifying my client’s pain-points it helps me to create ideas to improve processes and build systems into the platform which tackle some of the issues they face day to day to make efficiencies.

What is your company’s most important KPI? As a new platform our most important KPI at the moment is verifying freelancers. We need enough freelancers on the platform to make it a viable solution for the colleges and training providers we aim to support. As we manually verify each freelancer this is time consuming, and we need to ensure that this is done correctly. We are currently working on developing AI that will automate this process fully in the future which will speed up the onboarding of freelancers.

What positive effects has your company experienced during lockdowns?

Lockdown enabled me to have the time to develop this company. I received a £10,000 grant from the council back in June for my other business Connect 2 Employment which is a small training provider. I decided to invest this money into starting the development on the software behind The FE People, as the idea grew it required more and more funding which I have managed to generate and a year later we have finally launched. Without lockdown I never would have found the time to work on this.

What causes you the most stress in your business?

My development team, we have a love hate relationship. I think up amazing ideas for features and then they slam the breaks on and tell me it will be another 6-8 weeks of development time. I’m extremely impatient.

Having ADHD, I find it hard to hold back and I can be impulsive at times. This has been an amazing learning curve for me as I initially had a development team who promised me the world and wasn’t able to deliver, which wasted around 6 months of my time. My new time are a lot stricter with me, but also realistic and explain the complexities of making changes. I know realise sometimes something that can seem like a small change can actually impact the whole of the site.

Also, security features are key with a site like this and every time I come up with a new feature, I have to wait for it to be tested to ensure that there are no data breach risks as we hold a lot of personal confidential information about our freelancers. These things just can’t be rushed no matter how stressful the waiting is, it needs to be done right.

If you could instantly change one area or thing about your business, what would it be?

I would have a bigger budget, to be able to bring in more developers to speed things up, a bigger marketing budget and also more administration support, but Rome

wasn’t built in a day! The concept of the business is solid, and it will grow organically.

How important are the following?

Environmental: The platform is fully virtual, we don’t need freelancers to drop into our office to register, we don’t need them to visit colleges and training providers to go through inductions and onboarding as it can all be done remotely.

Strong financial data: This is an area that is being developed and will continue to improve the as we have more users on the platform. We have literally just launched so this is work in progress.

Sales pipeline: We have had great feedback from colleges, training providers and freelancers all expressing that they feel there is a strong need for this kind of platform as it simplifies things and makes recruitment for short term contracts much easier. We expect to have over 5000 freelancers registered within the next year.

Team communication: Our team are all remote and many of them working from overseas, we speak daily. The head of my development team Riyad is a god send because he manages to sort out the confusion of what is racing through my ADHD brain and relay it back to the team in a logic way so that they can implement the ideas that I have.

I am the visionary but without his technical capability we would not be where we are.

We have actually never met in person although I do plan to attend his brothers wedding in Bangladesh later in the year.

(Subject to travel restrictions!).

Social media: The main focus of the activity for the site at the moment is LinkedIn, I have around 18,000 connections many of which are for the FE sector however we haven’t massively pushed social media at the moment.

As I mentioned before I have worked with many colleges across the country and have

been relying so far on these relationships to launch the platform as my core group of users however we have just engaged a marketing company and created a 12-month strategy which incorporates our approach to social media.

What do you do to unwind?

It’s Extremely sad, but work is life for me at the moment. I spend my free time developing new ideas, completing training courses to improve my understanding of areas of the business where I am not so strong, I have recently completed Prince2, Scrum Master training and also the Business Analyst Certificate. I am now completed a postgraduate in Leadership and Management.

When I’m not working or studying, I spend time with my 13-year-old son, I’m a bit of a prankster at home, so I spend time trying to find ways to make lockdown fun and to make him laugh, as well as going out on long walks. He’s also a budding entrepreneur so I have been teaching him about web and app development, online marketing etc.

Hopefully though with the restrictions being lifted soon we can get out and about more and have some real fun, holidays, theme parks, sports! That’s how we usually spend out time together.

If you are interested in the what The FE People could offer you, you can learn more at: www.thefepeople.co.uk | 0330 133 2771

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100th

the

iPlus Group are very pleased, and proud, to support Fergal O’Brien Racing, especially during their exceptional 2020 - 2021 season as they join the coverted ‘hundred club’.

Fergal O’Brien Racing joined an exclusive club when Oscar Rose won at Kempton on Monday April 19.

It was our 100th winner of a fantastic season and we reached the milestone despite losing the first two months due to the Covid19 shutdown. We are just the 18th stable in National Hunt racing history to notch up a century of winners in a season.

The first trainer to achieve the feat was Arthur Yates way back in 1892. Yates’ tally of 124 winners for the season stood for nearly 100 years until Martin Pipe came along, ripping up records as he went. His two Grand National victories were among a career total of more than 3,000 winners.

Yates, who sported a rather dashing handlebar moustache, trained at ‘The Ruins’ in Bishop’s Sutton near Winchester. Zebras, llamas, emu and peacocks were among the animals and birds that were said to roam free in the gardens. We would like to think we have some equally impressive animals at Ravenswell Farm but, perhaps, not quite as exotic.

Michael Dickinson was the next to break a century of winners. He is, of course, famous for saddling the first five horses home in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Earlier that season he had trained 12 winners in a day.

That Boxing Day haul is a record that still

stands today. He was then followed into the hundred club by Martin Pipe, Arthur Stephenson and Gordon Richards. Mary Reveley was the first female trainer to win a hundred races in a jumps season. She achieved the feat four times.

David Nicholson, who was based at Condicote near Stow-on the-Wold before moving to Jackdaws Castle, twice hit the century mark.

The current resident of Jackdaws Castle, Jonjo O’Neill, has also passed three figures on a number of occasions. He is joined on the list by Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson, Dan Skelton, Philip Hobbs, Alan King, David Pipe, Donald McCain, Neil Mulholland and Tim Vaughan. It’s clear we are in quite exalted company in the jumps trainers’ ‘hundred club’.

None of it could have been achieved without the support of all our loyal owners, staff and jockeys, who have been instrumental in our success from the early days at Cilldara Stud to Naunton and now at our superb Ravenswell home.

It’s to you all we owe a debt of thanks and you can guarantee we’ll be doing our very best to ensure we hit the century mark again in the new season.

From Fergal, Sally and all the team at Fergal OBrien Racing

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WHERE YOU MATTER

accounting

Principles for Keep up with the times It seems clear that the key to any long-standing business’ success is staying relevant to the times it’s operating in. No business wants to be left behind, but if you fail to innovate this is exactly what may happen. If you find that your market is getting smaller, then it may be time to reinvent and adapt.

Many of us will have heard of the Charles Handy analogy of the frog in the jar of cold water that will not move and allow itself to be boiled to death when the heat is applied slowly to the water. Granted it’s not a particularly pleasant image, but it does suit the point quite well. Keeping up with the ever evolving and shifting business world is essential to ensure continued success and to avoid the fate of the poor old frog (figuratively speaking, of course).

As business people, we don’t operate in isolation and it is important to keep abreast of any changing developments in your industry and others. Invigorating the company and bringing in fresh new ideas will help you to keep up with your competitors. Better than that, you may even become a major mover in your sector!

The way I achieve this is by trying to meet a minimum of three key people in the financial services industry every year. I ask questions about the sector’s future, including the

direction it’s heading and important changes we should be aware of. I then feed these conversations back to my colleagues before adjusting our business accordingly. Of course, we’d all like a crystal ball to see into the future but in the absence of that, looking

to some important people within your field to find out the lay of the land for the upcoming months or year is a good place to start.

It’s this adaptation that ensures they are still around today. Suzuki and Nokia are two international companies that demonstrate this excellently.

It’s hard to imagine Nokia as anything other than a successful mobile phone manufacturer. However, the company was originally a 19th century, Finnish, ground wood pulp producer before diversifying into various other industries including electricity generation, rubber production, paper products and military technology. The result of all that reinvention means that today, Nokia is a global leader in 5G, networks and phones.

Suzuki wasn’t involved in the motor car industry at all to begin with. The company started out in the early 20th century building weaving looms for Japan’s silk industry, and later for imported cotton. With the decline and subsequent collapse of the cotton market in 1951 the business saw an opportunity to enter the small motorcycle market. Demand for cheap personal transport was at an all-time high in post-war Japan and by 1954, Suzuki were manufacturing 6000 motorcycles a month. You don’t need me to tell you how successful the motor vehicle manufacturer has gone on to become since then.

WHAT COULD YOU DO? Now, over to you. What proactive steps could you take to ensure that your company is keeping up with the times? This could be anything from adapting your messaging to adding additional features to your website. Web chat functions, for example, could help to elevate your business by giving your customers an extra channel through which to reach you while increasing their time online to engage with your products or services.

Look at hot topics across your industry; this could be anything from diversity to the latest technology innovations. Ask yourself what it is you need to make sure you are one step ahead in today’s fast-paced business world.

If you have any queries about your business finances, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at Brunsdon Financial.

www.brunsdonfinancial.co.uk | 01452 623623

for startup

success

1

SET UP A BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNT

It seems really simple, but make sure you’re not using your personal bank account for business transactions.

2

KEEP GOOD RECORDS

Make sure you have a well organised system for your invoices, receipts and other financial data as this will save you an ample amount of time in the future.

3

CREATE BUDGETS AND PROJECTIONS

Setting quarterly financial goals and budgets is an excellent way to keep you in check, and gives you something to aim for.

MANAGE CASHFLOW

4

Knowing where you cash is going, and where it is coming from is a fundamental for business. Be on the ball in paying invoices, but also in getting the money in as well.

BE THE LEADER your eight-year-old self would want you to be

“Working with Anna grew my knowledge around leadership exponentially, enabled me to recognise my existing values and strengths and build on them – it has transformed my perception of leadership and of myself.”

VP of finance, global manufacturing company

LEADERSHIP COACHING

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

LEADERSHIP CHARACTER hello@jester-consulting.com

jester-consulting.com 07802 294 857

sales

get your phone voice

Selling on the telephone is a science and one of the key components is your voice.

‘FIRST IMPRESSIONS’

is so The phrase true in sales and first impressions are made up of three things; the visual appearance, how you sound and the words you use.

When using the telephone, the largest component is missing, so how do you make up for this?

How many times have you spoken to someone on the phone and then when you meet them, they are nothing like you imagined? The voice is your main tool on the phone and here are 6 components for you to think about when you use the telephone for sales. Over the last 30 years I have worked to train these 6 components for anyone selling on the phone.

The 6 components are Pitch, Pace, Projection, Energy, Volume and Articulation.

Let’s look in brief how to use these for better telephone sales calls. Remember that these 6 components are designed to create the professional impression.

PITCH Pitch is the pitch of your voice. It is hard to

change the pitch of your voice but other elements within PPPEVA can impact this. The telephone can change the pitch upwards, so those with a high-pitched voice tend to sound higher on the telephone. Women naturally have a higher pitched voice to men and as such women need to be able to control the higher pitch. A high pitched, squeaky voice speaking at speed does not reflect a professional approach.

PACE Pace is the speed that you speak at and can impact you hugely. Speaking at a fast pace can increase your pitch and with this the impression is less than professional. An increase in pitch and pace is a recipe for disaster. Decreasing in pace leads to a reduction in pitch and as such gives a more professional impression. Pace also

influences articulation.

PROJECTION

key with volume is speaking at your normal volume, unless you shout! Volume is impacted by pitch, pace, projection and energy.

ARTICULATION Articulation is the pronunciation of the words you use. You need to choose the words you use carefully, but most of all make sure the words regarding your product or service you need to pronounce correctly.

“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain” is a common phrase people use to show articulation, with this phrase you need to articulate the words, as such your pace, pitch and projection.

Projection must not be confused with volume. Projection is projecting your voice, coming deep from inside your tummy you will project your voice. Projection is founded on your pitch and pace, the ability to throw your voice outwards.

ENERGY Energy is about passion and it is very obvious on a phone call if a person is passionate and has energy. Energy gives a person confidence and that the person speaking believes in what they are selling. A downside of energy is controlling pitch and pace. Always have energy in your call structure.

VOLUME Volume is how loud you sound and as such people don’t want you whispering or shouting, but they do need to hear you. The

Watch below as Phil Coley goes through each area in more detail in a short training video:

TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING LEAD GENERATION B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH TELEPHONE SALES MEDIA SELLING B2B BUSINESS LEADS PROSPECTS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING GENERATION OVER THELEAD TELEPHONE B2C STRATEGY BUSINESS OWNER MARKETING GROWTH

HOW TO CREATE

A PROFESSIONAL FIRST IMPRESSION

Phil Coley is a Director of iPlus Group and heads up the iPlus Sales and Lead Generation division.

Phil has vast experience in direct and telephone sales having worked in both B2B and B2C. Phil works closely with clients in outsource sales solutions, sales training and speaking.

Find out more at iPlus Sales. www.iplussales.com | hello@iplusgroup.co.uk

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meet the boss

- Name

Karen Sykes

- Company

Families Manchester Magazine

- Position

Editor

- Industry

Publishing

What was your first job or role after education?

I worked in a solicitors office as an office junior making tea, photocopying and filing.

Could you describe your career path for the reader?

I moved up to the position of clerk then PA before I took qualifications with the institute of Legal Executives, started dealing with personal injury cases and became a Legal Executive. After being made redundant I joined my husband in his new business and took over the marketing role to try to increase customers. After the company folded, I wanted to stick with marketing in some way.

Karen Sykes What advice would you give to your 21-year-old self about your career journey?

Don’t get too hung up on “your plan”! As things can change, you can too.

Have there been any positives about 2020 and lockdown for you?

Spending more time with the family was priceless.

What is your current role and what is your favourite part about it?

What causes you the most stress at work?

Currently I am the owner/editor of Families Manchester magazine which is a niche magazine aimed at families of kids aged 0-12 in Greater Manchester giving them information, advice and ideas for things to do. I love it as I work for myself so work round the children and love the creativity of it.

Recently it’s been the lack of advertising sales and therefore cashflow.

Are you optimistic, realistic or pessimistic about 2021?

What do you do to unwind?

I am realistic that things are still difficult for many people, but I am optimistic that things are getting better and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

What is the most important task you carry out each day?

Generating sales and keeping up relationships with advertisers.

If you could instantly change one area or thing about your business, what would it be?

More regular customers!

I love to watch movies with a glass of wine.

If you could give a single piece of advice to a start-up entrepreneur what would that be?

My lovely late Nan always used to say, “If you don’t ask you don’t get”!

do you want to the business owner magazine?

There are a number of flexible options available to you. The Business Owner Magazine is a great place to advertise your business to other business owners.

Get in touch to find out all the details. hello@iplusgroup.co.uk 01242 312121

t he be st magazine sp ecifically for business owners

THE BUSINESS

OWNER MAGAZINE

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE? You know you can be successful, if you have the guts in life.

You know you can reach so far, if your look is towards the star.

You will reach your goal, if you know your role.

So, all the best for the path, your destinatin is near, look for it!

- unknown

t he b e st magazi ne spe c i fic a lly for busine ss owne rs

THE BUSINESS

OWNER MAGAZINE