Tiggy Sonya's Business Communications Blog Station

After speaking to many small business owners recently who do not talk to their customers or interact through social media I felt passionately about why they should. So let's see what came to mind... A Story...Ralph's Printers. Ralph stood at the shop door. He then realized he was blocking the way into his new business. He observed his two new staff members dealing with phone & online orders and people arriving with inquiries and new jobs. All was well.  Suddenly, he was being talked to!. He stood back and listened!. Lots of questions were coming out of a man's mouth towards him. Feeling overwhelmed he interrupted the man and pointed to the front desk. They will deal with you he abruptly added. Ralph, went back into the office, shut the door, and opened up a spreadsheet. Wasted Opportunities There are times when keeping your mouth shut is vital in business. You can see from the short story above that Ralph had an opportunity to answer questions, get to know a potential c...

  You made your deformed and cluttered seabed. You swim in it.  According to the Cambridge Dictionary , the word policy means: “ a set of ideas or a plan of what to do in particular situations that has been agreed to officially by a group of people, a business organization, a government, or a political party” So of course, as a company supplying a service or product, you need to interact with your clients to exhibit your full understanding of their needs. They, in return, need to know in the broadest sense, what your limits are. For example, I cannot discuss political parties here as that would take this article away from its true intrinsic message. Honesty is the best policy And to be honest I have no interest in writing an article about political parties in any particular way. There, that’s my truth. So, you may say to yourself. What are you getting at here Sonya? I suppose we would say that you need to be transparent with clients about what you will do and what it...

And then I hear you say, hey, what are you going on about Sonya? Well, it’s all about our internal dialogue when we make a consultative call. You see, listening is a multi-functional task that requires thinking  about how you do it. Maybe you would not agree. Especially If you won your new sales executive position based on being an expert with years of experience. You are indeed a tip-top consultant who knows how to implement a call. Who am I to open your canny little ears? But what if there was more cream, or pudding available if you reconsidered the process of making those sales calls? Sorry to bring it back to puddings. Having your cake and eating it is great. When you stand back and look at your creation and want to share, knowing how to blend the ingredients will either leave a good or bad taste in the mouth of the consumer. The phenomena of hearing and therefore listening can be split if you like …no bananas needed. So, listen up, we need to examine this experience ...

A Business Fable Rita had worked hard with her new venture. Providing cleaning services for local households was going well. She felt contented in the realization of her expertise. Other people appreciated her no-nonsense approach. Therefore, she had trained her staff to work with hands of steel, with strong elbows, and to get on with it. Yes, get in there, clean, and get out! Rita was confident that she knew it all, and therefore all would come to her. Ah, but that is when everything went just a little bit wrong. With her staff trained to have hands of steel, be relentless in what they do, and get the job done and out the door, Rita thought she had everything under control. And then one day, the phone rang. Rita was told, in uncertain terms, by Mrs. Jarrod, residing at The Lodge, that she would not require a cleaner anymore. The customer then went on to explain that the rather heavy-handed cleaner had managed to crack two antique glasses, chip Mrs. Jarrod’s Jacobean windowpanes, and a...

  Do you feel bored in your current role? Well, maybe a change would do you good. Read on for inspiration! Dorothy had landed. She had arrived, and this was it, the new position she had been dreaming of. She rolled up her sleeves and got down to work, meticulously making her way through the sales calls. Yes, company by company she dialed out, her headset perched neatly over her perm. Over three months, she cleaned up the huge database of leads. But Dorothy was in for a surprise. Was this a new role for her, or was there something better charging her way? It was on the penultimate day of the campaign that Dorothy had to call Crusades Removals Incorporated, and it was on this day she decided to change her life. Dorothy pressed the mouse button to click on the next call and the number popped up. She instantly knew something was different when the automated voice announced that there would be a long wait due to their representatives being busy all over the world. Yes, safely escorting ...

Mr. Ziegfield has a headache…and finds his zest! Published    30th August 2022   https://www.tsrn.co.uk/news/   In a distant sunny land, somewhere over the rainbow, there was a business park. On that business park was a large office selling a service. In that building there were many corridors and off those corridors, many doors. Behind those doors were desks, laptops, and groups of individuals all doing their bit to get the show on the road. On the third floor there was a carpeted passageway (the rest had linoleum tiles, but we won’t go there) and cited at the end of the final corridor was the office of Mr Ziegfield. Loosening his orange silk tie, Mr. Ziegfield poured himself a glass of sparkling Italian mineral water. Feeling the need to cool down, he helped himself to ice from his fridge. The iridescent large chunks entered the water and made a noise that only ice cubes can make as they join their shimmering costars in their fizzing glass of bubbles. A slice ...

A pot of gold... (Published 21st November 2022   https://www.tsrn.co.uk/news/) Searching for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. At the end of each month, you know that you need to have brought enough business into your pipeline in the preceding months to pay all bills, wages, and expenses. Successfully meeting targets ensures you can cover all outgoings and have profit. They also guarantee a strong end to the financial year. Within the world of sales, we find everything that a company can be, and a lot of the time many companies only being a small fraction of what they could be. Well now, you might be saying, what has this all got to do with Rainbows and all this other nonsense Sonya? The Cambridge Dictionary states that a rainbow is the following: “An arch (=curved shape) of different colours seen in the sky when rain is falling and the sun is shining. The sun came out and we saw a rainbow” So, if you are a sales team that is having issues with not hitting ta...

  The Enlightenment: Policies and Procedures. (Article by Sonya Vukomanovic/Lawrence  – TSRN Associate - 17th November 2022) https://www.tsrn.co.uk/news/ Whilst nattering over a pleasantly scented cup of Earl Grey with my friend the other day, it suddenly came to me. What Sonya, what came to you? I hear you cry. You see something that happened to a friend touched me and has inspired me to write my little ditty below. Tabby, (not her real name of course), started a new role within a company. Tabby was gabberflasted that her new employers had no policies or procedures. Our little kitten’s mood turned black, and she was bewitched by the whole lack of structure. So, as you make your way to the photocopier with a mug of tea and a biscuit in your trouser pocket, reading this on your phone, I ask you this. Are policies and procedures something you have in place? Are they something you have discussed but just never really seriously considered? That biscuit in your pocket was designed,...