Tiggy Sonya's Business Communications Blog Station

Macrame Mayhem: Recruitment. Today’s moving tale will strike a chord with anyone who has turned their passion into a successful business. Gosh, there is even a television series where crafty people can gain help from others who have made it to the top. Somewhere out there today, there will be someone in that in-between stage. They may have so many orders that they cannot keep up. Monica and Gavin had been at it all night. A large order had come in a couple of days ago for two hundred of their special beaded plant hangers for large ferns. Fingers sore and struggling to keep up, Gavin placed the last one in the box and put the documentation inside. Then firmly sealed the flaps down with tape. “This hobby of yours has got out of hand,” he said, as he printed the address label, took a set square, and stuck it perfectly in place. He took a deep breath and then turned to his wife. “ I think we’ve reached that point,” he added. Monica also took a deep breath and looked over at her husband. He...

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...

When we recruit, we are enrolling, enlisting that new person needed to fit into the culture of the workplace. You may just want someone who gets it done, does the job, and keeps things ship shape or you may want that certain someone who makes the difference as well. Brings a certain something to the team that was lacking. Once upon a time in a marketing office, there stood a marketing manager . Jasmine had just finished collecting stats for a report and updating the company website. She felt flat, yes as flat as a pancake without any sugar or lemon. She wondered how the rest of the week would turn out. Or would it just be a flop? Jasmine walked over to the window and slowly pulled the glossed sash upwards. The smell of fresh air was divine as it filtered up her nose, then down her throat, to her lungs. She looked over to the coffee shop down the road. And decided it was time for hot chocolate! But what was this, she had left her purse at home. Feeling disappointed she turned round to f...

It had been a busy morning in the office. Nigel had put together a rather long report and statistical analysis for this week’s sales meeting. He stopped whilst looking at the empty desks around him. And then he realized Duncan, the new telesales executive was having another conversation with himself, and this time it looked serious. Great! Nigel relaxed and closed his eyes. As he began to doze off, he sunk deeper into his padded executive chair. He felt his neck relax as he slumbered off into sleepy land. Suddenly, Nigel was not in his office, but in a room full of proactive salespeople! They picked up calls within three rings and were so, well, proactive! And they knew how to communicate! As Nigel listened to the conversations around the room, he knew he was dreaming. Open questions, Excel spreadsheets being filled in, and the CRM system was totally up to date! Surely, he had traveled to sales office heaven, not the offices of Pratts Plumb and Gooseberry Conserve, Norfolk Keys. ...

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...

Executive recruitment, in a way, is like searching for a gemstone in a bag of beans. You started hunting for a new sales executive, looking for a playwright of future success. In the evening, as you sip your mead by candlelight, you begin to think that Shakespeare has left the building or indeed the globe.  You have interviewed several candidates for the bountiful role you have tucked in your top pocket, but everyone is lacking. You were hoping for a writer, a linguist, a storyteller. But oh my, all you managed to find were five candidates who talked and rattled on but never listened, and two old hounds who had years of experience but were too set in their ways to take on new skills. Your client is a forward-thinking company that likes to take the scribbles of curiosity in a mind map session and set the wheels in motion. They have come to you because they are looking for some reassurance that those shining ones are still out there somewhere. And at the moment, you are finding that ...

  Published 28th April 2023 www.tsrn.co.uk Oh, what a week it has been! We have traveled from Harrow almost on the hill to hot sticky memories within the forests of Rangoon. Yes, it has been fun traveling back and forth to 1956. You might be asking yourself. Why, Sonya, why? And I am going to answer…… I don’t know. Anyhow, let us catch up with Toni, Geoff, and Brenda one last time this week and see how the trip to Hong Kong turned out. “It’s full, it’s so full, I couldn’t fit any more in Geoff “announced Toni as he placed his bulging order book down on Geoff’s desk. (The William Morris Trellis cover glowing in the morning sun beaming in through the art deco black lacquered windows) “Aw, and you should have seen the Shek Pik Valley, it was a triumph! All flowers and fauna. The Pekingese would have loved it you know. And Brenda, I mean Lorretta of the mincing word came alive from our brochures. Standing out like a lighthouse on a misty night at sea off the Cornish coast. Oh yes, I t...

  Published 27th April 2023 www.tsrn.co.uk/news Yet again, we join our trio in Harrow almost on the hill, London. The summer of 1956 was one of the hottest since the end of the war and we find the staff of T & G Mincers bearing the heat but looking forward to a cooler day! It was noon. The white art deco building had been baking in the sun all morning. You could hear distant music through the open windows in Toni and Geoff’s’ office on the third floor. “It reminds me of that summer in Rangoon, the summer we met, me and Geoff. It was torrid, torrid Brenda!” declared Toni. Brenda put the lid down on their traveling trunk. It was all go as Toni and herself were off to Honk Kong to attend this year’s Kitchens Of The Future Show. With a two-week boat journey from Dover, they were packing for all eventualities, which included amongst other things a large container of loose tea, curling tongs, and a large bottle of Iberian Gin. Brenda sat down on the tasseled pouffe behind her “...

Published 26th April 2023  www.tsrn.co.uk/news/ Today we are going to think about what being bold in business means. So, pull up your padded office chair, grab a freshly percolated coffee, and let me take you back to 1956 when being bold could sometimes cause you all sorts of problems! Brenda was exhausted and had just arrived at her sales meeting with Toni and Geoff. She had spent the last months traveling and was glad to be back in Northolt, West London with her parents. She had nattered her way around Great Britain and sold eighty-two and a half table mincers and five burlesque, I mean perlesque toned slicing and dicing machines. Also, five hundred silver-plated tablespoons with a picture of Gregory Peck embellished on every single one! Brenda’s sales trip had been a success! “It’s mother,” Brenda anxiously said “She caught our neighbor’s daughters peaking at my new undergarments on the washing line through the hedge. She said that I’m an embarrassment!  Then, she said, I’v...

  Published 25th April 2023  www.tsrn.co.uk/news/   After many requests, I will return you to Harrow, North London, and T & G Table Mincers Ltd. Oh and what a day it is! Brenda has turned a corner in her career path and today her sales training begins! Geoff and Toni are designing a new slicing and dicing machine as Ken would not do it. So let us take ourselves back to June 1956 and the art deco offices of the above-named…. Brenda, (now known as Lorretta, queen of the mincing word) made her way up the stairs to Toni and Geoff’s office on the third floor. The high heels she was wearing were killing her. She had traveled from High Kilburn down to Putney for facial, makeup, and hair appointment. The first photo shoot for the new marketing campaign had gone well and she was looking forward to a nice sit-down after a very busy morning. Brenda knocked and immediately heard Toni say “Entrée” as she entered the room. Toni and Geoff stopped what they were doing, which wasn’t m...

  Published  www.tsrn.co.uk/news /  24th April 2023   Today I take you back to a time of erm, well, not of innocence, but a time when it was harder to move up at work. Men were stereotyped and women did what they were told. Oh, but not for our heroine of the day. Yes, in this tale set in the leafy suburbs of Harrow in 1956, we find ourselves in the offices of the above T & G Table Mincers. (Those mincing machines with handles that your grandmother screwed to the kitchen table if you don’t know). Here we shall meet two legends of the mincing world. Toni and Geoff and their soon-to-be star employee. Brenda straightened her thick-set glasses and tidied her bobbed hair. If she was going to resign it was now or never. Having spent the whole weekend ruminating over the decision, today, Monday, would be the day to inform the company owners Toni and Geoff of her imminent departure. Brenda made her way up the stairs to the third floor of the art deco building. Approa...

  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 ...