BNI

I thought you might like to hear about an interesting meeting we had in our Chapter last week. We all turned up in Santa costumes for the meeting in aid of a local charity, The Garden House Hospice in Letchworth Herts http://www.ghhospice.co.uk/

It came about when the Corporate Fundraiser for the hospice, Tina Fletcher, came along to one of our meetings as a visitor. In her 60 seconds she told us about the ‘Wear a Santa Suit’ day the Hospice were promoting. They were asking local businesses to buy Santa suits for £10 each and then wear them for the day to raise money for the hospice. We loved the idea and decided to join in as a Chapter and buy the suits. Every member of the Chapter joined in and we raised £270 for the Hospice.

Several of our members also took part with their own businesses as well, raising additional funds. It’s a great example of how bringing a visitor along to a meeting can bring unexpected benefits. Apart from donating to a worthwhile cause it was a great team building event for us and has generated lots of goodwill and publicity for the Chapter.

BNI Blaze Breakfast Club is moving from Blakemore House, Little Wymondley to Hitchin Rugby Club from 1st December. The group, consisting of local business men and women meet every Thursday and support each other with their business development. Chapter Director Fred McBreen said, ‘We are very excited to be moving to Hitchin Rugby Club which is a great venue and developing our Chapter further. We currently have about 30 members, but our aim is to grow to 40+ in the next few months’.

All local businesses are welcome to attend Blaze and if interested people should contact Fred McBreen on info@base52.co.uk. Since April this year the Chapter has generated over £600,000 worth of business for its members which has helped them to do well in difficult trading conditions.

We at Advance Building Solutions in Letchworth pride ourselves on the service we offer and deliver to our clients. It is very important to my business and our customers that they receive a quality service, supported by trustworthy, honest and reliable tradesman.
Since joining BNI BLAZE in July 2010, I have been given a wonderful opportunity to meet and work with many quality local businesses, on a weekly basis this I could not of achieved so easy without this network. And I can honestly state that since Advance Building Solutions have joined the Bni, we have been in the position to invoice over 100k exec. Vat to date

February 2011 has been a fantastic month for the members at Blaze. Each week we record the actual business that has been invoiced between the group and record our findings to ensure that we are generating enough business for all of our members. Vanessa Kaye Chapter Director was please to announce at this weeks meeting that during the month of February the group had excelled and had generated just over £109,000.00 of actual invoiced business.

“What a fantastic result in a time when all we seem to hear is doom and gloom for SME’s, this really proves that local businesses supporting each other and helping to generate work for others really shows outstanding results.

BNI Blaze’s previous best month was in July 2010 when £78,000.00 worth of invoiced business was recorded followed by October 2010 which resulted in £68,000.00. It’s no wonder that BNI Blaze is going from strength to strength and becoming one of the most popular networking groups within the local area.

To read the January 2011 edition of SuccessNet Online, sponsored by White Digital Media, visit here.

In this edition, you’ll find:
1. “Three Trends in Business Networking” by Dr. Ivan Misner.
Times are changing, and so is networking.
2. “10 Things You Need to Know to Deliver a Power Presentation” by Scott Gerber.

An excerpt from Never Get a “Real” Job.
3. “I Have a Problem” by Duane Christensen.

Why your 60-Second Commercial should point to a solution.
4. Words of Wisdom.

“The Winning Edge.” from Brian Tracy.

*NEW* Productivity Tip: “How to boost your productivity with business cards.”
5. Breaking News about the 2011 International Networking Week and The BNI-Misner Foundation Campaign for Schools in India.
Plus, coverage of BNI happenings held across the globe, mentions in the news, recommended reading, and testimonials from members like you.

Be sure to take a moment to submit a comment to my article or to post your own BNI story.

I’ve been a member of the Blaze Chapter for 18 months now and this is the third opportunity I have had to give a 10 minute presentation to my fellow members and visitors.

When thinking of what I could talk about I remembered something I was told when I first joined the Chapter. ‘Its like having up to 40 sales people working for you’. I thought that this was a really powerful message so I have decided to focus on this today.

So if you are all in my sales team, I thought it would be good to give you some feedback on how we are doing and maybe share some thoughts on how we can be even better.

So how are we doing? Well I can sum that up easily. We are doing a fantastic job! Just to put some numbers on that, in recent months we have grown our sales by over 30%…and much of that growth is a direct result of referrals from this Chapter.

This is a great opportunity for me to thank all of you for your support. It is greatly appreciated and I will do my best to work hard as a member of each of your sales teams!

So we are doing great, but how can we do a little bit better?

Well I think I can help here by being a bit more specific about the kind of clients we are looking for and the work we do. I can also put forward some ideas on when people may want to talk to an accountant.

So starting with the clients we are looking for, there are 3 broad categories – existing businesses with annual sales of up to £5m, start up businesses and individuals who need help with their tax returns. What we do is provide accounting and tax solutions for each of these groups. We will tailor what we do to suit their requirements. So that’s pretty simple!

For two of these groups, the business start ups and people who need help with their tax returns it is relatively straightforward to refer them to us. Both will benefit from speaking to an accountant and may already be looking around.

For existing business owners/managers who already have an accountant, it is more difficult to refer them to Base52. There usually needs to be some reason for them to think of changing accountants – maybe they have relocated, maybe there have been other changes in their business. A dialogue can sometimes establish if there is a desire to change and we are always happy to have a discussion with no obligation.

So that covers what I wanted to say. We’ve talked about how we are doing as a sales team – well above expectations is one way of putting it! Thinking about the three groups of potential customers – existing small businesses, start ups and individuals (for tax) might help you to find referrals. People who already have an accountant will generally only change if there is a problem. If you can find out what that is, they may be willing to chat to Base52.

Thank you for listening…

The UK’s regulator, Ofcom, has decided to change the rules that apply to 0870 numbers. Operators will be required to charge callers no more to call an 0870 number than it costs them to call a “geographic number”, with a dialling code starting with 01 or 02. As a result, the amount callers will be charged will reduce substantially, essentially eliminating the chance for organisations using 0870 numbers to generate revenue.

How this change affects your business;

From July 2009 the cost of calling 0870 numbers will be dramatically reduced and all revenue sharing will cease. This means that ‘Number Providers’ will lose their revenue stream and therefore will start charging you for your incoming calls in order to make their revenue.

Your business will soon pay to receive incoming calls on your 0870 numbers

 Why the changes?

Initially 0870 numbers were charged to callers at the same rate of the cost of calling an 01 or 02 number, around 7p + vat. More recently, the cost of calling 01 & 02 numbers has been significantly reduced, and they now cost closer to 3p + vat. The price of 0870 numbers did not change, which meant that they became viewed by customers as premium rate calls. In response to complaints, OFCOM have decided to reduce call costs to 0870 numbers, to bring them into line.

Express Telephony can guide you through the following options;

Option 1 – Keep your existing 0870 numbers

Keep your existing 0870 numbers. From July 2009 you will be charged a ‘pence per minute’ rate to receive calls/faxes. Each month your ‘Number Provider’ will bill you for your total calls received and you will have to pay this bill.

Option 2 – Change your numbers to 0871

Costing 8.5ppm to call (excluding VAT), 0871 again has all the benefits of 0870 is ideal for generating a higher revenue stream from incoming calls, due to the call cost. Please be aware that ICSTIS the governing body for premium rate in the UK will be governing this code and this presents further problems.

Option 3 – Change your numbers to 0844

These cost 4.25ppm to call (excluding VAT), almost half the current cost of calling 0870 but with all the benefits, including a rebate dependent upon call volume. Many companies have already changed to 0844, making this option a popular choice.

Option 4 – Change your numbers to 0845

Your callers will only pay local rate charges. Calls are charged at 3.5p per minute (excluding VAT) to the caller and local rate 0845 has been used in the UK for over 10 years and is well established.

Option 5 – Change your numbers to 0800

Free phone numbers mean that you pay for your customers’ calls. This option is a powerful marketing tool as it tells your customers that you value their business. The rate you pay depends on the volume of calls you receive and is typically around 3.5p per minute.

Giving you time to make the change

CUT; We can run newly connected number/s side by side with your existing number/s to give you time to change your marketing and advertising material. For example you could set up a new 0844 number today and have this pointed to your office phone, and keep your 0870 number pointed there also. Customers calling on either number with both get through allowing you ample time to implement the changes.

By July 2009 when the charges start your customers will be contacting you on the new number/s instead of the old 0870 number/s and therefore you will not be charged to receive calls. At this point you can disconnect the 0870 number/s if you wish.

If you are concerned that some customers may still call the 0870 number/s we have a facility to put a personalised message on the call directing them to your new telephone number. The message facility can cope with up to 5000 simultaneous calls a minute and can be activated when required.

Your course of action;

Think about the impact that the above options might have on your business.
Act now and give yourself time to implement the changes
Call Express Telephony to discuss your requirements and the implications.
Be assured that you will be ready for the deadline of July 2009

OFCOM documents

The following are web links to the Ofcom website which explain the 0870 changes:-

Summary

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/nts_forward/statement/#2

Full Document

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/nts_forward/statement/statement.pdf

Express Telephony can provide you with all the Non Geographical Number support that you require, call us to discuss the options for your business.

Martin Adams, TNL Communications

“With almost 25 years of specialised experience in the telecommunications industry, TNL Communications Services strive to provide the highest quality possible advice, assistance and support to help your business thrive in a highly competitive market place.

We recognise that efficient communications are pivotal for every business or organisation to flourish. We also understand that no two businesses are the same, neither do they have the same business communication needs. What all businesses do have in common though is the need for reliable, good quality products at economical prices.

TNL Communications Services are a small, approachable company and we welcome calls from businesses and organisations who are looking for advice—we appreciate that, with the vast diversity of available products, systems and services, looking for the right one for your company/organisation can be perplexing, time consuming and stressful!

If you are not sure what your business needs to help improve your ability to communicate with your customers, call us and we will be happy to help.”

If you have any further questions about VoIP Hosted solutions or any communication and phone system requirements please contact Martin Adams of Express Telephony either by phone: 0800 018 2522 or email: Martin@expresstelephony.co.uk

Click Here for Martins full profile and contact details

EXPRESS TELEPHONY LAUNCH ONLINE DATA BACKUP SOLUTION

For many years Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) have offered the ability for SMEs to back-up their data over broadband to a central storage facility but only recently has this really taken off. So what’s changed? Andrew Dickinson, Sales and Marketing Director at Griffin Internet one of our Broadband wholesale partners, investigates Online Backup and the potential benefits to resellers and their customers.

Express Telephony in conjunction with Griffin Information systems will supply their ExpressBackup product to anyone needing a reliable backup solution. This will provide a fully resilent off site supported backup solution that conforms to all disaster recovery regulations and for a little over £7.00 per month for up to 25gb of data it’s great value and offers peace of mind in event your systems crash and you need your data in a hurry!

Andrew Dickinson Wrote Recently; 

Ever over-written a document by mistake because you forgot to save with a different name; worked all night on a presentation only to find the file corrupt as you stand up to speak; lost a laptop or had critical files deleted by mistake? The traditional protection against data loss was to make a daily copy of data and store it off-site or in a fireproof safe. However the need for real-time, hassle free back-up and guaranteed instant restoration has made this approach virtually redundant.

Online back-up has been around for years but it has been too difficult for the end user to install and use, too expensive to go mass market but not expensive enough for resellers to justify putting a lot of resource behind it. Most importantly resellers have had to sell it whereas what they need is for their customers to buy it – preferably ‘off-the-page’.

Generic advertising by multinationals like BT has helped encourage the ‘pull’ demand from SMEs and some of the better ISPs have developed products designed to be sold through the channel. The best of these work in any environment, need no specialist hardware or complicated set-up routine and operate in the background without the user having to do anything. The end user should be able to easily restore individual documents or entire files without having to have in-house IT expertise or needing to call their service provider.

As we approach broadband saturation in the UK SME market, run-rate has slowed, margins have shrunk and competition is fierce with suppliers trying to steal customers from each other. 

So what should you be looking for in selecting your supplier of online backup?

• The right price; for just £7.00 per month it has to be pitched at a competitive price that is affordable.
• Financially and technically secure. If you are going to trust your data to a third party they need to be offering 100% reliability and have a strong balance sheet.
• It needs to be easy to buy set-up and manage.
• SOURCE: Andrew Dickinson – Griffin information Systems Limited & Comms Dealer July 2009

For more information on the best backup solution for your data contact martin@expresstelephony.co.uk