Professional networking Vs Social networking on-line

There seems to have been a lot of discussion recently about the role of professional networking and its link to social networking.

I have read a lot of discussion, in particular, about linking twitter to LinkedIn.  Much of what I see on twitter is general chit chat, views on TV programmes, and other such things, however amongst this is a lot of more work based discussion, people giving each other help and advice and building a professional image.

Now I’m not a PR specialist but there do seem to be some obvious dangers in mixing business with pleasure – so to speak.  However, I don’t think that there are hard and fast rules and the degree of mixing your personal remarks with your business comments may depend on what you do for a living.  Giving a little detail of your background may enable your work contacts to get a more rounded impression of you.  If you are a keen golfer it may be helpful to give a little hint (but don’t bore the ‘audience’!)  and if you’re a member of the National Trust similarly.  I wouldn’t rave too much about the Aston Martin that you have just put a deposit on or the problems that you are having finding cleaning staff for your home.  What you say may depend on your role – if you are a high-flying financial executive you may want to discuss different things than if you are an artist or a dentist.

There are no rights and wrongs but there are some strategies that will be more effective than others.

It is possible to link twitter and LinkedIn so that your tweets appear in your current activity box in LinkedIn and the reverse is true too – what you say in your current activity goes through to twitter.  An important point to bear in mind is that in LinkedIn you can type much more than the 140 characters allowed in twitter and also the new option in LinkedIn to add a hyperlink will not carry through to twitter.

You are able to control what passes from twitter to LinkedIn.  When you set up the link in LinkedIn you can check a box to only pick up from twitter your tweets that have a #in (or #li) flag.  This means you can still have your social chatter in twitter but add the #in flag when you want the tweet to get through to LinkedIn.  You can also get code from twitter to add to your website.  You’ll find this under Goodies at the bottom of the twitter page, if you then select ‘widgets’/'My website’ and then take the search option you can specify which tweets get through and you can put your own twitter id and ‘#in’ in the search query box so that the same tweets go through to LinkedIn and your website (if you want to get really complicated you could use a different flag, for example ‘#web’, to send these tweets through to your website and those with #in’ to LinkedIn!).

You need to think carefully about what impression you want to give in each of your on-line venues and develop a strategy to deliver.  There are no rights and wrongs but there are some strategies that will be more effective than others.

Invoicing – avoiding disputes

In the current economic climate it is essential that businesses that trade with each other have mutual respect.   This is particularly important when it comes to paying invoices where services or products are supplied up front.   If you do not invoice promptly and pursue the debt, politely but vigilantly, the customer may assume that you are not serious about wanting the invoice to be settled.   If you continue to trade with that customer there is a good chance that you will be seen as a soft touch!

You don’t want to upset customers by pursuing debts unreasonably,  but what is reasonable should be agreed from the outset of your relationship.   Having agreed the ‘rules’ you should establish administrative systems to ensure that you, at least, maintain them.

• The first step should be to satisfy yourself that your customers are going to be around for some time and that they maintain good relations with their existing suppliers.  Ask for, and take up, references.  Ask about the customer’s payment pattern;  whether they pay on time and in full;  is there a best contact within the company who will sort things out when difficulties arise;  is there anything else that a prospective supplier should know?
• Consider credit checking new customers.  Checks from companies such as Dun and Bradstreet are easily and economically available on the Internet.
• Agree the terms and conditions of trade.   Have your own terms that look after your interests and seek to impose these, although well organised customers may have their own terms that they may ask you to sign up to.  In this case check them carefully and negotiate terms that are mutually acceptable – don’t be intimidated and assume that terms are not negotiable.
• Document the contract or agreement.  If the order is made by telephone ask for it to be confirmed in writing, by fax or e-mail preferable by way of a Purchase Order (but beware of any terms attached to the Purchase Order and check that they are acceptable).  Although verbal contracts are binding they are difficult to prove and only serve to allow debate and argument about what terms were meant to apply – you may be right but it doesn’t help to fall out with a customer!
• Set out your payment terms in the contract or agreement. Some companies have systems that ensure that payments are made by the due date but no sooner (this improves their cash-flow).
• Issue the invoice immediately the goods or service is delivered. If the goods are to be delivered over a period of time, or if a service is on-going, seek to get interim or staged payments agreed.
• When invoicing find out if it is best to send the invoice to the finance section or the person who made the purchase. Some organisations will want the invoice authorised before it goes to the finance section, others will want it registered on their finance system first.
• Be sure to include in the invoice the due date; a description of the goods or services; the customer’s reference and the name of the person you have been dealing with: all this will help their finance section to check the invoice with a minimum of delay.
• For invoices of any significant size follow up the invoice after five days and ask if everything is in order for payment. Often if there is a problem the invoice will be put aside until there is time to track you down to query it (its also helpful to include your contact details on the invoice for the same reason).
• If payment is not received by the due date contact the customer immediately by telephone to see what the problem is. Be polite and remind them of the terms agreed.
• If payment is not received following your telephone call, write to the customer.  Keep a record of all telephone calls and letters. Confirm telephone conversations in writing.
• The next stage would be to advise the customer that you intend to put the matter in the hands of your solicitor, or a debt collection agency.    Give them time to pay up to avoid this action – say five days notice – put this in writing, it will often get the payment without you actually incurring solicitors’ costs.
• Do not make idle threats.   If you have said that you will pass the matter to your solicitor and the customer doesn’t respond pass the matter to your solicitor.
• For smaller debts you may want to take small claims action in the courts without use of a solicitor.
• Remember that although you want payment you may also want to do business with this customer again.  Be polite and business like no matter how angry you may be!  Your objective should not only be to recover the debt but to earn respect and improve the relationship for future business.
• Businesses are able to claim interest on late payments from the public sector, and large and small businesses.    This will help those business that suffer from late payments, however, it will not enhance the customer/supplier relationship and it will be better to have clear understanding and respect for the prompt payment of invoices in the first place.

HousingIT briefing

Yesterday I met up with two people I hadn’t seen for some years, namely Paul Tomlinson and Claire Baylis.  I was attending a briefing at Microsoft’s offices in Reading.  Claire was there to provide an update on the UK housing software business based on research that she undertook with John Stuttard for HouseMark.  The report is available from the HouseMark website and can be downloaded from here.

It was apparent that the acquisitions in the market are continuing and the choice of systems becomes clearer as the number of options reduces.

Paul was there to give an overview of his new offering which, I believe, offers something unique in this sector.  His new housing system, from HousingIT, is called HousingPoint and it offers proper integration with Microsoft Office applications. and is developed using Microsoft Silverlight and has direct integration to Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint giving full integration with products such as Outlook, Excel and so on (we saw it running on Windows 7 and working with Office 2010).  The product is not just browser accessible – it is web delivered, i.e. the software is, maintained by them and managed by them.  Users do not have large hardware costs, software costs or license fees.  IT staff costs can also be reduced since all users need is a web browser.  It was even shown working on a netbook!

Security is always a concern but Paul is planning to have the system hosted by Microsoft and during a presentation by Microsoft we learnt that they had been operating their communications and applications worldwide for many years without significant problems and they are well targetted by hackers!

The application is aimed at small to medium sized organisations although there is nothing really to prevent roll out to much larger entities.

Paul has not finanlised prices but the figures that he mentioned seem very competative.  The application is to be offered on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis, again, something I believe to be unique in the sector.  Pricing will be based on a cost per seat per annum basis.  Having been responsible in the past for managing costs for IT software, licenses, support, and consultancy I think the approach will be attractive to IT managers charged with managing budgets that can often be stretched in numerous directions.

I’m not on commission for this product but it does seem to me that this is an application for the 21st Century designed to be delivered in a manner appropriate for today.  Furthermore Paul is someone with experience in the housing software business who knows what users want and the best way to deliver it.  He is going to the CIH Conference next month and will be keen to demonstrate the application to those interested.

Young Enterprise Area Finals

Yesterday evening I attended the area final of the local Young Enterprise programme. There were many schools represented but the event covered two areas. The school that I advise on was the only school from their area. The Young Acheivers (as the student are known under the YE programme) didn’t know they were the only school represented and they presented their stand with great enthusiasm and when it came to their formal presentation in front of the judges, other schools and parents they certainly had no idea that they were the only school presenting in their region.

The school won all the award for their region on the night but they also won an award for best business plan, which was judges a few weeks before the finals. So the school now has trophies for best presentation, best accounts, best product, best individual contribution and probably some others too! There was some feeling of disappointment that they had won with no competition but the competition takes place for an academic year and not just one night. The team had managed to run the business, successfully, selling products and services over a number of months and make over £300 profit, even after allowing to pay their shareholders 6% dividend over the academic year. Other schools had failed to maintain the momentum and one had even withdrawn on the night of the finals. I think the school has something important to be proud of. They now go through to the County Final where they will have some significant competition!

Following the formal presentation at the awards ceremony yesterday I took the rash decision to volunteer to join the area board to see what I can offer to promote the scheme amongst other schools in the area.  Watch this space to see how things develop!

For more details of Young Enterprise see here.

Your call is important to us – Not!

I know it’s everyone’s complaint but I am about fed up with otherwise caring organisations providing rubbish telephone service to callers!  Yesterday I spent 15 minutes waiting to get through to the right person (having gone through numerous levels of ‘select 1 for.., 2 for.., etc) only to finally speak to a real person and have him pretent he couldn’t hear me and hang up!

Today I rang a housing association and listened to 45 seconds of recorded anouncement telling me what they DON’T DO and then several layers of menus only to be left with an answerfone – WHERE HAVE THE PEOPLE GONE?

I then rang back and selected the ‘operator’ option.  At 4.45pm on a Wednesday I was informed that my call was important but they were experiencing a high level of calls.  What I think this really meant was ‘Your call is of moderate interest to us but thanks to the marvels of modern technology we can iron out the peaks and troughs of call patterns by asking you to listen to piped music, at your expense, until our understaffed call centre has capacity to take your call – have a nice day!’

When will organisations that are supposed to be providing a service, or that want to win favour, realise that their public image often starts when someone telephones them?

Of course, I could direct dial but for people who send emails without telephone numbers included in their sign-off!  Don’t get me started again!!

Ah, I feel better for having got that off my chest!

Ray Mears speaks at the Test Valley Business Awards 2008/9

Ray Mears

As a member of the Test Valley Business Awards Steering Group I was proud to attend the gala awards evening last night. Ian Axton of Andover Sound was host for the evening which had over 200 guests and was held at The Lights in Andover.

Our guest for the evening was Ray Mears, the well known bushcraft and woodlore expert. Ray talked about the difficulties that exist in today’s business world and how new businesses started in a tough economic climate will be well placed to survive when the recovery starts. As well as talking about business in general, and his own business, Ray recalled some of his experiences working in the more remote areas of the world where life can be hard but satisfying

Ray described an encounter where modern methods and native customs had led him to consider sustainability in a new light. Local people had been used to living off the fruits of the land and simply discarding the natural packaging, which, being organic, would rot and recycle naturally (he was referring to peels and skins of fruits etc); when modern packaging of tins and plastics arrived the locals simply discarded these in a similar way, but they do not rot with such speed, thus leading to a very untidy and potentially dangerous environment. He went on to reflect that in our society we produce just as much, and probably more, waste but pay to have it taken away and out of sight. Ray explained that his own business is very much concerned with creating sustainability but included an element of community and fun.

The awards themselves were as follows:

The Test Valley Borough Council New Business Of The Year Awards

• Winner – WKD Events
• Commended – First Impressions, PJ Landscaping

The HSA Business Excellence Though People Award

• Winner – Stanbridge Earls School
• Commended – Romsey Dental Care, Wellow Fitness Centre

The Star Technology Services e-Business Award

• Winner – Nature’s Harvest
• Commended – Giftbagz.co.uk, www.bid-no-bid.com

The University of Southamption Science Park Innovation and Technology Award

• Winner – PhotonStar LED Ltd
• Commended – Ace Liftaway Ltd, Trilogy Communications

Hamphire County Council Small Business of the Year Award

• Winner – Blumarine Ltd
• Commended – iCandy Design, Thinking Space Systems Ltd

If you are interested in the 2009/10 awards, or if you wouuld like to talk about what is involved in establishing your own awards campaign, please get in touch.

An end to quantum working

There was a time when I could see no point in using consultants.  They charge extortionate fees to meddle in your business, tell you what you already know and get up the noses of your ‘real workers’ who see these interlopers taking all the interesting project work that they themselves would like to do when they have the time!

However, I also pondered why it was that almost all new posts created seemed to require a member of staff to work nine to five, Monday to Friday.  We create quantum jobs. 

Well, I have been a self-employed consultant for six years now, so what has changed?  My view of work patterns was influenced by Charles Handy’s description of what he calls ‘The Work Portfolio’ described in full in his book ‘The Age of Unreason’.  It was also an extension of my questioning that work should be in discrete units known as ‘Jobs’.

A friend recently described his job as a ‘roller-coaster’ – but life’s like that, isn’t it?  Work is not a constant; we all have peaks and troughs.

An efficient organisation may choose to staff itself to meet the work-level median and undertake business housekeeping during the troughs. 

During the peaks we have choices:  we can ask for 120% from our staff and watch as they flag.  We can fail to deliver. Or we can take on short-term, interim support.  And so, consultants can support your existing team, bringing similar skills but supplementing them during these peak periods (technically these are interim-managers rather than consultants).

We also need specialist skills from time to time.  For a particular project we may need someone with skills that we wouldn’t use 52 weeks of the year.  Pure consultants may provide the advice that you need to enable you to manage the project – a sort of advisor – but consultants can also undertake the work for you, bringing both skills and their human resource.

Consultants bring impartiality that means they can look objectively at your organisation, ‘seeing the wood for the trees’ and they can rise above the workplace politics that often prevent frank and honest exchange.

So what about those fees?  Well you must not look at consultants as short-term employees.  They are service providers.  Just as any other business they have operating overheads:  IT systems, office accommodation, tax and insurance, staffing overheads and so on.  You also get what you pay for in terms of the consultant’s quality; the consultant needs to earn a wage that is comparable to their earnings potential in an employed position (otherwise they would get a job with better wages and better security).  If you speak to consultants they will tell you that the percentage of fee earning days is balanced alongside their other time spent promoting, updating their knowledge base, preparing proposals and carrying out business administration.

What should you look for in a consultant?  You’re probably paying them by the day, or hour and so you want them to be up and running quickly.  They therefore probably need to be familiar with your business sector. They certainly need to be skilled in the specific discipline that you are engaging them to undertake for you.  They will need the cooperation of your own staff and they will therefore need to have the confidence of your team and be able to command respect and give confidence to staff.

Beware of informal arrangements.  You need to know exactly what to expect from the consultant and they need to know exactly what you expect.  All parties must understand their various roles, the limits of the brief, the required output and any special circumstances that may exist.  Put these things down on paper and agree them before work starts.  If you want more out of your consultant expect to pay for it – but make sure that you get what you are already paying for – in full. 

Careful use of consultants can boost your business allowing you to take periods of heavy workload in your stride without putting undue stress on your staff.  They can help you to achieve those tasks that are outside your usual areas of expertise and they can help you achieve those ‘important non urgent’ tasks that can remain outstanding for want of a suitable resource.  They can help you lift your business into the ‘excellent’ category and deliver world class service.

So how much is a trillion dollars?

Someone mentioned this to me recently but I have checked the arithmetic…

If the G20 members put a dollar into their moneybox every second, after 11.57 days they’d have a million dollars; after 31.7 years they’d have a billion dollars and…after 31,688 years they’d have a trillion dollars. I hope that puts it into context.

I use dollars because it was a figure of $1,000,000,000,000 that the G20 came up with (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7979483.stm). Of course, if they used pound coins in the moneybox it would only take 21,579 years to raise the funds!