Welcome to our Christmas e-newsletter and thanks for all your encouraging comments.
Like the office Christmas tree, the feel in the High Street seems a little artificial with crowded stores and spending holding up thanks to massive price reductions. Woolworth’s fire sale encouraged many of us to revisit the shop best remembered from our childhood for pic’n’mix and we’re in good company as David Cameron was seen there purchasing half price wrapping paper last week!
The messages we are hearing from dentists are pretty mixed. Many practices remain as busy as ever, a few are noticing the drop in throughput but nobody is panicking. We have noticed that our help lines have cooled recently leading us to suspect that we’re all suffering recession anaesthesia – a sort of mental numbness symptomatic of watching the BBC’s current financial pin-up Robert Peston who positively delights in talking down the latest economic news. Bring back roly-poly, cheerful Declan we say! There was never a recession when he was doing the financial stuff on Breakfast TV.
We always enjoy receiving your anecdotes and titbits so keep them coming and if you think your colleagues would be interested in receiving our e-newsletter, let us know and we'll make sure they’re added to our mailing list.
Last but not least, we’d like to wish each and every one of you and your families a most wonderful Christmas and a happy, prosperous and recession-proof 2009.
Who says the festive season is the time to take a little R&R! Our silly season kicked off with a Christmas party at the local on Tuesday with the compliance team in toe - a good time was had by all.
For Christmas we are all at different ends of the country: Peter is joining Di and Christopher in Devon, Suzanne is looking forward to seeing her extended family in Yorkshire before jetting off to Dublin to celebrate the New Year in raucous Irish style, and George and Steve are staying with their respective families here in Newbury.
We will be closed from 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 23rd but back again at 9.00 a.m. on Jan 2nd. In that time we aim to be very merry and to pass on lots of good cheer. We hope you do the same!
Last week I was in the Lake District seeing clients before catching up with old friends for a weekend’s walking around Keswick. Being up in the fells in the fresh snow and glorious sunshine was just blissful and a wonderful opportunity to slow down and simply enjoy each other’s company.
It is fascinating to hear how businesses outside of dentistry are dealing with the recession. An old friend of ours, Richard Ward, operates several ventures on the south coast including a corporate events company and a rib charter business. Time spent listening to Richard is always worthwhile. After profitably selling a former enterprise, he spent three months over the winter living a hermit-like existence, designing from the ground up the business that he really wanted to operate.
Turning a hobby into a business can be fraught with risks but unlike hobbyists who set up shop selling the hand crafted tapestries they discovered when holidaying in a yurt in Kyrgyzstan, he devised a practical business plan that he rigorously sticks to. Richard is a marketeer who knows how to sell the sizzle, not the sausage.
In selling corporate events to businesses he recognised that it is not the boss who does the research for staff jollies but the PA, so he designed a two-page PDF for each event that the PA could print off and put in front of the boss’s nose which succinctly showed the format and benefits of investing in a day on the Solent for key employees or customers. 2008 was his best year ever. Take a look on http://www.solent-events.co.uk
In these times it is worth all of us looking closely at our CSP, (Client Service Proposition) and asking ourselves if we are giving our customers what they need and if they truly appreciate what terrific value they are receiving? Sell the sizzle, not the sausage! At which point we defer to Ashley Latter’s excellent Ethical Selling Programme www.thesellingcoach.com , a must for all dentists who need to ask “What is my CSP?”
And yes, at Heritage we are looking very closely at our own CSP. We are very excited about it and aiming to roll it out to our clients early in the New Year so watch this space!
'Heritage
Financial Advisers Ltd’ is an appointed representative of First Financial Advisers Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Heritage Financial Advisers Ltd’s Registered Office: Swatton Barn, Badbury,