Golden Helicopter Award

I stayed recently at the Cape Sun Hotel, Cape Town for over a week. The Conciege, Ahmed, throughout the time could not have been more helpful he was always attentive, patient and smiling. On one occasion I needed the services of a doctor, he not only arranged that but after the doctor had been to my prescription to the pharmacy and when they did not have enough of the particular drug went back the next day to pick up the balance.

I have no hesitation in nominating AHMED of the Cape Sun for a Golden Helicopter Award

Don't Waste a Good Crisis

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word "crisis". One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, they say, be aware of the danger – but recognize the opportunity.

This downturn, recession, depression or blip is like no other I have known. It is not by any means universal - neither by business sector nor national geography.

I now have a list of over 30 business sectors that are doing well - in some cases exceptionally well, and over a dozen countries with significant GDP growth forecasts.

I simply can't emphasise strongly enough that unless you are in automotive, construction or real estate then almost certainly you remain in control of your own future – no-one else. Indeed even in the automotive sector it is not universal gloom - I see that not only did Volkswagen have a record sales month in February but that the German car industry overall still expects to sell 200,000 more units this year than last and further that Toyota has actually increased sales in the US this year.

There are many growing markets with money to spend that you can and should target.

I recently spoke to a group of business leaders in London and was strongly emphasising the need, especially in these times, for businesses - all businesses - to be proactive in seeking out and converting new customers – in other words "prospecting". A man came up to me afterwards and asked for clarification of what I was saying. He was, he said, the Managing Partner of a legal practice with 15 partners and asked what I meant by "prospecting".

"Seeking out new clients who have not previously used you", I said

"Oh", he said "how?"

"For example", I said "do you ask for referrals? - do you ask each of your satisfied clients to recommend others to whom you could sell your services?"

"That goes against the grain" he said "I'm not sure about that" and walked away.

That Managing Partner is running a business - just like any other business - and whereas we may have had the luxury in the past of new clients finding us THAT TIME HAS GONE.

I believe that we must assume that the basic rules of business now apply to all businesses - we all need to seek out new customers, we need to sell to them, we need to provide unrivalled products and services and we need to treat those customers like our life depends on them - because it does!

None of this is rocket science or new, none of it is things we should have been doing anyway, but I do believe it's going to be those businesses that really get their act together that I come through these times really humming.

There is a risk - a big risk - that the rest will fall by the wayside and I see no reason to mourn them.

In addition to the business sectors that are growing there are national markets also to consider. For example the OECD says that Brazil will likely avoid recession completely in 2009. Petrobras - its state oil company has a four-year $174bn expansion plan, whilst Embraer remains one of the largest passenger jet makers in the world. Brazil is seen to have outperformed India and China and has a well regulated banking system that is not exposed to sub prime. Go and sell to them.

There are other nations who are continuing to grow and invest - but maybe not as fast as heretofore - but nevertheless at rates of growth that are the envy of most other nations. Go and sell to them.

If we are running a business or involved in running a business I believe it is our responsibility to develop and implement a growth strategy to ensure that our business and our employees thrive through these times.

That's our job - now more than ever.


©2009 Roger Harrop Associates

Golden Helicopter Award

In my business I come across many event companies, training companies and the like. Some are large, some small and they have to do a very special job of organising every single aspect of an event or training courses - down to the finest detail. They have to co-ordinate venues and logistics as well as delegates and speakers - sometimes akin to herding cats I suspect!
Earlier this year I ran a one day CEO Masterclass in Lahore for Octara Training and their outstanding General Manager, Muhammad Arif.
I have to tell you that the pres event publicity materials were the best I have ever had, the organisation was exemplary and every single thing was done to facilitate both the delegates and myself.
I am therefore extremely happy to award Muhammad Arif and Octara a Golden Helicopter Award.

The first DOUBLE Golden Helicopter Award

We have just bought an Apple Mac laptop for my wife - and the whole experience was unbelievably good!
I first called in at the Apple store and was given 45 minutes of uninterrupted attention - answering all my questions and concerns about transferring from pc - like they will transfer all your files over for you for free and you can get Office for mac for very little, etc. etc.
He then suggested my wife and I ought to come in - and that we could make an appointment online - which we did for 12 noon on a Sunday.
We then got two hours of very patient help and advice (did you know you don't need a virus checker with Apple?)and we ended up buying what is an exquisitely designed piece of kit. The functional and aesthetic design is superb and the software is intuitive - even the packaging is a delight!
I was SO impressed - compared with the nonsense of MS - and all the bad stuff about Vista that I will probably move to Mac myself.
So - for one of the very best experiences ever I give APPLE the first ever DOUBLE GOLDEN HELICOPTER AWARD!

Golden Helicopter Award

Here's a nomination from Steve Jones:

"I would like to bring to your attention two chaps I met last night at a networking
event. They are George Bowler and Oliver Yorke from Hurst Community College in Baughurst, in Hampshire.

They have just launched a local magazine, You may be thinking why on earth you telling me? well, they are both 15!and have suitably impressed people who were at the Basingstoke event last night with the third issue of their
local magazine "The View" and I would like to nominate them for a Golden Helicopter award because they look like
they have well and truly taken off in business despite not even having a National.Insurance. No. and are
preparing to sit their GCSE's this summer?

Here is their email: info@theviewmagazine.co.uk"

Fantastic! - I'm more than award to give a GOLDEN HELICOPTER AWARD to George Bowler and Oliver Yorke of Hurst Community College.

Ditched Helicopter Award

A DITCHED HELICOPTER AWARD for lousy service:
I have just stayed in the Fawlty Towers Hotel of Dubai – The Seven Sands. When I complained about my room the manager asked:
“What do you want me to do? – they are all as bad as yours”!

I had to rearrange my booking at the last moment and my agent booked this as a 4 star hotel – I’d say it’s about 1.5 stars.
On their brochure and website they say:

“Extended Hospitality” – Untrue
“Fully equipped gym” – Untrue
“Coffee Shop” – Untrue
“Business Centre” - Untrue
“Complimentary welcome fruit basket” – Untrue
“Complimentary daily newspaper” - Untrue

The place is dirty, badly managed and a disgrace so a mega DITCHED HELICOPTER to the SEVEN SANDS HOTEL, Dubai

Golden Helicopter Award

Roger Venables sends us this nomination:

I would like to nominate Chris Booth, Director of Graphics Direct for a Golden Helicopter Award. The longish but encouraging story is this:

• Our usual (shop) supplier of materials for mounting photographs had closed and I was struggling to find a replacement (Shop). We were in urgent need!
• So I searched the web for ‘Artists’ Materials and found Graphics Direct. It was difficult to tell whether they were first class or charlatans, except that they actually offered a phone number on a selling website, which was a good start.
• A call generated a very courteous response saying the relevant person was out but would call back, and they even asked when would be convenient – asap was the answer and they said about an hour.
• Chris Booth called back earlier than forecast, without declaring his position in the company, by which time I had found most of what I wanted on the website but not everything. Chris expertly took me through a process of booking what I wanted, then asking for a pro-forma invoice when getting to the payment stage. He then called me back within a few minutes to talk though adding what I wanted that was not on the website, adding that to the invoice, and taking payment. I had also wanted next day delivery as close to 100% guaranteed – no problem was the answer, and at no extra charge
• Within a minute or so, there was the invoice in my inbox, followed a couple of hours later by the Royal Mail tracking number for the parcel. The parcel arrived before the target time, and all was as ordered 100%.
• Then, 5 days after the order, an email from Chris, who turned out to be a (or perhaps the) Director of Graphics Direct, expressing the hope that our first experience of using them had been a good one and asking for feedback, which I duly gave him, and the whole experience prompted me to write to you!.

Outstanding! – I’m very happy to award a GOLDEN HELICOPTER AWARD for outstanding service to GRAPHICS DIRECT and CHRIS BOOTH

Golden Helicopter Award

It’s only when you travel that you come to appreciate just how good London cabbies are at their job. For the benefit of my overseas subscribers you cannot become a London taxi driver without “The Knowledge”. This is a very testing examination that you have to pass where you not only need to know every street and major building in the entire city but also the best way to get there.
They also ALWAYS have a view on local and world events – possibly slightly bigoted on occasions!- although that’s not part of The Knowledge as far as I know!
So a resounding GOLDEN HELICOPTER AWARD for outstanding service – over many years - goes to LONDON CABBIES!



TELL YOU WHAT……………..Let’s start a London cabbie anecdote blog here! Any stories you have about, or any experiences you’ve had with, London cabbies put them up here.

Winning through the Downturn

Yes - the downturn might affect your business dramatically
Yes - that just might be terminal

BUT remember:

“Pessimism is a totally useless philosophy since it probably won't work any way.”

Our job as business leaders is surely to win through a downturn like this and set the strategy and the tactics to do so.

So let's start by examining the problem:

Following the credit crunch finance is tight in the West and the prices of oil, steel and food have all increased dramatically wordwide. We have significant inflation being posted in a number of developing countries and finally we have an increasing number of profits warning from public companies in the West.

So how should we respond to this?

Firstly as far as your business is concerned you should be seeking to harvest cash and be really hard-nosed about any investment. It must generate an adequate and expeditious return. My advice is be super cautious with the banks – they caused a good deal of the problem and I don't think we can assume we can trust them at this time.

Next, now must be the time for you to work hard at improving your business efficiencies - and by that I mean not just your "shop floor" operations but wall-to-wall. To me the best measure of efficiency or productivity is simply added value per employee and you should be seeking to improve that continuously so that you are both lean and mean and fleet of foot.

If you are in an industry where you buy basic materials that are not fashion influenced and is worth helping to protect your margins by considering investing some of your cash in additional stocks at today's prices - that you can subsequently add value to and sell at tomorrow's inflated prices.

Finally in this area I would recommend that each and every time you think about recruiting question whether you could outsource that activity as an alternative.

You need to be tough but fair with your suppliers --negotiate simply everything and share with them your future plans and your confidence going forward. Never pay them late, however, no matter what the accountants might say, it will cost you in the end.

What about your markets?
If you look around there are a many markets for you to target that are thriving and will continue to do well. Obviously the oil rich countries of the Middle East and elsewhere are thriving and the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) continue to do well and are expected to be the leading economies of the world in the foreseeable future. Target them.

Some of the industry sectors that are thriving are all forms of mining - giving a particular boost to the economies of Australia and Canada (Canada is now referred to as the Saudi Arabia of phosphate -- it has one third of the world's supplies) and food production.

The energy industry - from oil and gas extraction through to sustainable, fossil fuels and nuclear power are all set to continue to thrive into the near future. The Aviation industry (but not western airlines) is thriving with record order books at both Boeing and Airbus (over six years of production with only 10% from the US). These companies increasingly outsource globally – target these suppliers like Meggitt in the UK who have just announced record results.

There are more billionaires in the world now than ever before - with large numbers in India, Russia and China as well as the West. Any industry or service sector where they spend their money will continue to thrive - be it super yachts or super hotels or super fashion. Can you sell to them?

Looking at customers generally you need to exploit your strengths mercilessly, you need to be seen to get in the shoes of your customers more, to customise and be creative. You should be moving your mindset from "sell" to "help" and focusing on a getting a "wow” from them each and every time they do business with you.

You need to bring out exceptional new products and you need to focus strongly on giving perceived added value to counter any suggestion that may be coming from customers that you might be inclined to lower prices - don't do it!

I'm sure it does not need saying that you must be very tough indeed on receivables in these times – that hard fought order, that great sale is worth nothing unless you get paid. It's probably prudent to assume a percentage of your customers will go bust in the next 12 months - and you don't want to be left with a big hit.

A word about your team.
Each and every one of your employees (and their partners) are reading and hearing a constant stream of bad news and depressing projections about the future and it is you that they are looking to for a lead. Despite what you might be feeling you need to exhibit a positive attitude at all times, you need to communicate and listen more than ever before and you need to demonstrate that you have the situation under control.
Research has shown that people follow leaders who are decisive, passionate and have fun – and that's what you need to exhibit.

Particularly in these times we need to challenge our paradigms, ramp up our creativity, and look to the big picture.

Otherwise known as:

Helicopters and Boxes!
(Staying in the Helicopter® and Thinking outside the Box)

- why not set up a helicopters & boxes team now?

Finally, for UK readers, I have just read that Goldman Sachs predicts that by 2020 the UK will have the highest the income per person in the world – we will be more prosperous than anybody!

– so all you’ve got to do is to get through ‘till then!

Enjoy!



© 2008 www.rogerharrop.com

Golden Helicopter Award

This one's from Mike Ogilvie:
Following a long day in Manchester at PSA meeting having caught 8.30 plane from Gatwick, Derek Arden and I went to BA and asked to be seated in same row with one seat between us so we could spread out

Despite us having checked in that morning in Gatwick the man at the counter was very obliging at the sight of Derek's BA Silver executive card, and once he had changed our seats he was presented with a WOW card acknowledging his superb service by Derek

I noted his resulting beaming smile and stored this idea for future use - not realising how soon that would be

We went to the Executive lounge to be told by Jemma the receptionist that our plane was delayed by at least one hour until after 10pm, and that as we were the only two in the executive lounge , the lounge was to close at eight

Well "Arden the negotiator" went into action and asked if we could possibly be switched to the Heathrow flight, but Jemma was told by BA that as we had not got open tickets, the only way was if we paid them £69 for new tickets

Well that was far too much for two tired speakers, so we said we could not do that.

Derek was getting frustrated and explained how much he spent with BA each year but, remembering our recent experience, I pulled Derek aside and asked for one of his WOW cards. I said to Jemma that we realised she had done her best for us, but we could not justify spending the extra £69, but please accept this card as our recognition of her efforts on our behalf.

She smiled and we retired to the lounge to eat BA sandwiches and drink BA wine

15 minutes later Derek was called to reception and Jemma presented him with two tickets to Heathrow free of charge. She had appreciated the fact that we had not given her grief, and in fact had recognised her efforts on our behalf, so she called BA herself and persuaded them to switch our flights

WOW - we were smiling now, and when we picked up our cars from Gatwick before 10pm we realised our original flight would not have yet left Manchester

So Jemma Hodgkinson from Aviance Manchester terminal 3 has now been nominated by us for a Golden Helicopter award and we have written to her boss to congratulate him for having such brilliant team members

EVERYONE was a WINNER - so next time speakers, when your ego is threatening to take over, remember it might achieve more to be nice than to be angry.

So a Golden Helicopter Award goes to Jemma Hodgkinson from Aviance Manchester