Tidy Up Those Lists In Excel
This is a guest blog by Elene Marsden from CorazonIT
There’s a simple shortcut in Microsoft Word to convert Upper Case text to Title Case (or camel case as someone once described it to me!) highlight the text and select Shift F3.
There’s no shortcut in Excel but if you use the formula shown in this video you can achieve the same results.
If you like consistency and tidy data, you’ll love this How To video
If you want to get the complete Excel training course visit
What Power Are Words Having On Your Sales?
(Or How To Upset Customers And Ensure They Don’t Repeat Buy From You)
This week I’ve been at the hands of 2 businesses getting their words very wrong, and because of their words it has directly impacted on my view of their organisations. Think that’s no big deal?
Which in hard facts translates that I’m unlikely to buy from them in the future.
First example is Booking.com (sorry no hiding the names to protect the innocent here because in my view they are not!) I booked a short break for me and my family and when the confirmation came through we went ahead and booked ferries, kennels, etc. Well the bottom of the email did say this:
Guaranteed confirmation.
2 days later we received an email pretty much saying “sorry we double booked you, here is a hotel nowhere near where you want to be, offering you none of the facilities that you were looking for.”
I thus spend a couple of hours on the phone, emailing etc trying to rectify this error. In their favour the 2 super people I spoke to at Booking.com were…well…..super and really apologetic, but that hardly puts me back in my French fishing village paradise within strolling distance of the restaurants does it?
And although it’s all sorted out now, what feelings do I have about Booking.com?
Don’t dismiss feelings as a girly thing to say when it comes to sales, the fact is we buy with our emotions, and Booking.com have created lots of unpleasant ones for me, before I’ve even locked my front door and said goodbye to my dog!
Booking.com you don’t sell hotels and holidays you sell memories that I will treasure (as will my kids, hubby and parents) for the rest of our lives.
Example 2
Clarice House – I have a voucher for a Germaine De Capuccini Facial, the paper work came through to confirm mine and my Mums upcoming pampering, only for the description to have changed to “Express”. On phoning them I was informed “all facials unless otherwise stated are 25 mins long” hardly that pampering, relaxing hour I was anticipating. Okay so I assumed (and we all know the dangers of THAT word!) that it meant a full hour facial, but then Clarice House hardly did anything to help me assume otherwise did they?
The fact is as a consumer before I’ve even walked through their doors expecting relaxation, stress free girly time with my Mum, with good food and a day of sheer bliss – there’s that little bit of a nasty taste in my mouth, like I’ve been duped. And how does that make you feel?
Ready to go back and buy again?
Desperate to book another spa day before I’ve even walked out the door?
A business that forgets that a consumer buys with emotions forgets at their peril. Good businesses aren’t just about the sale today they are about the sale tomorrow, next week, next year. Loyal customers, don’t just comeback they tell everyone they know – why your products beat everyone else’s. So when you read your business literature how is it making people feel? And can you deliver what you say you can?
The moral of this business story is – chose your words carefully and ensure you create the right emotions in your customers, everyday – even when they are not ready to buy!
Blossom!
Our guest blogger is Jenny Eaton who recently spoke to The BWN in Colchester and will be speaking the Chelmsford Business ShowCase on 14 Nov 2012 (we recommended Jenny to the organisers)
The artist Henri Matisse once said that ‘there are always flowers for those who wish to see them.’ I love this quote, it sums up what we do on the Eos Programme. Did you ever wonder why some people ‘see the flowers’ and others don’t? This fascinates me. There’s a sheltered housing complex near me, and an elderly brother and sister regularly potter up and down the street on their mobility scooters. Brother and sister – so the same background, similar upbringing and ages – and yet they are dramatically different people. The man is always smiling, whistling, singing and cracking jokes; he greets me with a hearty ‘how ya doin booty!’ whenever he sees me (we’re in Norfolk). His sister is the polar opposite. A face like a wet weekend, she seems to have a permanent black cloud hanging over her like a cartoon. The best example of this was one beautiful spring morning: the sun was shining, the sky a vivid blue and the trees laden with pink and white blossom – as she trundled past me she barked ‘that b****y blossom, all it do is get stuck in my wheels!’
What makes 2 people from the same environment approach life so differently? And how does attitude shape the life you’re living – after all these 2 are both in need of mobility scooters and sheltered housing, and yet the man sees life as joyous. The result is that I (and others) always take the time to talk with him; he’s fun, upbeat and makes me laugh. The sister I frequently cross the street to avoid.
Can you savour the moment in a perfect spring morning? Or are you fretting about the petals getting stuck in your wheels? Do people duck behind the cornflakes in the supermarket to avoid you, or cross the street to say ‘hi’. Do you think most people realise that they can choose their mood? Or do they look at the weather / news/ gas bill /football scores and let external factors decide for them?
How about spending a day ‘seeing the flowers’? Try it and see what happens – how do others respond to you? How do you feel? Are you more relaxed? Do you get more done? Get out there and enjoy the flowers!
Jenny Eaton is the director of the Eos Programme for women
jenny@eosprogramme.com / www.eosprogramme.com / 0843 5235373
Is your business making you sacks of cash?
It’s a serious questions every business woman reading this should be prepared to ask themselves. Because if your business is not making sacks of cash, it’s not a business it’s a hobby, and let’s be honest most hobbies are rather expensive. And businesses are supposed to generate money not consume it!
So if you feel like your being a consumer rather than a generator here’s a wham bam Thank you Mam, quick tip guide to checking you’re on the right track to sacks of cash;
1. Ask the question “Is My business making sacks of cash?”
To do this you will need to know your accounts inside out, and every accountant on the planet will tell you how important that is. It will highlight good weeks/months, bad ones, opportunities, weaknesses and help you look out for tell tale patterns to be aware of. Assessing where you are allows you to move forward – forget this at your peril! So become best friend with your numbers.
2. Next ask yourself “What am I going to Do about it?”
Note the capital D on Do. You see procrastination is highly likely to attack your business progress if you don’t have an action plan. Remember Procrastination is destroyed by action! So what action do you intend to take? Ask yourself what has worked in the past, what has not worked in the past. And a word of caution here – if it didn’t work in the past, will it miraculously work this time, unless you make changes?
3. Say good bye to Ron
Have you met Ron? He lurks in every business woman’s psyche – “I will do it Lateron” “This is more important, I will have to leave that to lateron” Ron just loves to hear you say this. So take action on Ron. Knowing what action you intend to take is nothing without working out WHEN you are going to do it. You have probably heard the saying “working ON your business and not IN it” Every successful business needs the space to implement the new ways to ensure success.
4. Get out there!
It’s a biggy! And a pet hate of mine to hear that a wonderful business is relying on business cards and a website and maybe a spot of networking to ensure a wonderful stream of new enquiries, leads, contacts and most of all new happy customers. Even if you are mega busy you still need a multi level approach to your marketing. If you can’t list off at least 8 different things you are doing to engage with customers right now – then somewhere down the line you are going to have trouble – and highly likely to not have sacks of cash!
Okay so there are a ton of other things I could be telling you about right now, including your current customers, up-selling, side selling, multi sales, dangers of special offers, underpricing nightmares, confidence issues, your relationship with money, wrong products, wrong customers, Wow! This list truly could be endless, but you see right now nail these 4 and you WILL see results, you WILL see more of what you want in your business and less of what you don’t. So no more reading, chuck Ron out and take action!