The power of thoughtfulness for business success
Meet Jen and Jen. Well, Jenny Sjollema from PA Angels and host of South Essex events and Jenny Animashaun from JA Business Services hosts of our Braintree/Halstead events and our Essex Charity Coordinator. They may look thoughtful in the image above but they are more than just looking thoughtful, they are thoughtful.
As a businesswoman with Lupus, I don’t drive to a lot of my speaking engagements and events I attend and these two fabulous Jen’s are the business women that travel around the UK with me the most. (That is not the interesting part!)
The interesting part is that as a businesswoman I don’t know about you but I’ve always had an issue with asking for help (that’s probably why I still rely on that chapter in my book on the fears that impact on success!) It took me years to suss that if I wanted to achieve big I’d have to accept help. (When I wrote the book I couldn’t think of one person that has achieved great success completely alone, from rock stars and athletes to entrepreneurs and CEO’s no one gets there alone. Can you think of anyone?) And as such these Jen’s are essential to my success. And so I want to share why this is so important;
- They care about my success. Do you know how important it is to know that you are not alone? Not only do you get a sounding board and support on tough days it also means you are more likely to get the results you want because you’ve shared your goals with others.
- We are part of the BWN team meaning we work tirelessly for each others success and our members. This is great news because a) it helps raise their profile to grow their own businesses, b) it helps them feature in the press and on the radio and c) we get to learn new skills from each other and d) obviously is we get more business!
- Being a thoughtful businesswoman is good for business. The 2 Jen’s don’t get a great deal of benefit from driving me around the country (well they do call it car coaching!) but by being thoughtful to me it means I hold them in possibly even higher esteem than I did already. There is a bond. I would do anything for them.
When you read these things can you say you are a thoughtful business owner? Do you show you care? Do other business owners know that they can rely on you? By showcasing your thoughtfulness not only do you build rapport which leads to a desire to do business together it also means that you get to showcase your professionalism something that I fear is woefully lacking for some.
Transparency – The Latest Buzz Word?
In various meetings, seminars and sessions with clients this week. A word has cropped up time and time again…..
Transparency.
But what is the big deal?
Why are we all using this word?
I found myself thinking about this, and I think this has something to do with it.
We have been through a time where clever marketing got us to buy things, then marketing got cleverer and still we bought things. Now as we are told the world is ending, banks are collapsing (mmmm who was it that announced over a billion £ profit this week in the banking world?) countries economies are toppling, the air is polluted…..”Run for the hills, we’re all gonna die” well you get the idea.
The fact is in the current nervous climate we want things transparent. We don’t want to be sold at. We want the facts.
What will it do?
How will it do that?
Will it make a big difference to my life, my business, my hair, my health……?
And so transparency becomes so important to us.
How many times has someone phoned you and rattled on about a million things, not cutting to the chase of what they want, what they want you to do, and how and when they want it to happen?
Wouldn’t it be great if people were more honest?
Wouldn’t it be great if there was no hidden agenda?
I think that is why honest marketing, clear talking and transparent ideas and actions are the order of the day.
And if you can get that into your marketing, your business ethos and the way you engage with people, they are far more likely to interact with you. And we all know where that can lead don’t we.
They want the real you, they want to know that the people they chose to work with care and will do their best, and the best way to show that is with transparency.
And a point to remember is, if you come up against people and businesses that are not prepared to be transparent then, you start to question what are you hiding? What aren’t you telling me?
When people feel like they have the whole picture, with no hidden agendas they relax, they get to like you and your products and that is taking you well on the way to a sale.
So get clear, transparent, see through, honest and straight talking in your business today.
(And a little note on the collapse of the universe – its highly likely business women like you and I will still get up tomorrow, get ready for work, make a difference to the people we work with and drink another cuppa – don’t buy into the media madness – its just a thought, but I know how powerful they can be!)
mandie@mandieholgate.co.uk 07989935556
Mandie Holgate shared this with us, our Essex coordinator, if you are a coordinator for The BWN or have the Business Premier Pack and you have something useful or interesting to share with business women send it to info@thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk and we will link it to your website too.