Fortunately there are some funders out there who will assist in financing these slow payers , but doesnt make this any less worrying and highlights the real impact on others that poor cashflow can bring

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/10026231/Late-paying-building-giants-put-lives-at-risk.html

• Those that know me will be aware I have had my concerns over some of the "new" funders coming onto the block and the potential for fraud/misselling.

The article below highlights some others thoughts on this.

http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/columns/opinion/17198/is-crowdfunding-the-next-big-misselling-scandal/

Is Crowdfunding the next big misselling scandal?

Crowdfunding is being promised as a wonderfully disruptive and democratic development in seed funding, however experts are warning that is poses the potential to become another financial misselling scandal.

 

 

According to Mark Hollingworth, director at Integral Finance, the information required to pitch a project to investors simply isn’t detailed enough. He says: “Currently, very few of the business cases on the main platforms are providing a competitive analysis of their proposition versus existing companies or potential competitors. Many of the pitches are also unclear in terms of their USPs and how they will distinguish themselves against the competition and only a handful describe a possible exit.”

There is also a significant lack of detail surrounding the issue of the long term funding requirements for each venture, which will impact on the total investment required to produce a positive trading cash-flow.

Hollingworth continues: “Unless investors understand clearly how much funding is needed and for how long, there is a serious risk that they will not fully understand how much of the company they have actually bought. Amidst all the hype, there is a genuine risk that a wave of naïve investors will part with their money, only to come forward at a later date complaining that they thought they did not understand what – or how much – they were actually buying.”

“These platforms need to insist on better information for potential investors from the projects they allow on their platforms. They need to recognise the risks that come with providing incomplete information and systematically ensure that the projects using their platforms answer the key questions required to make an informed decision about where to invest.

“The main platforms seem to be deliberately hiding behind generic warnings, self certifications and cursory due diligence on factual claims and investors will almost certainly lose their money as a consequence of the poor information being provided.”

Some interesting points made here by Andy Preston- no 5 on occassion/in context I would disagree with but excellent observations.

Andy is recognised worldwide as the leading authority on cold calling and new business sales tecchniques

Selling By Email – 5 Mistakes Most Salespeople Make

After reading this you’ll be able to utilise email to add value to your sales efforts – instead of hampering them – and get your sales figures back where they belong.

 

 

When I working with sales teams all over the world, Sales Managers and Directors often tell me that they believe all salespeople are inherently lazy. I’m not sure I agree with that hugely sweeping statement, but I do think salespeople often look for the quickest way to do something.

I think this is partly down to the fact that a lot of salespeople only start earning real money when their commission kicks in, so any task that isn’t directly related to bringing in new customers, orders or money, they tend to try and find the quickest way to do. Hence why the managers think they’re lazy.

As salespeople though, this quickest route habit can often cause us problems. Particularly as technology has advanced and email is a popular communication method for many. However, this often results in salespeople resorting to email communication – at the expense of their own sales figures! Have a look at the examples of common email sales mistakes below, and see if any ring true for you.

Email Sales Mistake Number 1 – Using It To Follow Up

Let’s look at this from a new business perspective. You’ve spoken with or met with a client previously, you’ve started to develop rapport, but they’ve probably got an existing supplier, or existing way of doing things. So you didn’t pick up their business from your initial call or appointment.

Your boss has probably been putting pressure on you about your sales figures or your sales pipeline. So you decide you need to follow up with a few people, this particular prospect included. So what do you do next? Pick up the phone and call them, establish their current situation and needs and potentially see how you may be able to add value to what they’re trying to achieve over the next few months? Close for another appointment, attempt to dislodge the existing supplier or existing process and pick up their business? Or send an email?

If you’re in the email category, stop it! Right now!

Email Sales Mistake Number 2 – Just Adding People To A Mailing List

Another great idea from the marketing department. Sending an email newsletter or similar to keep people informed of your products and services. The funny thing is, how many newsletters do you get that you don’t read, or you don’t read in full? I bet it’s quite a few. If you don’t know the sender well, you probably don’t read it at all. Sometimes even when you know the sender well you still don’t read it.

Don’t sit back and think that just because someone is on your generic email list that that’s helping you ‘sell’ to that person. In most cases it isn’t. The responsibility to move that person through your sales pipeline is still yours.

Email Sales Mistake Number 3 – Sending Mainly Flyers By Email

Please tell me you don’t do this? Even worse if the email is titled ‘offer of the month’ or similar. If the person hasn’t used you before, you’re relying on luck for the person to buy from you. And the more competitive your marketplace and the higher the price of what you sell, the less likely people are to buy.

Plus as mentioned in my last point above, it’s hardly personal communication to that prospect, is it? Is this really the professional sales job you were employed to do? If this is the best you can do in terms of sales persuasion, you’re in trouble!

Email Sales Mistake Number 4 – Responding To New Sales Enquiries Via Email

Let’s think about this one. You or your company has expended time, money and effort in producing the incoming sales lead. Whether it’s come from a previous phone call by you or a colleague, networking, advertising or over the internet, you’ve managed to get a precious incoming sales lead.

The next question is, what are you going to do about it? Pick up the phone and find an excuse to start a dialogue to understand their needs in more detail, position a next step in the sales process and look for some commitment from that person. Or just send a quick email giving some information and leaving them to wander on their own, with no idea how motivated they are to purchase, their timescales, or what other options they’re considering?

Looks like you’ve missed your chance again, doesn’t it? In most cases if they come back to you, it’s because when they enquired with your competition, they did a worse job than you did. Is this really the best way of dealing with that precious incoming sales lead do you think?

Email Sales Mistake Number 5 – Sending Proposals Or Quotes By Email

Now it’s time for my personal favourite! Sending proposals or quotes by email. You’re in field sales and you’ve had the meeting with a potential client, the prospect then asks you to send a proposal and you put it in an email. Now you’re in trouble.

Why on earth didn’t you position your offering when you were face to face with the client? When you could read their body language and reactions to your offering and your price best, when you could judge whether you had got the proposal right or not, when you had the best chance of getting them to say ‘yes’?

Even if you needed time to put the details together, why on earth didn’t you organise a second meeting to discuss it in more detail? You’re giving other salespeople a better chance to win that business over you.

Note – if you’re in internal sales or do most of your selling over the phone, it may not be practical to go out and see the prospect face-to-face, and if you can’t get them to come and see you, you’re almost forced to send the proposal via email – however, you know when you do this it’s less persuasive.

So Why Do Field Salespeople Send Quotes Or Proposals Via Email?

Normally field salespeople send quotes or proposals by email for a few reasons. The first reason is fear of rejection. It hurts less to send it by email as at worst, they just send an email back saying ‘no thanks’ – much easier to deal with than them saying it to your face, isn’t it?

Or if they don’t reply to you or send an email back saying they’re thinking about it they haven’t really rejected you at all, have they? Can you see how that kind of thinking is holding you back from making more sales?

The second reason is laziness. You probably would say it’s because you’re busy, but it’s laziness. This is one of the most important parts of the sales process, and you’ve decided to email it because it’s easier.

The third reason is because is normally do it that way. Does that mean it’s the best way? Let’s think about this – it could be the most important part of the sales process, and you’re just sending it off into the ether and hoping they’ll give you a positive response. Again – the more competitive the marketplace, the higher the price of your product/service and the longer the time elapsed from your initial conversation/meeting the less likely you are to get the business.

If I could show you , as an established business, how to increase your sales by 50% without increasing your marketing budget, would you be interested?

Well then take a few moments and think of all the inactive customer records you have, either one off sales or sales/enquires that never quite went ahead.

Business owners often make the costly mistake of servicing a customer or enquiry once, then assuming they will stay as a customer and always come back to you for more, without you maintaining and growing that relationship.

 A year later you’re staring aggressively at the phone willing it to ring, wondering what happened to that repeat business you never got- after all you gave them what they wanted………..didn’t you?

There are many reasons a customer or client may leave you, but the ones you will hear most often (or rather you won’t, just the silence of a lost client) are:

•They felt you didn't care.

•They took a competitors offer- WHY?

 • Your pricing was too high or unfair.

•They had an unresolved complaint. 

The majority will no longer use your service or buy your products for the first two reason although perhaps these are really just one reason- a hard pill to swallow- did you really not care about them and yet your competitor did? Perhaps you have won the lottery and are just keeping the business going as a tax loss and so you really don’t want their money?

But once you appreciate the essential truth that people want to have a relationship with their suppliers it can work for you, after all it makes sense when you consider that customers often purchase your service or product because they have developed a relationship with you, they have owned another product or yours, or they were referred to you by a friend or associate.

 So why then do businesses spend 80% of their marketing spend going after new customers and clients rather than nurturing, retaining, and maintaining the customer relationships they already have?

Before you spend your time and money going after new non relationship customers consider the following well-worn statistics:

•Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.

•Referrals among repeat customers are 100% greater than non-customers.

•It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to a customer.

 So your marketing spend will go further and have more success if you use it to build, nurture, and develop your customer relationships.

This isn't as difficult as you think. Building these relationships just means treating your customers and clients as if they truly are your strategic partners and showing them that you truly care about them…….and do you know what, soon they will be and you will!

It is also vital to satisfy them with the right products and services, supported by the right promotion and making it available at the right time and location- Here’s a radical idea, you could ask your clients what they want!

Customers can easily detect indifference and insincerity and they simply will not tolerate it. Long-term client and customer loyalty is just that, long-term, and a real challenge, a reach for excellence that you must strive for every day and with every transaction no matter its value……….and isn’t it much nicer to deal with people you like, have a relationship with and who you have helped before, who appreciate the extra you are providing and don’t look at the price as the very start of the conversation, people you don’t sell to, but who buy from you.

While a growing business needs to constantly capture new customers, the focus and priority should be on pleasing your existing customer base. Companies that fail to nurture and retain their customer base ultimately fail. You will spend twice as much (££££ and time) to get new clients as you will in maintaining your existing customer base. You will also be limited in your ability to attract new clients if you can't hold onto and satisfy your existing customers and clients.

The bottom line is that one of the key components in marketing and business growth is to spend the majority of your time and effort nurturing customer relationships, then you will get more, good quality business from existing clients.

This is a strategy that will move you forward in increasing your sales by 50%* all without increasing your budget.

*Actual increases may vary- but it cant hurt can it?!!!!!!

Nice article from Marc on the link below and as someone who too often tries to make it all perfect, in future excellence will do!

http://www.theviewinside.me/2013/02/perfectionism-vs-excellence.html#!/2013/02/perfectionism-vs-excellence.html

EU Late Payment Regulation- yes another piece of regulation but we may not be able to blame others for this!

The UK was one of the first countries to introduce late payment legislation and is already seen as an exemplar across Europe and this regulation is due to come into force in March this year.

The main points in the EU Directive are that:

· Public authorities will be required to pay suppliers within 30 calendar days of receipt of an undisputed invoice. (This matches the UK Government’s standard practice for the public sector).

· For business to business payments, the period for payment fixed in the contract should not exceed 60 days, unless otherwise expressly agreed and provided such terms are not grossly unfair.

· It copies current UK practice of a default payment period of 30 days, where terms have not been agreed.

· There is a minimum €40 (approximately £31) for compensation. (Current UK legislation sets three levels of compensation payment according to the value of the payment). Suppliers will not be prevented from seeking to claim additional recovery costs.

The EU late payment directive is due to take place on or before 16 March 2013.

So what are the implications for your business- as ever with government and EU directives, no one quite knows at the moment.  It's coming, but will anything really change, how and who will enforce it and just because there is legislation if you win a valuable piece of business and they want longer terms- will you turn it down? (remember if it's expressly agreed it's still fine) and if you don't and you take the client with extended terms on, how do you finance the contract and deal with the creditor pressure this may bring you when you cannot pay your bills on time?

Here we can help, the principals at Kinetic have been financing invoices (late or otherwise) for over 20 years, so if you would like to discuss this further and look at the options open to you, contact us NOW

Now I am quite good at getting you the finance you need but you do have to be in lenders parlance "Honest & Trustworthy" for me to deal with you.

These guys had an alterntative approach, which did work for a while, Unfortunately it all came at a price.

 (Reuters) - Two businessmen have been found guilty in London of defrauding banks of hundreds of millions of pounds to fund a lavish lifestyle and build a commercial property empire, in their second conviction for deception and forgery in 18 years.

London-based Achilleas Kallakis and Alexander Williams, both aged 44, persuaded Allied Irish Banks to lend them 740 million pounds by using forged documents and fake property guarantees between 2003 and 2008, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Wednesday.

The loans enabled Kallakis to build a 16-property portfolio.

The fraud, which included an agreement from HBOS, now part of Lloyds, included a multi-million euro loan Kallakis said was to convert a passenger ferry into a super-yacht. Around six million euros of that loan was advanced.

A third person, Swiss lawyer Michael Becker, was director of companies involved in the loan agreements and was closely involved in the fraud, the SFO said in a statement. He was not charged as he lives abroad and is outside the SFO's jurisdiction.

The jury, which returned unanimous verdicts on two counts of conspiracy to defraud, were told Kallakis maintained a fleet of chauffeur driven Bentleys, a private jet, a private helicopter, a luxury yacht moored in Monaco and high value art.

Kallakis and Williams, an expert forger, have been remanded in custody awaiting sentencing on Thursday.

The two men, who changed their names after being convicted in 1995 of selling bogus honorary titles mainly to Americans, operated out of an office in London's plush Mayfair district as the Pacific Group of Companies.

They pretended a respected Hong Kong company, Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), was guaranteeing long-term, top rents for commercial properties. This inflated the price of the properties to 60 million pounds above their cost, the SFO said.

They also provided false guarantees from a company called Oregon Finance Corp, which Kallakis said was a billion-dollar ship-owner belonging to his family trust. Oregon Finance, however, had millions of pounds of liabilities and no assets.

During 2007 and 2008, Kallakis agreed a 29 million euro HBOS loan for the boat conversion. He provided the bank with documents that included a death certificate of his mother in which her surname was altered to hide Kallakis's name change.

But by August 2008, AIB discovered that Kallakis had a previous fraud conviction in the name of Stefanos Kollakis. They contacted Hong Kong's SHKP, which confirmed they had not offered Kallakis any rent guarantees.

and in a similar vein

Two ex-HBOS bank managers charged in 35 million pound loan fraud

(Reuters) - Two former employees of bank HBOS have been charged by prosecutors over business loans made through a high street bank for about 35 million pounds, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Tuesday.

The pair, who were charged with six others, were described in the CPS statement to be senior managers for the bank and were charged with conspiracy to corrupt, fraud and money laundering.

The men were given numerous high-value gifts by a financial consultancy in return for appointing the firm to administer bank loans to companies in trouble, the CPS said.

As an alternative to the above(!), for Honest, Ethical and Responsible Lending to help your business grow and be succesful Call Kinetic and see how we can Deliver with Impact

Have been working with a few clients lately looking at different aspects of Leadership and what makes a good leader as opposed to just a good manager.

Nothing revolutionary here and a quick Google search (other search engines are available!) brings up many examples, but sometimes it can be good to remind ourselves what we should be aspiring to (though I see in the papers today there is talk of leaders being born and some identifiable tag being apparent in the DNA of leader- but for the rest of us these might be of some use).

Some more common aspects of leadership below:

A Leader needs to have vision and this must be a clear vivid picture of where to go as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it.

Good business's leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion.

Leader must be able to communicate the vision in terms that cause the followers to buy into it, and they must communicate this clearly and passionately as passion is contagious.

A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal. Action is the mark of a leader, always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.

Some Key words that identify a Leader:

A Sense of Humour, Integrity, Sense of Fair Play dedication, credit where it’s due, openness, assertiveness.

• An appropriate sense of humour  is vital, effective leaders know how to use humour to energize followers. Humour fosters good camaraderie.
• A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because they never veer from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity. This includes making those difficult decisions that include letting those choose not to contribute know they are no longer a match for the companies’ purpose and ambitions.
• Closely linked to this is the send of Fair Play, dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.
• Dedication is spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve, together, something great.
• A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company (where it is due). Their role is to create heroes not be one. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership and draws the team together.
• Openness is being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.
• Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. 
• Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.

not sure what mentoring is? Have a look at one of our short videos- link below then come and join us at www.rockstarmentoringlive.com.

http://vimeo.com/54779672

Had a lovely email from a client thanking us for the help we gave, copied below

"Sorry I've not a chance to reply sooner but its been an extremely busy period for us over the last two weeks!

But just wanted to say thank you very much for your assistance and advice, it has been invaluable and yes we did negotiate hard with XXXXX to get the deal and terms we were happy with, and I think ultimately it provides everything the company will need to grow.

We also had to push our Bank hard who wanted to reduce our funding as a result to keep it at its current level and made the business case to them for this, which they in the end agreed with also which is excellent.

So thanks again for your help - we would definitely like to work with you again in the future and I have numerous friends who own companies who I am sure may have a need for your services in the future - in that situation I would be delighted to refer them.

In the meantime, thank you again it was a pleasure working with you, we were very impressed by your professionalism and knowledge."

R A

President - International Sales and Distribution