Winston's e-Newsletter - August 2008

Couples too busy to talk any more

According to a study published in the UK a while ago one in five couples goes through the week barely talking to one another.

The At Home Society, which has been created by Diageo Great Britain, the drinks giant, commissioned the study among 1,074 working and cohabiting adults which showed that one in five was so busy with work commitments that men and women would often go through a week without spending any weekday quality time together. And that's despite talk of work-life balance.

Nearly a third work "9 to 8" rather than "9 to 5" and, when they do get home, half spend at least two hours of the evening in separate rooms because they are putting the children to bed or talking on the telephone.

In the first hour at home, they are more likely to be separated from each other doing household chores, talking on the telephone (), sorting out the children or using the internet.

The report suggests seven ways to "recover the evening" together:

1. Always change out of work clothes once at home. This marks the end of the working day.
2. Develop a post-work routine. Create something with your partner that you can look forward to during the day. This can be viewed as a reward for coping with the day's stresses.
3. Ignore the dust. Successful and satisfying relationships can only happen when there is time to nurture them.
4. Accept compromise. If young children prevent the early evening relaxation hour, push this back to after they have gone to bed. Think quality rather than quantity.
5. Avoid work "polluting" home time in the evening. Try not to bring work home and let off work-related steam early in the evening rather than later.
6. Consider priorities. Happy people put quality time at the top of their list of priorities.
7. Learn how to resolve conflict. People who deal with disagreements by withdrawing, ignoring their partner's feelings and escalating the intensity of the argument head towards failed relationships. Use the evening at home to set aside time to talk when you will not be interrupted.

 

Get this world expert almost for free!

My mate, Jurek Leon one of the world's best speakers on retail marketing and customer service, will be available on either Monday or Tuesday, 20/ 21 October in Melbourne or Sydney for a 60 to 90 minute presentation where he will share some brilliant new ideas on customer service gathered from the world's best recently.

This special presentation will be at a dramatically reduced fee without any extra charges for airfares or accommodation.

Jurek is not long back from a trip to London where he was a guest at the European Customer Experience Management Conference along with people and companies like Richard Branson, Steven Covey (author of the '7 Habits of Highly Effective People'), Ken Blanchard (author of 'The One Minute Manager' and 'Raving Fans'), Fred Reichheld (the world's foremost loyalty expert), Marks and Spencer, Vodaphone, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, John Lewis, the Bromford Group and Leyland Trucks Priority will be given to events that are hosted by an industry or professional group.

Email Jurek at info@terrifictrading.com to register your interest and receive a draft promotional piece for the presentation.

 

Business cards made easy

You've no doubt heard me waxing lyrical about the most important weapon in your marketing armoury… your business card. Some of the "home produced" ones that I see people in small business proffering are shockers. They are real reasons for anyone with a grain of sense to steer clear of the person who proffers such a card.

A mate of mine, Karl Adomeit, a super duper sales manager is between careers and he knew he had to have a card as part of his personal marketing campaign to give to anyone he met.

He wanted a quickie card… but a goodie… so that's when we searched around the net and found clicks business cards at their very easy to use website www.clickbusinesscards.com.au. In no time at all we had put together a very professional card for Karl and had 25 of 'em delivered 2 days later for around 70 bucks. Here's how Karl's card turned out:

  

By the way, if you're in Victoria and looking for a real good sales manager, Karl's your man. Send me an e-mail and I'll put you in touch.

 

Excellent radio commercial!

Its often said that when you use radio to promote a product you're playing in the best theatre in town… the theatre of the listener's mind where they create the picture to go with the sound. I reckon that it certainly happens in this case. I've got a feeling that it would trigger people to go buy a scratchie too… or at least get 'em to pick one up the next time they were near a lottery agent.

 

Business Growth Centre
ABN: 96 709 037 261
Postal: 110 Coleman Road, Boronia, Vic, 3155, Australia
Phone: +613 9887 5511   Fax: +613 9887 5581

 

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