So much has happened in a short. Where do I begin.
Before I recap here's a cautionary tale. Wanting to cut some costs I decided to move one of my phone lines to another service provider: and as I have free broadband dwon a BT line that is whom I changed to. So I cancelled and ordered. So far so good.
Now for the fun bit. The wrong line was terminated and so nobody could get hold of the family on the family number. That took 3 phone calls and 3 days to rectify.
Then I needed to inform the broadband company of the change. "No! We can't do anything until the number is active and then it'll take up to 10 working days" So I am without one number that most people use - ad I hope they all know my mobile 07976 364681. And I'm almost out of internet contact. Luckily I've borrowed a mobile internet dongle so I'm partially up and running. Planning doesn't help. Low tech lets us down every time - human intervention. On the other hand when you find someone who give great customer service then your problems are solved or at least diminished and you come away feeling better. The morals of the story are firstly plan your move carefully, don't expect anything to go to that plan, check to see if any element isn't right, be persistent in getting it put right, respect good customer care staff.
As a recap the Swansea Business Show was a great success. Don't take my word for it. Buy the cd now: you'll see and hear over 20 exhibitors talking about their businesses and giving live feed-back from the exhibition hall. I will put some of this up on the show website - click here.
We has a Uni-Bus meeting at Swansea University on 20th May and the two speakers talked about available funding for business either through the flexible funding scheme or university channels. It was a great meeting. Click here for the website
And now I'll move on to the Local Business Card. This is a privilege card focussing on business but that will benefit card-holders in all aspects of their life. The card was originally created for members of the Local Business Forum so that they'd benefit from each others services but it has become something bigger and better. It's a priviledge card that is available to anyone for a small fee. It will give the holder discounts and other incentives from a wide range of businesses ranging from car rental, through having a meal out, web design, accountants, signage and chauffeur services, and much much more. The card is a small plastic keyfob so you'll always have it with you, suppliers will have an easily recognisesable window sticker or web logo and there will be a regular newsletter and special offer broadcasts. It is the card to carry. And the huge benefit to suppliers will be the advertising and getting their message out through the website and newsletters. To become a founder supplier is easy and costs less than £1 a week. How is that for value? The card will give suppliers a great marketing tool that will help them through these difficult times: and we are all looking to save or get better value where we can.
From a germ of an idea this will spread rapidly because it's a simple low-cost concept that'll really benefit everyone involved. Want to be in at the beginning? Apply online in a few days, watch out for the completed website. Or just drop an e-mail now and you'll get an information pack by return. Watch out for window stickers appearing in shop windows near you.
No comments:
Post a Comment