My Birf'day

It was my birf’day last week.


Thanks for asking – I was 2 years old.

And, yes, I did get some presents. In fact, Richard said that me human Renee made more of a fuss about my birthday than she did of his... and quite right, too.

He got a bit shirty about the whole thing; a client came in and Renee proudly announced that I was now a big boy, being 2 years old. ‘Really’, said the bemused looking client, ‘What are you doing to celebrate?’

At which point Richard pipes up, ‘Oh, we’re going out for a meal later and then take in the theatre before going on to a club!’

Hmmm... none of which actually materialised, even though I was up for it.

We did, though, go to Hector’s bar in Stockbridge, which is one of those enlightened places in Edinburgh that lets in woofers. There we met some of Renee’s BNI buddies, one of whom, Keith Scotland, knew that it was my birthday.

I know he knew it was my birthday because his daughter bought me a present... a number of presents, in fact; including toys, sweets and biscuits.

Brilliant.

I love that girl.

I’ve never met her, but I love her!

But enough about my birthday (have I mentioned that it was my birthday last week?) and to business.

You see, that girl’s kindness really got me thinking about doing business locally. It really is all about relationships and getting to know people, doing little extra things that you don’t expect or want to be paid for but mean a lot to your customers... and will keep you in the forefront of their mind.

Now, some people think of this as being ‘above and beyond’ the call of duty. But not so... not in this current economic climate.

You see, there are a million people out there who do what you do... plumbing, decorating, accounts, mortgages.

But nobody does it, the way you do it. With those little extra touches, that little extra bit of customer service, the ‘value add’, as I’ve heard it called.

There’s a bloke, Brad Burton, the founder of 4Networking, who says that there’s a cycle to doing business with people: Meet – Like – Know – Trust.

He says that each phase is vital if you are going to do business with someone and that it’s unlikely that you do business with someone unless you build the relationship in this way.

Unless you send me presents on my Birthday like Keith Scotland’s daughter. The sequence goes like this:

Trust – Like – Know – Meet.

Works for me!