Getting Your House In Order

It’s that time of the year when loads of you are quite rightly enjoying well-earned holidays, resting, recuperating and regrouping ahead of autumn’s “assault” when things get back to normal after the summer.

That said, busy times here at Denegri Towers before we head off to France later in the month for our break. Mr D is orchestrating complex child holiday “entertainment” this week whilst I work away, including - but by no means limited to - painting fences, excavating tree roots to plant Wisteria and ensuring the dog is walked off his feet (for yes, we are down to only one dog now after our old boy Max’s death three months ago).

Yesterday, observing all the activity from my study***, and feeling somewhat like the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey as the staff – sorry, children – went back and forth, helping to make things look wonderful, I realised that getting your house in order has loads of parallels with growing your business via your ongoing development activities.

Here at Kissing With Confidence, we do less delivery at this time of year, sure, but much more in the way of planning and preparation for the next onslaught. Now, if you talk to Russell, Michael or me, we will tell you that nothing beats the buzz of being on your feet with clients doing one to one coaching, delivering group training, facilitating team discussions, or speaking at keynotes.

But what is it that makes this all happen? All the behind the scenes stuff (dealing with enquiries, generating proposals, continuous business development and relationship building), which we appreciate as being important and necessary, and we also appreciate and enjoy, and without which our up-on-our-feet, sexy and exciting delivery would never happen. It’s about putting the spade work in, planting seeds, nurturing them and returning to them every so often to check their progress. And which over time also becomes sexy and exciting as your labours bear fruit! And which of course relies on the amazing work that our office-based colleagues do to keep things from turning rotten. We cannot have one without the other. It’s that simple.

Last year I was working with a professional services firm looking at the business development process – everything from networking to relationship building to selling and pitching – and one of the delegates on a course said that “Of course it’s different for you…..we’ve also got a day job” (in relation to BD). My response? So do I? If it weren’t for the time and effort that everyone puts into BD, we wouldn’t be standing in front of clients. The delivery is just part of that day job.

So have a look around. What needs to be put in order in your “house” to get you ship-shape for autumn? Get started today and you’ll soon be reaping the benefits.

***My second favourite room in the house. My first? The master bedroom, owing to its bird-watching opportunities from the Juliet Balcony. Spotted recently: Nuthatch. Siskin. Goldfinch. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Great Tit. Blue Tit. Coal Tit. Sparrows (Tree and House). Starling. Blackbird. Thrush. Collared Dove. And last but not least Wood Pigeon. Here’s a photo of two of them – they love the camera.

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Nicky Denegri is our Senior Consultant. If you would like to know more about this subject, drop her an email and we will be in touch.