 FOR THE ATTENTION OF [techies/Brad] |
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Posted on 19th Aug 2008 at 23:05
an email goes out to advise you have been booked in to a meeting. This then gets follwoed up by Ops/GL. to confirm attendance. Would it be possible to have a "button" on the email for the recipient to simply press and immediately confirm attendance or non attendance?
Simon
 - your local department store
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Posted on 19th Aug 2008 at 23:08
its on the list Simon, along with 43 other things to do.. sorry fella... its on the cards
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Posted on 19th Aug 2008 at 23:19
glad it's on the radar
Simon
- your local department store
Don't let online selling be a problem. Try the shopping cart in our fully managed department store. click here for more information
earlsmann.co.uk Check out our lighting company where great ideas come to light!
Area Leader for High Wycombe, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury
Find me on Facebook or Why not visit and take part in the Bucks community forum on 4N?
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 10:29
It's a great idea Simon. However, it doesn't address the point of confirming attendance two days out.
People often book into a meeting weeks in advance and then as the date comes around, things come up, and people change their mind. Confirming automatically on receipt of the confirmation email defeats the object as at that stage, they have every intention of coming along. We would still want to put in a call to confirm attendance two days out, even if they had confirmed again.
Tamsen Garrie - View my Biscard
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 10:40
I often don't know for sure till the day before...
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 11:45
may be you're right. However I think the breakfast meeting should be treated as a real meeting, (in fact 3!) I'm sure it's possible to plan around one morning every 2 weeks. It's not really an excuse to say I don't know until the day before - that's simply bad planning. Everyone should be more committed and treat it as an important part of their business marketing programme.
Simon
- your local department store
Don't let online selling be a problem. Try the shopping cart in our fully managed department store. click here for more information
earlsmann.co.uk Check out our lighting company where great ideas come to light!
Area Leader for High Wycombe, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury
Find me on Facebook or Why not visit and take part in the Bucks community forum on 4N?
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 12:17
That's a very narrow view Simon - what you can organise in your business is not what others can, we all have very different businesses.
Would you say that attending a breakfast meeting is as important as a last minute sales meeting that the client can't arrange at any other time or having to fix a problem for a customer who has their service down and needs it fixing.
There are many times I have had to miss a 4Networking breakfast because we have had to work on testing or fixing the 4Networking website which is critical to their business.
Brad's 4sight slot makes a point of wishing we all do so well we don't have time to attend! The 4Networking mantra is "You attend because you want to not because you have to" comes to mind here.
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 13:33
Valid point Simon and also Paul - the beauty of 4N is the flexibility: fit your networking around your life and business and not the other way around! Of course, the other consideration here is families. The confirmation process two days prior to the meeting is the part of the process that ensures attendance as much as possible. Experience has shown that to be the case.
Tamsen Garrie - View my Biscard
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 19:41
Quote:
That's a very narrow view Simon - what you can organise in your business is not what others can, we all have very different businesses.
Would you say that attending a breakfast meeting is as important as a last minute sales meeting that the client can't arrange at any other time or having to fix a problem for a customer who has their service down and needs it fixing.
There are many times I have had to miss a 4Networking breakfast because we have had to work on testing or fixing the 4Networking website which is critical to their business.
Brad's 4sight slot makes a point of wishing we all do so well we don't have time to attend! The 4Networking mantra is "You attend because you want to not because you have to" comes to mind here.
Not narrow in the slightest! I fully accept that last minute business meetings happen but it sounds like you're "planning" for it, hoping something better than a breakfast meeting may come along. Not a reason not to confirm a breakfast as it can aways be changed when necessary but to make it the rule seems to miss the point of networking. You're right, Brad does advocate real business coming first but may I also point out that he also says, from experience, that you need to do your prospecting as well as provide fulfilment to avoid the peaks and troughs associated with being a small business. Unless the plan is to remain a small business
Simon
- your local department store
Don't let online selling be a problem. Try the shopping cart in our fully managed department store. click here for more information
earlsmann.co.uk Check out our lighting company where great ideas come to light!
Area Leader for High Wycombe, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury
Find me on Facebook or Why not visit and take part in the Bucks community forum on 4N?
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 19:54
Simon's QUOTE "..may I also point out that he also says, from experience, that you need to do your prospecting as well as provide fulfilment to avoid the peaks and troughs associated with being a small business. Unless the plan is to remain a small business"
Simon's & Brad's above quote is where I am at right now....I've learned the hard way that when I was working on a 3 day a week project that I recently completed, I should have been prospecting the other 2 days and NOT be spending too much time with the kids (although I enjoy that so much)...my learning experience is prospect the week days I'm not working on a project, treat the prospecting as unpaid-work and leave the "family time with the kids" strictly for the weekend..
.....Vidya - No room for complacency.....if you want to avoid peaks and troughs....
...there's an old English saying that comes to mind..."You live and learn" :-) God, Am I learning ... the hard way ....aaaaaawwwwwwwwww :-(
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Posted on 20th Aug 2008 at 19:57
IMHO the onus should be on the attendee to confirm at least 2 days before with a Yes or No and honour that decision, me thinks :-) ...it could be a simple text message to the Group Leader and assistants or a PM here.
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Posted on 21st Aug 2008 at 17:30
All good points and good thread.
Experience of running several groups - if you phone and confirm (which is the Ops Assistant's role) then you know what to expect.
I've been at a meeting with 16 booked in and 6 turned up. It's not fun. The venue get's fed up, it looks mickey and the whole energy goes wrong.
Wish everyone were as organised as you Simon but they're not mate, you know that and, of course, we don't claim to only accomodate the organised.
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Posted on 21st Aug 2008 at 17:42
Can the system not send out an email a couple of days before the event reminding peope that they have booked for it and asking them to contact the ops if they are not now going to attend?
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Posted on 21st Aug 2008 at 18:54
Quote:
Can the system not send out an email a couple of days before the event reminding peope that they have booked for it and asking them to contact the ops if they are not now going to attend?
Probably could, but they still need phoning.
You know that the ones who forget to attend would forget to phone the ops.
E-mails great and can be ignored, phone call forces someone to look in their diary. On top of that, great opportunity for the Ops Assistant or Group Leader to get chatting to people.
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Posted on 21st Aug 2008 at 19:02
Interesting comments - with the groups I'm involved with, we tailor the confirmation to the person, i.e. some we email (regulars) others we phone (visitors etc.) but we do it the morning before the meeting.
A lot of it is about knowing the people who attend the meetings and "confirming" them in an appropriate manner for them.
Ian Driscoll
4Networking - Bridgwater, Dorchester and Yeovil
4Networker of the Year 2008 - joint runner-up 
festive banner produced by Rachel at Brown Ink Group leader, 4N Yeovil - 11th Dec
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