Sauvignon Blanc

 

At age 90 I made a pass at a young girl to prove I'd still 'Got It'. She said "Listen grandad, I do speed dating not carbon dating"

A business can take years to build but destroyed in 5 minutes

Classic example, Gerald Ratner

 "22 August 1992: Gerald Ratner's 'crap' comment haunts jewellery chain"

Britain’s biggest jewellery group Ratner's jewellery chain, admits that its business was decisively wounded by former chairman Gerald Ratner's jokey remark describing one of its products as “total crap”.

I was reminded of the Gerald Ratner story by  something similar in Phillip Hesketh's book - 'How to Persuade & Influence People' - A self improvement, motivational and reference book to read and often dip into. A favourite of mine.

Mr Ratner’s ill-judged comment accelerated a decline for Britain’s biggest jewellery group which sank  £122.3m into the red in the year to February 1992 and led to the closure of 330 shops in Britain and the US.

In Philip Hesketh's book a case study tells of the rise and fall of New Zealander Brent Marris, who started 'Wither Hills' winery in 1994 and began blending Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot grapes from his father's Marlborough vineyard and his own land.

Marris was good at his job and rewards and recognition followed.

Wither Hills became the most popular Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand and Marris one of its most decorated winemakers.

 By 2006 he was very wealthy, but became complacent, making what he called a technical mistake - entering into the New Zealand magazine 'Cuisine' wine awards a slightly different wine than the one available on most shop shelves.

 The resulting criticism caused the first doubts in some minds.

 'Wither Hills' brand is still very popular under different leadership

(Our family favourite brand of Sauvignon Blanc is 'Oyster Bay' also from New Zealand's Marlborough area)

 The 'How to Persuade & Influence People' book is rich in lessons and examples of how to succeed in business and life.

 I posted a case study from the same book on this blog a few weeks ago - it is very funny and a lesson in the hot and cold technique to break bad news - 

A Young Girl Writes a Letter To Her Parents 

The ability to persuade and influence is more vital than ever with the job scarcity caused by the pandemic and transition now underway to more robots and the technological age.

 Here are a few more nuggets of wisdom from the book -

 The secrets to excellent customer service - indeed to running a good business in a few words                                                              

Be Nice - Be Honest -  Ask your customers more questions - Truly Care about your customers needs - Do what you say you are going to do - Exceed your customers expectations - Do all this every day. Day in day out

In fact they are good rules for success and happiness in life generally, just replace customers with the word partner or colleague.

Remember, 10% extra effort and attention to detail will bring a 100% return and advantage over competitors. Proven time and time again.

A man came to me in tears -"My wife's left me, but I haven't done anything! - (Says it all!)

Will cause moments of quiet reflection - Get the book- only about a tenner - from the product adverts on the right of this Blog -  'Smiler' my blogshop cat overseeing!

or click this Amazon link

It has changed lives - just one of it's many nuggets of wisdom could make a difference in yours.

Praise for Philip Hesketh's book - Dozens & dozens of testimonials - here's a couple of shortened ones -

"It does exactly what it says on the cover. It’s a great book that ........ Vice President. Ronseal

"How to persuade and influence is one of the great skills in life. The government should appoint someone to teach us. I'd give the job without hesitation to Philip Hesketh" - Steve McDermott Author.Winner of the European Business Speaker of the Year Award.

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