Perdita Hunt, the Director of the Watts Gallery wanted to help raise money for the ‘Hope Appeal’ – and swimming to the Isle of Wight seemed like a fitting challenge.  But, to make it happen, she needed some help – so, on a chilly winter’s evening in January she got talking with Sue McLagan of Wight Charters and the plan was hatched.

“From the moment of our discussions in January, I knew that we were on.  It was a wonderful moment when Sarah agreed to participate, which brought in the support of projectfive and Steve.  Having Leo was a great bonus too.”

 Months of training followed – with regular swimming on the River Thames in Laleham and Seaview on the Isle of Wight, and then Perdita, Sarah Giles and Leo Hacking were ready – but was the weather?

 Steve was watching the forecasts carefully…    “We said, right at the outset, that anything less than a Force 3 would be OK – more than that, and we’d need to reconsider.  But, as the day drew closer, and the weather looked worse, then we agreed that a Force 4 would probably be OK too – we might not make it all the way, but we’d certainly give it a go.”

 On the day, the forecast was for Force 4/5 occasionally Force 6.  It didn’t look good!

 “Then, we got a text message to say that the sponsorship total was £4955 – and we knew we had to give it a try!”

 In a strong swell off Gilkicker Point nr. Portsmouth, the team gathered.  3 swimmers, 4 kayakers, 4 RIBs and a couple of Spectator Boats were bobbing around in the blustery conditions.  And at 13:20 they were under way.

 Sarah found the conditions tough to begin with… “It was quite rough to start, but we soon got into the flow of it.  The RIBs did a great job of pushing the Ferries and Large Tankers out of our way as we made our way across the Solent”

 “It wasn’t all plain sailing” Steve said, “Leo had a tendency to swim to the left, and Perdita slightly to the right – it split the group up.  You could see the swimmers were struggling with the waves – but they battled on and you could sense that they were not going to be defeated.”

 There were a couple of moments where cramp took hold, but as the team crossed the halfway point the waves seemed to lessen.  And before long the swimmers themselves could see the Isle of Wight – and they began driving forwards with even more determination.

 Steve had the champagne on ice in the back of his canoe, and he could feel that the swimmers were chasing him.  “As we came alongside Ryde Pier, we had less than a mile to go.  One of the boats started to play ‘We are the Champions’ and we could see the spectators on the beach waving.  I took my cue to race ahead and get the Moet ready”

 As the team reached the beach, Leo threw himself onto the sand and kissed the land.  The Champagne was handed to Perdita and the cork was popped.

 “I’ll never forget seeing Sarah, Perdita and Leo as they reached the shore.” Steve said “The sense of achievement was obvious.  They’d battled very challenging conditions and completed the swim in a mind-boggling 2 hours and 10 minutes.”

 QHM (Queen’s Harbour Masters, Portsmouth) sent their congratulations to the swimmers when they were informed that we were inside the pier and Solent Coastguard acknowledged the completed swim and confirmation that 4 kayakers and 3 swimmers were on ‘dry land’ at Ryde.

 During the swim, the team received mention on Radio 1 and the Tweets were picked up by Surrey Life.  “It was great that so many people were following our progress” said Sarah.

 Then, champagne in hand, the whole team retreated to Bembridge for a BBQ.

 Back on dry land, Perdita had the following to say “I was moved beyond words to see the amazing support team that we had and I knew then that I could not let them down.”

 “It will be a day that Sarah, Leo and I will always remember”

 And the final word goes to Perdita to thank everyone who has sponsored and supported the swim “Your involvement has helped Watts Gallery in its efforts to save an arts & crafts building of national importance for the nation and to have supported the efforts of RNLI Bembridge.  And, for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart”.

Now, if only we could add £45 to the sponsorship and top the £5k mark…

 Sunday is definitely off because of high winds – so we’ve moved the swim to Saturday.  It still looks like it’s going to be rough seas though.

 Sarah is excited and ready for the challenge.  She’s got a little over 2.5 miles to swim in Force3/4 conditions across one of the busiest stretches of water before she reaches the Isle of Wight.  Steve will be in a Surf Kayak alongside her – a much easier challenge, but it should still be interesting in the weather conditions.

 We’ll post an update to the website on Monday to let you all know how Sarah got on. 

And if you haven’t managed to sponsor her yet, you can do so by following this link…

Firstly, people tend to think of Business Continuity as a fancy word for ‘backup’ – but we’ve not had to refer to our backup once this year.

I’m currently writing this blog whilst listening to the workmen outside my office window digging away at the pavement.  The Electricity supply to our building failed on Friday, and the Electricity Board have been digging up the streets to get everything repaired.

It’s not a major disruption, but we kind of need electricity to operate our computers and telephones.  Plus, having the lights on tends to help, as does the Door Entry system and the Lift (which makes it much easier for the deliveries).  And, don’t get me started on the coffee machine…

But, I’m not aware that any of our clients noticed the impact that this inconvenient lack of electricity caused.

Likewise, when the Bomb Scare evacuated Camberley Town Centre in June, we were quick to implement our Business Continuity Plan again – this time, we also took advantage of some PR opportunity to ‘Tweet’ about what was happening, and get quoted on a few local news stations (including stories on the web like the one on Get Surrey… ).

I don’t like to tempt fate, but after the Snow at the beginning of the year, the traffic issues, the unexploded bomb, and the lack of electricity, I’m feeling like the time spent thinking about our Business Continuity needs was well spent.

We identified that of primary importance is for our clients to still be able to reach us – both by phone and email.  Therefore, we’ve installed resilient solutions to both – which include the ability to failover to another location if needed. 

So, having full access to the phone system from home, and full remote access to email from any location have really helped.

Having our important data available in a number of different locations has also helped.  Again, we’re not talking about backup here – just the ability to synchronise our data so that it’s available offline (on our laptops), or online (via a SharePoint site).

Without our phone system, email, client database, time & recording and client files, we wouldn’t be able to function.  We have all of these bases covered.

The only thing we missed was a spare colour printer outside of our office.  (I’d prepared a report for a client, and couldn’t print it without any electricity – so, I had to email it to them and ask them to print it out in time for our meeting).

Have you spent time thinking about how you would cope in any of these situations?  It’s not about waiting for Disaster to strike – there are hundreds of little everyday problems that can trip you up.

This year has proven the point quite nicely.

If you want to talk to us about any of the solutions we’ve implemented, please get in touch.

In the meantime, it’s time to get a new Colour Laser Printer for home…

Sarah will have to swim this busy stretch of water dodging small boats, large ships and jellyfish – but she’s got a bright orange swim hat to keep her safe!

The swim is 2.65 miles (2.3 nautical miles) and should take approximately 2 hours depending on weather conditions and tidal currents.

It’s not going to be easy – Sarah is currently training 3 to 4 times a week – sometimes in the pool, but also on the River Thames and the sea. Steve has been accompanying her in the river and sea on a kayak to ensure safety, shout motivating comments and generally cracking the whip.

The Watts Gallery is undergoing a restoration project to bring the Gallery back to its former glory. The Hope Emergency Fund is to plug the gap in finances incurred by the contractor on the Hope Restoration Project going into administration last year. There is still £75,000 to raise to complete the Hope Project which aims to save Watts Gallery for future generations. Watts had a home on the Isle of Wight where he was part of the artistic and literary circle of his great friend Alfred Lord Tennyson. Swimming from the mainland to the Isle of Wight is an appropriate way to strengthen the link between Compton and Freshwater on the Isle of Wight.

A contribution will also be made to the RNLI based in Bembridge.

We would really like you to sponsor Sarah, Perdita and the team – so please go to the Watts Gallery Shop to make your pledge. Thank you!

In business, we all have a product to sell.  How we get our customers to understand that product is the challenge that we all face.

Often, we focus on the traditional marketing route of explaining the benefits of our product (whilst avoiding talking about the features). 

We look to explain how our customers’ lives will be better if they bought our product. 

We look to try and understand that a customer only buys an electric drill because they want a hole – we all know what particular ‘drill’ we sell – but what’s the ‘hole’ that compels our customers to buy our product?

We spend time, effort and money understanding this, then devising advertising or marketing campaigns to distribute that message.

However, the sentiment behind Robert Stephens’ quote was that instead of spending time, effort and money advertising your product, divert those efforts towards improving your product.

When your product or services really stands out from the competition, then people will notice.  And when they notice, they will talk about it.  And when they talk about it, your sales will pick up a momentum of their own.

The best way to sell something is to have your customers do it for you.

Whether you sell via the web or not, understanding how people buy these days is very important.  30% of consumers will research products and prices online before completing the purchase at their local store, whilst 26% of people do the opposite and go home to buy online after seeing the product that they want in store.

These figures are from a recent survey of 2,000 UK Shoppers by eCommera.

Price was the most important reason why people buy online – as cited by 60% of respondents, followed by the convenience of having items delivered (51%) – great news for anyone in the courier industry.

So, how do people choose which website to buy from?

Recommendations from friends or family is the single most important factor in the choice of website to buy from, with 71% giving this reason. 46% said knowledge of the retailer from their high street stores was important.  35% visited a particular website thanks to their visibility on search engines, while 21% were prompted to visit a site by offline advertising. 

And, what turns people off from buying?

Well, the most common answer was poor images and product descriptions (42%). 

Other turn-offs were poor navigation (32%), concerns about payment security, finding that items are unavailable or out-of-stock (26%), no contact details (18%), and over-long checkout processes (16%). 

Having made a purchase, customers would be deterred from repeat purchases by receiving an order that wasn’t as described (42%), late delivery (19%), and poor after sales service (18%).  But, 45% would go to a website that they have used before.

So, whether you sell online or not, understanding how people use the web to influence their buying habits is useful to understand.

But, it’s interesting to see that the old rules still apply.  People rely on recommendations, are put off if the ‘product’ doesn’t look good, and won’t buy again if they have a bad experience.

Nothing new there.

HTC Desire

A few months ago, we got an HTC Desire, running on Google Android, to see how it behaved.  This is the phone that most consumer magazines cite as being the best smart phone on the market.  Steve, as usual, was given the task of testing the new phone, and that’s when the grumbling started. 

First off, Steve couldn’t sync his Outlook Calendar through Google’s Exchange Connector.  The inbox was fine, as were the contacts, but no calendar appointments.  He was forced to buy a third-party app from Google’s Marketplace (Apps Store) to view his Calendar.

Another client of ours also experienced similar problems with Calendar Appointments only heading one way (from the PC to the phone, and never back again).  A search on the internet revealed that plenty of others were experiencing similar frustrations when trying to connect to Microsoft Exchange.

And it wasn’t just the Calendar issues that caused Steve to shout.  The Bluetooth Connection to his Handsfree Kit in the car was very temperamental. And the Google Phone had a habit of ‘getting stuck’ when trying to pick up emails.  If Steve was lucky and noticed that his pocket was getting hot, he could pull the back cover off, remove the battery, and force a reboot.  If he was unlucky, then 30 minutes later he had a flat battery.

iPhone 4

So, when the new iPhone 4 was released, we jumped at the chance to retire the HTC Desire and give Steve the iPhone instead.

Then the stories started to surface about the ‘grip of death’ that basically shorted out the Wifi and 3G aerials causing dropped calls.

Next to come was the news that the iPhone 4 software (that, by now, all the iPhone 3’s were also upgraded to use) was ‘killing’ Small Business Servers and Microsoft Exchange Servers.  The iPhones were holding open the connections too long and sending the Exchange Processes into meltdown.

Apple released fixes for both of these issues (a free carry case for the iPhone 4), and an updated software release to fix the Exchange Connection problem.

At the moment, though, it’s not yet fully fixed.  Sending emails on the iPhone via Exchange often results in the email ‘disappearing’ completely.  It’s only when you look in the Sent Items on your PC that you notice that some of the emails you sent don’t exist.

Having a SmartPhone that you can’t trust to deliver emails is rather pointless – so the iPhone 4 is on its way back for a full refund.

So, what’s the conclusion?

Apple and Google have both missed the needs of businesses, yet continue to woo journalists and gain ‘5 Star’ ratings for their phones.  The features for the consumer cannot be argued with – a good camera, ‘Angry Birds’ and other great games, and an easy-to-use interface.  But, if you can’t reliably integrate with the defacto business email system (Microsoft Exchange), then anyone needing a phone for business is left with two choices…  pay through the nose for a Blackberry (with the extra BES subscription), or wait until Windows Mobile 7 is released.

Bearing in mind that Windows Mobile 7 will include full integration with Outlook/Exchange plus built-in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and SharePoint access, then that seems to take care of most of what a business user will need.  Add Maps, GPS, Internet, Social Media, a good Camera, and decent Bluetooth connectivity – then I think we’ll have something that’ll keep Steve quiet (for once!).

Windows Mobile 7

Take a look at the animations on this website and you’ll see how much better the new Windows Phone is compared to its predecessors. There’s no release date yet for the Windows Mobile – but it’s due ‘this autumn’.

So, please, for all our sakes, hurry up Microsoft…..  !

We’ve been providing hosted Exchange services to local businesses for the last 8 years, and the migration to Exchange 2010 represents another step forwards for us.

Exchange 2010 builds on the good work done with our current Exchange 2007 platform – so we’ve got the usual integration with the iPhone, synchronisation across multiple PCs, Calendar and Contacts sharing, Remote Access,  and the luxury of having immediate Business Continuity available.

And then we’re looking forward to reaping some of the benefits of having up to 25GB of storage per mailbox, better interaction with Outlook 2010 and Office Communicator (for secure Chat, Meeting and Desktop Sharing).

Once we’ve successfully started using Exchange 2010 ourselves, then we’ll let you know how it went.  And, we’ll be able to offer the service to our customers too.

Watch this space…

We’ve tried to tell a few people that we’ll be taking a new approach this time and trying to be ‘low key’ – but nobody will believe us.  I guess they know us too well!

So, despite what we say, you will be able to spot us – we’re the first stand you’ll see when you come into the Exhibition Hall, and we’ll be sporting our usual bright orange colours.

Wednesday 3^rd March is the date and Bracknell is the location. 

We won’t be bringing along lots of gadgets to play with this time – instead we’re going to focus on talking to all of the visitors and learning all about their businesses.  It’s a great opportunity for us to understand more about what people need, and ensure that we’re continuing to shape our services to suit.

If you need anything from your IT, or have ideas on how we can improve our services – then we’d love to hear from you.  Come and find us (it won’t be too hard) and let us know your views.

And, if that isn’t enough, there’s 60 other exhibitors at the show all offering services from Accountancy through to Event Organisation – it’s a fantastic opportunity to come along and do some networking.

More details on the show can be found here… http://www.bracknellbusinessexpo.com

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

 I’d like to thank everyone for the feedback on the Christmas Card conundrum that I discussed in January’s techbytes.  It seems as though I was not the only one who’d spent time thinking about the effect that sending Christmas Cards has – it’s been on your minds for a few years now, it seems.

 So, before I share some of the views of other techbytes readers, a quick recap on the question…

 Has the tradition of sending Christmas Cards died for small businesses?  Has the advent of the electronic Christmas Card taken over? Do your clients feel under-valued if they receive an Electronic Christmas card from you? Or does continuing to send traditional Christmas Cards mark out your company as being old-fashioned and out-of-tune with today’s Carbon-Footprint-aware society?  Or, are there some traditions that we should fight to uphold?

 These were some of the questions that I was considering as I brought the team together in December, with some great Christmas Jazz on the iPod and some mulled wine to drink, to write the Christmas Cards that we sent.  We decided, for 2009, that it was right to continue to send proper cards – but for 2010, we don’t know!

 It was interesting that the feedback we received was split 50:50 – half of the people who responded were keen on the use of Electronic Christmas cards – while the other half were strongly defending the tradition of sending a real card.

 Lesley Leather, of Tailored Training Solutions, confessed that “Christmas cards in business have never felt really comfortable”.  Lesley made the good point that companies often have “little room to put them up on display”.  Instead Lesley decided to “make a donation to a charity (I chose a different one each year) and I just let my clients know that, when I sent an e card.  I personally felt happier with this”.  From our own experience we found that a lot of you took this approach in 2009.

 But, Michelle Daniels, of The Results Consultancy, also took the charity route, whilst maintaining the traditional approach. “We will always opt for ‘charity cards’ that print on responsibly sourced paper” and she even took this one stage further with a wish to “keep services like the Royal Mail going”.  What I found most powerful in Michelle’s feedback was that “the companies that did take the effort and send real cards really stood out in the goodwill factor”.  But, Michelle also stressed that it’s “important to write a personal message of thanks to the individuals and businesses that have supported us in the past year”.  Michelle summed this up with “Actually I felt a bit disappointed that so many companies reverted to electronic cards this year… So here’s hoping 2010 doesn’t see the end of the Christmas card”.  It’s a sentiment that I’m inclined to agree with myself.

 Stewart Graham, of Avalon Solutions, is a self-confessed ‘scrooge’ who isn’t that keen on Christmas in the first place.  Maybe that’s reflected in his stance that “the argument to send electronic cards is very strong”.  Although Stewart did spend time commenting that many companies send Christmas Cards as part of their marketing strategy without any “analysis on their effectiveness for generating or retaining customers”.  This was especially true, Stewart argues, for Christmas Gifts where understanding the client relationship is important… “I decided one year to analyse how much each of those clients receiving a hamper had spent with us and found that some of them had not spent the cost of sending the hamper to them”.  Stewart did finish his feedback by thanking us for the Christmas Card that we’d sent him!

 Sharad Karia, of ComAcc, “finally bit the bullet and resorted to electronic Christmas greetings” in 2009.  He confessed to being in two minds during 2007 and 2008, but in 2009 he took the decision based on two factors “(the) desire to go green being one but the economical situation was the main contributor”.  But, in recognition that Electronic Cards are essentially free, Sharad “didn’t blast it out to all and sundry.  In fact, I sent fewer electronic cards at 2009 Christmas than I have done traditional cards in previous years”.  But, as Sharad concluded “Perhaps this wasn’t a right decision but is there a right and wrong, or even good and not so good? ” and that he was keen to “find out the opinions of your other clients if you get their feedback”.

 My favourite comments were from Graham Jump, of Consolve, though.  He sent traditional Christmas Cards in 2009 and received the following message from one recipient “Thanks for the card - how Old World of you”.  Graham took it as a compliment – but is there a concern that maybe some people would see ‘Old World’ as ‘Out of touch’?  Graham’s thoughts were summed up with “I can’t say I get much pleasure from an e-card. Just go with what feels right – I think there is merit in preserving the traditions.”

 And Graham’s parting shot was to add that he would include the following line in next year’s cards… “Instead of donating money to charity this year I have decided to blow it on sending these cards!”

 I know some of these comments were meant in good humour, and I’d like to thank Lesley, Michelle, Stewart, Sharad and Graham for letting me share them with you.  But it does underline the fact that the rules are changing, and no-one’s really sure how to react. 

 Far from this being the end of the discussion, I think it would be interesting to see if anyone has any more thoughts to share as we move into November 2010.  Perhaps I’ll re-circulate the discussion then before making a final decision on whether to order our 2010 Christmas Cards.

 Thanks for contributing to the discussion.  Steve.