Running A Business | Business Ethics Are Key

Running A Business | Business Ethics Are Key!

The way people behave in business has been troubling me lately. The integrity of a business is what is presented to the outside world. It starts off with politeness and courtesy, moves on to turning up on time and then to doing what you say you can. It also covers not saying you can do something when you can’t!

Communication is a lot to do with it. If you say when you are going to pay, make sure you do what you say. For any business struggling with cash flow that is a useful tip. Much better that you get in first and tell them what you can do rather than wait until the boys are coming round and start bleating then!

Think about all the times you have received poor service. A lot of it was unmanaged expectation. Had you been told some investigation was needed and a reply would be given within a certain time you would have waited. Had you been told what was happening/why there was a delay/ given an apology for whatever was amiss it is likely you would have had your opinion of the place enhanced and may even have recommended it.  To read the full article by Bob Shepherd on "Business Ethics", just click here.  Simple really!

Business Sales | The Power of Now

Business Sales | The Power of Now

The idea of immediacy has long been recognised in the "Sales" world. You know the sort of thing; if you are buying or signing up now there is a strong incentive offered like a discount on the price, or a free add-on.

I have been reminded of this a couple of times lately when for logistical reasons I have set an appointment for a potential customer some days ahead, or the following week. That meeting gets cancelled and we enter a sort of limbo where I have thought what I might offer and what I can contribute but the magic of the initial conversation is fading and both potential customer and I are starting to forget the point that was so obvious in the beginning.

By the time that meeting does happen, if it ever does, the initial gain has been lost and we have to start all over again and sometimes........... To read the full LinkedIn post, just click here. Simple really.

Business Marketing | A Different Audience

Business Marketing | A Different Audience

"First rule of business marketing: Always speak to your audience!"

When you present a talk always gear it up to the level you want for the audience you are going to have. It will be appreciated more. That seems obvious doesn’t it?

So too with writing. These articles usually have some business point to make and illustrate and my natural style is not always appropriate. It needs varying to make the point hit home. So too with networking, or the broadcasting of your business in any way at all. Varying the pitch and the style applies to speech just as much as it does to writing and presenting. What is confusingly called your ‘elevator pitch’ might be different in different places. It needs preparation and some careful thought, particularly as you have only a few seconds to get your point across....... To read the full Article by Bob Shepherd Associates, just click here. Simple really.

Business Marketing | Corporate Speak, cousins ‘Management Speak’ & ‘Sales Speak’ are alive and well

Corporate Speak and cousins ‘Management Speak’ and ‘Sales Speak’ are alive and well

I am always interested in language usage and there is a case for jargon and short hand speech within an industry and its peers. When that spills out to a wider audience it can be frustrating or amusing depending on your view point. I am not saying language should be always plain although that can be admirable on occasions. There are many cases for using the rich heritage of the English language to create effect, or give slant or emphasis to make a point. An articulate facility with English is useful and valuable as well as enjoyable. However those who trot out the business clichés raise questions about their own understanding of their subject and their own security within their business world. Are they trying to be impressive? Are they sheltering behind familiar club or tribal terms to show they belong? I count myself fortunate to have come across two people in business who unconsciously originated these clichés.


It must begin somewhere and I was amused to see people in their audience making a discreet note with the obvious intention of using those phrases later.  To read the full Bob Shepherd assocaites article, just click here.  Simple really

Marketing | Brand Building and all that

I have been into a number of businesses lately who haven’t grasped something I think is clear. Your presentation to the big world out there will have much more effect if it is a coherent one. Think about some of the big brand names that have infiltrated our souls, whether we like it or not or whether we actually use them or not. It is quite disturbing in some ways. Becoming a household name has a bit of a relationship with brain washing or brain conditioning of some sort.

There are brands I have in my head that date back decades and there’s nothing I can do about it. I was exposed to them at some point and they will live with me as part of my culture until I pass-away. Certain phrases inevitably finish themselves off in my head with the rest of the message. That shows just how powerful branding can be. To read the full Bob Shepherd Associates article, click here.  Simple really.

Business Planning | Networking South Wales

Business Planning | Networking South Wales

There are dozens of business networks in South Wales . I help businesses with business strategy and planning (“Business Building”) and I deal with business finance and organisation. Not a shameless plug altogether because my point is that the business planning for growth requires experience and knowledge in networking as a major sub heading under the all embracing term “Marketing”. You need all this in place to get your finance sorted to show you are a functional business, by which time you have a plan to put into action, if you have done it properly.


My view is that there is not just one answer to networking. Some networks work best with a business that can be easily pigeon holed by everyone. (Accurately or not – doesn’t matter, you can sort that out later on). Other businesses do not. Click here to read the full LinkedIn article by Bob Shepherd

Business Finance | Banks can't do it anymore!

Business Finance | Banks can't do it anymore

There was a time when the sensible way for a respectable business to finance the ups and downs of their developing cash flow requirements was to trip down the bank with their figures and see a friendly Bank Manager who knew them, understood their business and had the discretion to assist them sensibly and proportionately with an overdraft.

There were rules about this. With a long climb up the specialist ladder behind him (mostly a him) he knew how to assess the risk and how to apply the brake when required through monitoring, understanding and sensible appreciation of what the customer was trying to do. To read the full article from Bob Shepherd of Bob Shepherd Associates, click the link.  Simple really

Marketing | The Elevator Pitch. So Important When Networking

Marketing | The elevator pitch, so important when networking

It’s a strange term in business that has achieved the status of a phrase everybody knows and few people have examined for meaning.

Elevating is lifting up in some way and that is quite graphic. The word pitch is interesting though. There are dozens of meanings for the word, actually 50 listed in my dictionary.  In the business networking context I like the idea that it could mean the tone of your presentation, as it does in music.

More aggressively when you pitch something you throw it and the idea of hurling your service or product at someone you have just met is an anathema to business networking folk. It will get you nowhere.  To read the full LinkedIn Post by Bob Shepherd Associates, click here.  Simple Really.

Business Ethics and Presentation

Business Ethics and Presentation

What is it about the human condition that promotes corruption? By corruption I do not just mean out and out dishonest extra payments to circumvent a procedure, such as seems hopelessly endemic in some parts of the world. I mean any attempt to pull a fast one, to gain an edge by underhand means, to mislead with some sort of commercial gain. Simply to not bother is almost as bad. To read the full LinkedIn article by Bob Shepherd, click here

You Have One minute!

Business breakfasts, business networking events  and similar events often invite you to stand up and have one minute to say what you do!  Where to start? Similarly a common approach when at an event to meet new people is to ask,  'What do you do?' Much the same sort of content is required then as well.

Put on the spot you might struggle. Standing up and announcing to the gathered throng how good you are does not come easily either. Even those who have done it enough times to be relaxed about can and do get it wrong.

Obviously, if you are a new business you do need to sort out just what you do and what you need to say about it. There are some tactics you might adopt to avoid drying up and wishing you were invisible.

1) Have some simple things to say about what you have to offer. (Not so much what you do, but rather the benefit of using your service or product)

2) Rehearse it to check timing and sensible content but do not over rehearse. Never read it out unless you are so nervous you really need to do so. In which case make sure you speak it and don't read it. The tone of your voice when reading will be informational, not inviting.

3) Have a summary line which is memorable. Humorous perhaps, or at least a neat summation of your key message.

4) Speak up but do not shout. You do want them to hear you right?

5) Take a breath as you stand up and sort out your chair before beginning to speak. Face your audience before speaking. If you say your name and business name do so slowly and clearly and pause to let it sink in.

6) You only have one minute. Have an intro, a middle and an end. Sit down having made a clear statement and not distracted your audience away from your message.

7) Avoid saying 'also I do... '  then 'also I do...' with a long list. It's better to keep your content to one area of business.

8) Follow a formula such as this:  You know when..What I do is.. The result is..The benefits are..  (Not necessarily those words)

One of the key things BobShepherd Associates can give is an external view. This applies to networking speeches as much as anything else. Get a view of what you are saying from another perspective. It can always be better.  As a sort of critical friend to my clients it is one of the minor but important aspects we cover together.

It's a complicated thing altogether and worthy of a lengthy book chapter, but simple in its principles. 

Tescos - The Devil Is Not Always In The Detail

In response to a downturn in fortunes partly due to adverse PR from a couple of monumental mistakes the big Tesco machine has decided to retreat. Some 43 stores across the UK will be closing and some big developments will not be going ahead. A news article today has some details at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31365003 

This strikes me as the wrong strategy. It is not as if there are not still massive profits being turned in. They are not actually short of cash. Closing some stores is negative PR (again) and a reduction in the potential opportunity for income. Empty sites underline the idea that Tescos are not doing very well. In fact they are doing well, just not so well as they used to do. 

A giant Tesco Extra opened in Newport a couple of years ago. From the beginning it was obvious that something was wrong. Rushing to open it against the competition (Morrisons opened just down the road a week earlier!) it seemed poorly laid out and not well managed at the start. It was just too big. By the time you had traversed the aisles and discovered you had forgotten the sugar you were some distance away. 

It works better nowadays. The management has got to grips with it and though there are large areas of unused floor space it is now better organised.

One solution to all these closures and mothballed stores would be to adopt more of the policy they already have for including other enterprises in the main store. A number of small units and kiosks operate within the Tesco store building. Expanding that idea along the lines of a mini shopping mall would attract people to the Tesco store as well. This is the opposite to the current thinking which has people attracted to the units, because they are already in the store for Tescos. Department stores have been doing this for decades and still maintain their integrity. 

Keep it simple is my advice. My feedback to their recent survey on Price Matching was that it was not so important as they thought. Penny pinching over their rivals and in the process doing damage to the economy in the long run only generates more bad publicity in the end.

I am not used to giant supermarket chains phoning me up wanting Bob Shepherd Associates as consultants but the principles of a qualified external view, coupled with management strategies and basic business principles are there whatever size operation you have. The devil is not always in the detail.

Put Gravy On Your Dinner

If an aspect of your small business needs attention there are only three possibilities! First is that you can ignore it and leave it. Second is that you can learn, be shown or concentrate on that aspect. If however you are simply unable to tackle that particular aspect yourself because it is not your forte, or you cannot gain the skills and expertise or you simply do not have enough time to give it, then there is only one other choice. It must be given to someone else. 'Outsourced', as the business jargon has it. 

What you must not do as all teachers of delegation will tell you is pass it over with a sigh of relief and wash your hands of it. This is a case of dereliction of duty, rather than delegation of duty. 

Social media coverage is a case in point. It's an important tool in the tool kit for getting the message out there. In some businesses it is vital, in others less so but still important. If the business owner does not feel able to take it up themselves then perhaps someone else should do it. However it is not a case of handing it over. 

However good they are the agent can only do so much. Information and immediate opinion is not there for them and the best that can be achieved is a basic raft of material. It is so important that the business owner continues to put their own mark on it. Perhaps by supplying a few tweets or a couple of small articles for a blog, or posting a couple of entries. That is what gives the output quality and presence. It's what really contributes to the branding instead of merely supporting, which is what the agent can do. 

If you want your business rejuvenated and you want to re-establish direction Bob Shepherd Associates is well placed to give you that vital external perspective. 

Look After Your Introducers

If your business comes through introductions of some sort you will do better if you look after your Introducers. I am potentially a significant introducer. I see different people. I get to know about their business and their circumstances and I am trusted by my clients.

Those companies who expect some reciprocal arrangement - give me a customer and I will give you one back, have missed a point. It is unlikely that the two of us will have a stream of customers that is complementary or equal in numbers. Those who want to set up an Introducer's agreement have also lost something. The idea is of course that the agreement locks you in so that all your needs for their specialism will go to them with some small commission in return.

I have come to the conclusion that in most cases the amount of the incentive reward is of little consequence. I have colleagues who have a good product and offer a reward of £1000 for introductions. At that rate I ought perhaps to go looking actively for clients for them. 2 or 3 a month would be a useful income and quite achievable. Another colleague has a Health Care product that offers good commissions on policies sold and in both cases these things would be an easy conversation for me with my own potential clients.  

I have made introductions when it was completely obvious that it was appropriate. What is working against it is me, concentrating on my client and how I can help them with my own expertise. I do not want to pull out a list of add ons that I can run through. In short the other products are not my stuff.

Obviously for my own reputation, I want only to introduce appropriate clients but my point is that I do not remember to go fishing for leads either. So for me the substantial incentives are not the motivation. they are only nice to haves.

So if your business depends on introductions there are some key messages. Make your rewards good but let that not be the incentive. Encourage your Introducers by giving them work if you can. Establish your reputation amongst your circle as knowledgeable, affable and professional. Always respond to introductions and keep them informed of the progress and your appreciation of the business. Bother to find out who the introduction has come through if it is not obvious and then thank that person for thinking of you. Make sure you get on with and do the work properly for the client because you carry not only your reputational flag but that of your Introducer. Bother to catch up with them whenever you can. Support whatever they do. If they write an article make sure it goes out through your facebook/twitter/linkedin as well. If they just send out one tweet  then support it if you can and retweet it.

Bob ShepherdAssociates will show you how all this fits together with the marketing of your business.

A Government Enquiry into Lending for Small Business

I picked up today that Dylan Jones Evans is chairing an enquiry for the Welsh Government into banks’ lending to small business. I’ll be interested to see how much they manage to unravel as Banks have collectively been in denial on the subject of small business lending. “It’s not our fault, it’s that no one is presenting bankable propositions” has been the defence for the last year or two.

Deep seated problems

I hope they will enquire not only into new applications for lending but in the behaviour of banks to their “mass market” small business customers as well. For example HSBC have been tackling any business with an overdraft and bullying them into accepting alternative lending – factoring or invoice discounting usually, often quite inappropriately. Other Banks have done the same in more limited cases. HSBC culled a swathe of business managers back in the Autumn just a few days after they strenuously denied doing so. Whether the Head office spokesman knew about the cull and was wondering how the heck the journalist I briefed found out about it or whether the Head Office Spokesman had not actually been briefed at that stage remains speculation. 

One of the scandals about the ill conceived Project Merlin last year was that Banks were counting lending figures in their Merlin stats to look good that were not new money lending at all but were simply rescheduling old lending.Not much was made of the sickly outcome of the project that was announced with vigour and enthusiasm by the government a year earlier. The idea had been to encourage Banks to lend to small business and it failed significantly to do so. 

Shocking behaviour of banks 

Regarding banking behaviour I have come across cases where the account has been sent to some kind of “recoveries” department in a cavalier fashion when a competent manager would have been able to help it steer through choppy waters with no damage to reputation or loss of capital value. 

Shocking behaviour generally,  with a bag full of contributory reasons for it all happening. There is a lot of depth to such an enquiry and i bhope they manage to get to the bottom of some of these points in the short period they have to report. 

Other articles by Bob Shepherd 

I have a number of articles on line that relate to these questions you might like to see, with links below.

finance-for-business

small-business-and-banks

banks-and-the-clipboard

bankers-not-getting-their-feet-muddy

things-aint-what

bank-lending-to-small-business-smes

sorry-bout-that

fixed-or-floating

Bob Shepherd Associates is for business finance and business building. We try to get the components in your business working together and in proportion. The small business owner has a lot of divisions to deal with and to expect to be good at them all is a tall order. Let us see what can be done to maximise the potential of your business. 

The Cost of Marketing

Marketing Your Business doesn't have to cost a lot. There are ways you can present your service, your product and your existence to the outside world which don't cost a fortune.

Social Media

Most obviously there are a number of social media channels open to you free of charge. The only cost will be your time and effort. But that starts with understanding how to deliver a strategy for your business and the differences in their weighting.

It also involves understanding where your audiences are. For example two businesses  I am helping should appeal for different reasons primarily to young ladies between say 17 and 35. Five minutes observation in any high street coffee shop will tell you that they are very likely to be on smart phones and or tablet computers for what seems like most of the day. Conclude therefore that we need to have a presence there with a mobile friendly web site, good search engine architecture and a good active presence on the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and probably Instagram.  

None of that will be direct marketing but will all build the notion that we are attractive, knowledgeable and fresh with ideas.

Networking in person

Similar principles apply to networking in person. Building a 'profile' in the business community is always valuable and in some cases those people are our potential customers anyway. Again though there are things to know before diving in. Somewhere around 100 networking outlets are available in SE Wales. You can't do them all and some are more suitable for you and your business aspirations than others.

There is a cost to some. Others are less and some are free. Always there is travel to take into account, and your time again.

Articles , press,  blogs and publication

Are you expert in your trade, your field, your area of business? Can you talk about it? In some cases you may be able to deliver talks.  It doesn't follow for some reason that if you can talk about your subject you can write about it, but if you can set out your thoughts and theories on blogs online using one of the platforms that are easy to operate. If you can submit articles to publications, on line or on paper then do so.

Use the discussion forums to hold forth in an entertaining way either in answer or to start a new thread.  'PR' may cost but it needn't be expensive. So called editorial is more effective than plain advertisements. As with anything there are things it is better to know and understand which will improve the quality of your material and therfore its effectiveness.

Talk to your audience

Always bear in mind the attitudes of your audience or no one will read your efforts. There is no harm in telling of your achievements if you do so with a certain humility and are generous to others as well. No one likes boasting but you can be pleased that something in particular has turned out well and others will join in your pleasure. It also waves a flag for your success.

If you already have customers then talk to them without being pushy. Send them newsletters perhaps or some form of news delivery that shows appreciation of them. In the bad old days that meant a bottle of wine at Christmas plus a diary they mostly did not want.  Things have evolved since then. Imagination is rewarded nowadays.

If you are adventurous shout about that. Charitable activity is always applauded and the publicity is there for the taking.

Never be pushy, trying 'too hard' It is not appreciated and can be derided, which is not what you want.  Your Market is what is out there, your marketing is what you do about it. BobShepherd Associates will help you build your business by looking at what you are doing within your resources of finance, time, skills to get the best out of the potential you have. 

Pay And The Genders

‘The differential between the sexes on pay has increased to 22%’ A Radio 4 article on equal pay between the sexes prompted me to look at this topic again in these columns.

The emotive flavour of that comment hides a lack of substance and it was not explained in the item on the radio. If you take the average earnings of all working males and measure that against the average earnings of all female workers you get a figure for a comparison (presumably the 22%) but it is inadequate.

If you take all train drivers and compare them to all bus drivers you might have a comparison that makes sense, but even then only with qualification. For example the average wage in Cornwall is about half what it is in central London for the same occupation. With buses essentially more locally based in the main, you need to qualify the information. If you can agree a common basis under that observation you can start to compare whether the constant decisions and operation of a bus fairly compare with the longer lasting more intent concentration of a train driver who has possibly 10 times the number of passengers but has other people looking out for his route and what might be in the way, but all the stops signals and latest restrictions to attend to on his journey. Is it the same? The pay rates certainly are not, and partly from historical precedent.

Sticking with transport the BA cabin crews’ dispute brought out some interesting quirks. I understand the cabin crews are paid at different rates if they are working from Heathrow, say to those rates applying to Gatwick.  It seems they were agreed at different times under different trading conditions.  Widening the thinking, presumably the Unions are aware of what the various airlines pay. Does an airline crew from a non European country have similar rates to BA? I don’t suppose they do. Imagine if BA crews had wages pegged to the country they were in for that flight, Sri Lanka perhaps, or Thailand perhaps. You would never get anyone to fly to the poorly paid countries.

On a domestic scale the same considerations actually apply. Geography creates havoc however you look at the problem. At present there are some disturbing realities. Fire fighters I understand come from many miles away for some stations because they cannot afford to live in the locations where they are based. Perhaps they need subsidised accommodation as part of the package because the ideal worker needs to be based locally. But set a wage too high and workers would come from less favoured areas anyway simply to get the extra pay.

The cost of living in any one area is different and the reward for skills cannot be satisfactorily measured across the board. Part time work is sometimes more suited for some occupations and long hours is demanded for others. Some work is clean and some dirty. Some is dangerous and some not. All this is why we have seen Polish and Romanian folk, for example, coming to the UK for what seems like well paid work. The hotel and catering industries depend on foreign workers .

 A Tower Crane operator has a hugely responsible job, requiring special skills as well as a head for heights. Yet we pay entertainers and sports folk far more than would appear to be reasonable on any comparison. Maybe it should all come down to market forces and we should stop trying to compare and set benchmarks.

If every job was paid subject to the number of applicants in some way, ie subject to the Demand for the job vs. the Demand for the service, then the unpleasant jobs would carry a premium. The jobs that suffer a low benchmark figure now would be better paid in an expensive area. In an area that is less favoured the jobs would carry a premium just to keep or get people there. That already happens to some degree but not with any consistency.

The problem with that is already seen. Domiciliary Care workers for example have a responsible and trying job to do. They are not well paid for the most part. Usually they don’t get travel time I believe, so a Dom Care company is likely to have difficulty with a wide spread rural area. They will not be able to source staff to service a wide spread area at the same rates as they can in a town.  Since the Local Authorities go very largely on cost, the problem is passed on because the companies will not be bidding for less favoured areas without an overriding reason.

Small company SMEs are all subject to market forces. If it is not the big boys setting the rates, by comparison or by attitude (if you won’t supply us at that rate there are plenty more that will...) then it is the market forces that dictate the success of the business pricing policy. In there is the cost of wages in some form as well as all the other demand forces. 

The whole thing is riddled with unfairness and difficulties of comparison. I wish the news media would stop jumping on the wagon with headlines about gender comparisons when the problem is infinitely more subtle than that.

Bob Shepherd Associates tries to take in all the market considerations when considering the promotion and the presentation of a business to the outside world.  
For another article exploring this subject see 'Apples and Pears' - http://ow.ly/2FXsB 

Money Is A Figment

The Royal Mint picked out nearly £2m in fake £1 coins last year it has been reported. Actually when you think about it all the coinage and the notes we use are mere tokens anyway. 

The few exceptions are special issues of sovereigns and £5 coins made of gold  that are the other way round. They have no relation to the value of the coin either. They are legal tender but you wouldn’t spend them in quite that way.

If you were paid in gold coins the face value of the coins would be very low and presumably you would not be liable for tax, NIC etc. There was a legal case in America that decided you couldn’t do that but I am not sure it has been tried and tested under UK law. There is the minimum wage legislation however.

I pointed out to my Corporate Finance university class that most money doesn’t exist.  Banks work on the basis that not everyone will want their money in their hand at the same time and have done since 1931.  Therefore it is safe to lend most of it back out and when that person spends it and pays it back in, we’ll go round again.  One of the problems a year or two ago was that erstwhile respectable banks had stretched this principle beyond the limit.  The consequent ball of knitting could not be untangled.

Attempting to do so results in a run on the Bank. Selfish motives overtake academic principles. If the BBC reports queues around the Block to withdraw money from your Bank you are going to get down there yourself. I have been told that at the height of the banking crisis more than one major bank was within minutes of closing down the ATM cash tills!

Almost unbelievable, but then so was much else going on at the time.

So should we all go back to bartering? My expertise and knowledge is worth 53 of your lovely cabbages? We need a lowest common denominator of course. Other things besides round metal tokens have been used within living memory. Cigarettes in prison, or PoW camps for example. When paper IOUs were issued as a standard amount paper money was born.

There are interesting quirks around paper money -  who can issue it, where it can be issued and is it legal tender? (only sometimes) .  Other payment methods, cheques, credit cards, etc are not legal tender either.  It’s a minefield but actually, day to day, most people are happy to get on with it.  And not worry too much. 

‘Go to the Bank!’ declared my 5 year old (some years ago) when I said we had run out of money. As if the bank was a benevolent provider.

So money is all a big confidence trick. But what would we do without it? It is a measure of resource, a measure of success, a common denominator. (Who needs all those cabbages? ) Moreover money gets everywhere in business. Every department of business needs and uses it and could always do with a bit more in the budget. You do need to understand how it all fits together, and what your Accountant is on about with those papers he does for you. 

If your business needs developing, money will be part of the equation somewhere along the line. Let Bob Shepherd Associates sort it all out for you to your best advantage. We will help you Save Money and Make Money!   

All Change Is Not All Good

The call for cheques to be abandoned as a method of payment by 2018 is an inevitable step in the direction dictated by progress. Over the last 40 years the methods of payment have multiplied along with advancing technology and it is a wonder that cheques have maintained such a stronghold. Some 663 million transactions were conducted by cheque last year apparently.

What I have not heard mentioned however is the knock on effects. Is this also another nail in the coffin of the Royal Mail service? What are cheques used for nowadays? Shops do not take them anymore. The big supermarkets abandoned them a year or two back. I recall surprise at my own irritation when a customer paid by cheque in front of me in the queue and I wondered how it had crept up on me that the lengthy process of paying by cheque had become unacceptable.

Cheques are used for payments by post mainly. Of those millions of transactions possibly 75% were postal payments. That’s a lot of revenue for the post offices to lose. A good proportion of those payments are possible by some other means. The minority without a computer these days will necessarily be fewer by then. Those with an antipathy towards technology will have come to terms with on line banking.  Everyone will learn their pin number.  I witnessed an elderly lady checking with her daughter in a shop ‘Is my pin number 2036?’  There was an embarrassed shuffling all round at this flagrant breach of security etiquette.

So changes have a rippling effect beyond the obvious. The introduction of card payment mechanisms meant distance ordering became more available. Cash machines meant initially the availability of cash outside banking hours and then as machines were installed in remote locations the need to visit the Bank disappeared almost entirely.  The effect of this was that the Banks no longer have a captive audience they once had and sales targets assumed a greater importance. The banks have long been sectioned off into Retail and Commercial with the Retail arms dumbing down their longstanding staff and recruiting new staff as sales people. Gradually any expertise you might have found in the Branch has retreated with the retirement of experience leaving training anomalies all over the place.

I had an argument in Lloyds TSB a few months ago about a simple procedure with Executor and Trustee accounts.  The experience of the supervisor I was allowed to see was limited to some form filling and the processing centre she consulted at my insistence was not giving way. I should not have bothered. The understanding was not there anymore. I had dared to step away from the script on the clip board and no reasoning was to be tolerated from a mere customer. 

So the technology is useful. It speeds things up. The volume of transactions through the Banking system these days would never have been possible without it. It increases security enabling checks and counter measures no one would have thought possible a few years ago. The other face of the coin is that eCrime has become the subject of a special team for small business awareness. Frauds are still there, a tiny proportion of the overall figures, but enormous in their own register. Technology also standardises things, introducing efficiency but losing individuality and flexibility. It makes things possible. It makes things impossible. 

Change is good but not for its own sake. There are always losers. Quality, service, value (and not just the price) are all affected. As a small business you have to keep up with what is around if only to dismiss something as not relevant yet. Be aware of the market, your resources and the change in the wind. Your customers will too, so listen when they pass comment and do not dismiss them.  In the midst of it all there is advantage to be had by getting it right.

See Bob Shepherd Associates for practical help and guidance for small business.