Fiona Duncan-Steer, founder of RSViP Business Networking Agency, explains the importance of being ‘people’ focused instead of ‘customer’ focused.  Being customer focused isn’t always a good thing. I’ll explain. Wearing your sales hat and providing what you may class as top-notch customer service can and often will go against what you are setting out to achieve in the first place – from the perspective of the customer. Yes as a consumer we expect professionalism, honesty, a delivery on promises etc etc. That is standard for what we as business owners would like to think we provide consistently through our products and services, but as a customer, we also crave personability, personality and a bespoke service that makes us feel…well, exclusive and a little bit special. Not just another ring in the till, another tally on the chart and another invoice to process, because let’s face it, nobody likes to be ‘sold’ to. In fact, the best salespeople are those who sell to you without you even realising you are being sold to. This is why networking has become the new cold-calling – think about it. We as a customer want to feel valued, like the hard-earned money we are spending is appreciated. Some of the best experiences I have had when staying at hotels, dining at restaurants or even getting my car washed, are when I have had actual conversations and a bit of a laugh with the waiter/receptionist/bar tender, when they have taken the time to ask me questions, get to know me and make my experience just that little bit extra, going above and beyond the call of duty. That understandably overused cliché of ‘people buy people’ really comes into play here, as we wouldn’t spend our money with someone we didn’t like that much and if we did, it is likely we would feel regretful and unhappy about it, we’d wish we had gone with their competitor down the road who may not have been offering exactly what we were after, but who certainly would have made up for it with enthusiasm and appreciation. Sometimes this is all that it takes to bag the deal with me, in fact most of the time. As humans, we are continually on the quest for connection – even on a subconscious level, so the answer is simple – connect with your audience. We as businesses cannot afford to get it wrong anymore. With so many competitors out there doing what we do, most markets are saturated, so what stops someone walking a few yards down the road to give their money to your competitor who offers virtually the same thing as you, but just does it with a smile? Mistakes happen yes, no one is perfect, but as a business you cannot afford to be consistently complacent, blindly proceeding with lack of care in anyone or anything besides what they can do for you – particularly in a post pandemic world. ‘Service with a smile’ as they say is most certainly the way forward to capturing the attention of your audience and you’re seventy five percent of the way there in securing business if you have taken the time to get to know what it is your customer wants and needs. Most of the time people don’t even know what it is they need, that’s your job to work that out, so communicating effectively, in order to establish whether what they need is something you can offer them is ultimately very clever business. Granted you won’t be able to help everyone and again should you accept and admit this early on, it will save a lot of time, will not go unnoticed and will in fact be appreciated and you will be remembered for your honesty – instead of trying to manage expectations and not quite delivering on your promises, resulting in the opposite intention of business self-sabotage. Being people focused within your business and putting relationship building at the forefront of everything you do is a sure-fire way to laying a healthy and solid foundation for your business, which in turn will only grow and thrive from there. You will be remembered and recommended for your efforts, you will see longevity and higher customer retention and you will build a reputable brand with strong values with people at the core – something that many businesses don’t do because their tunnel vision for ‘bagging the sale’ overtakes everything else. So, ask yourself, instead of being ‘customer’ focused, could you be a little more ‘people’ focused instead? Fiona Duncan-Steer, RSViP www.rsvipnetwork.co.uk  www.fionaduncansteer.com   See this column in the May edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine.

Architects and construction consultants, YMD Boon, have opened a new, larger office in Lincoln as part of growth plans to expand its business further across the Midlands. In the past 18 months, the company has expanded into new sectors, broadened its client-base and increased its employee headcount by approximately 35%. With offices in Market Harborough and Nottingham, the expanding firm will be replicating the success it has had in these areas with a new focus on Lincolnshire and surrounding regions. Shari Setayesh, director, said: “YMD Boon have established relationships with many clients in Lincolnshire, including Boston College, Boston Borough Council and several local schools, so a natural step for us was to open a larger premises here for our growing team.” Jonathan Warren, director, also said: “We are excited at the prospect of working with more organisations in and around Lincolnshire. The move to larger office space strengthens our capabilities within Lincolnshire at a time when the region is booming.” YMD Boon are now looking for talented individuals to join them at this exciting time. Are you looking for a new role? Get in touch today or visit their Careers page here.

As part of the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and to meet the challenges of the 21st century, Derby City Council has created a new ambition document which outlines ideas for a bold, transformational vision for Derby city centre. The new document sets out ideas and ambitions for the city centre to inspire a conversation with the people of Derby to share their own ideas. These conversations will be the basis for a new city centre consultation, if approved by Cabinet members at May’s special Cabinet. The proposed conversations will initially run for 12 weeks. The vision will focus on longer-term ideas and interventions that will transform the city centre and secure its future as a vibrant place that people can feel proud of and want to visit. It will recognise the challenges facing all city centres, not just Derby, and provide an over-arching ‘direction-of-travel’ that will inform future plans and actions. Officers have spent some time engaging with key stakeholders and seeking to learn from best practice from across the UK. This has included visiting comparable cities where regeneration activity has led to successful transformation and speaking to those responsible for both planning and delivery. Cllr Steve Hassall, Cabinet member for regeneration, decarbonisation, strategic planning and transport, said: “We want to have a conversation with Derby residents, businesses and stakeholders about what they want Derby to be in the future. Our aim is to produce an exciting vision for the future of Derby city centre, supported by a robust delivery plan. “Whilst we need to take urgent action now to deal with the immediate challenges and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we also need a longer-term plan that addresses the structural issues that face the city centre, of which can’t be solved overnight. This ambition document is unique and outlines possible ways we can transform Derby and create a successful city vision. “We aim to achieve this by working closely with our Team Derby partners and to get a greater understanding of what our residents and businesses would like and need to see in their city centre. These conversations will be the first step towards creating a new vision which will restore its position as the heart and soul of Derby.” This is the first time a city-wide future regeneration conversation has taken place since the creation of the City Centre Masterplan in 2016, which has brought about exciting developments including the Our City Our River project and the Becketwell development. However, the vision will be distinctly different to previous masterplans, setting out overarching principles and a framework within which more detailed plans and strategies can be developed. Conversations around the ambition will inform the development of the new City Centre vision, which is due to be published in 2023. The report will be discussed at Cabinet next Wednesday. If approved, the consultation will commence at the end of the month on the Let’s Talk Derby website. The conversation will initially last for 12 weeks over the summer for residents to share their ideas and give feedback.