Chris Barrow’s Blog

The view from my hotel room window this morning - The Holiday Inn at Glasgow Airport.

Inspirational isn’t it - after I’ve been writing in the ezine and blog about “environments” this week?

Actually, it’s not trying to be inspirational - it’s succeeding in functionality.

After a full day of coaching with Elmsleigh House Dental Clinic (including a very interesting role-paly session in Tim’s surgery), I left Farnham at 4.15pm yesterday and drove 2 1/2 hours to Bristol Airport - there to email over another Starbucks Chai Tea Latte and catch the 8.30pm flight up to Scotland.

Last night, at 10.00pm, I began a meeting with a coporate accountant who is helping to raise capital for the next business venture. Our first meeting and I instantly like and respect him - the trust factor is provided by John Barry, who has introduced me to him.

Our conversation (helped by a couple of pints if ice-cold Guinness) concluded at 1.00am, with an agreement to meet for a half-day in London next week (Friday at the Showcase) to take matters further.

Whilst this is all exciting, I have to keep Team CB and myself focused on our core business - we have sales targets to meet this month and every month.

The good news is that interest in The Dental Business School is increasing every week.

Turning interest into cash flow is what all of or businesses are about.

After a couple of hours on-line this morning (and breakfast with John) I’ll be catching the 11.35am back to Bristol and then a 3-hour drive to Cornwall.

I suspect a weekend of rest but also the temptation to keep the professional ball rolling will be irresistable - pace not race Mr. Barrow - be careful.

It occurs to me, as I walk back to my room after breakfast - and see a newspaper, that I haven’t watched TV this week, or listened to a radio and I have no idea what’s going on in the world.

So the Holiday Inn Glasgow Airport was a functional place in which to arrive and depart within 14 hours. I just pity the poor holiday-makers who were littered around the bar last night - and the sales rep who engaged me in drunken conversation as I ordered a round of drinks at 10.00pm. He told me that he had popped down for a quick drink at 6, and was still there and clearly very much worse for wear.

He was speculating on how he would make it for his early EasyJet flight back to Bristol this morning. I’m glad I’m not on that one.

Business travellers - it’s a sad life we have sometimes.

Me? I’m on fire - opportunity, excitement and the knowledge that I have no idea what I’ll be doing in 12 months - it will just be bigger, better and even more fun.

Something rare and unique happened yesterday in Farnham.

Before our marketing workshop, my client and friend Dr. Tim Thackrah of Elmsleigh House Dental, made a surprise presentation by way of thanks for 3 years of coaching that has matured into a close friendship.

My gifts were a Mont Blanc fountain pen and a leather-bound journal.

Writing is one of my core values and I have never owned such an exquisite pen or such a large and obviously expensive journal.

I would have liked one of those publicity shots with Tim and I smiling at the hand-over but he had to dash off for the day - so the best I can do is above.

I was so completely delighted that the rest of the workshop day was fun, informative and full of laughs - because I was in such a nice mood.

I know we cannot go around handing out flashy pens all the time - but it just reminded me of what a difference some genuine appreciation can make.

My trusty sales manager drove all the way from Farnham to Derbyshire yesterday, hoping to complete new business with a couple of prospects from our “gig” in Doncaster last week.

He left full of vim and vigour - and I spoke to a dejected version of Paul late last night as he made the long journey back South with nothing but promises and fresh air. Dentists do love to procrastinate.

But that’s the life of a professional salesman and, as much as you may qualify a lead before you travel, sometimes it just doesn’t happen for you.

My leadership responsibility last night was to lift Paul by telling him that I had secured a new client during the workshop and that we were dealing with 4 firm enquiries received during the day.

In conclusion, I’m in a place this morning where I’m reflecting on how we sometimes forget to appreciate those around us - and the difference it can make when we do.

“The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion.”

Elizabeth Knox - The Vintner’s Luck

Without that - we have nothing.

Thank goodness for Starbucks and their T-Mobile WiFi service.

Staying connected is a vital part of my professional life and I began writing this week’s ezine in my hotel room at The Bush in Farnham on Tuesday morning. My plan was to spend the whole morning on-line, writing ezine, blog and answering emails.

Withing an hour of starting my spirits were beginning to decline and, on reflection, I realised that the hotel room was draining the enthusiasm out of me. Sat alone in a slightly tatty room, in a rather tired hotel, surrounded by grey people.

So I packed my bag and pootled down Farnham high street to Starbies and, after buying a Tall Tazo Chai Latte (yum) I settled down for 4 blissful hours of laptop heaven - sad boy.

It’s just great though - I can focus down for minutes at a time, thinking about what I’m going to write - and then surface for a few minutes and have a quick look around at who is passing by.

People watching can be fun sometimes.

So by 1.30pm my emails were cleared and my writing completed.

After a telephone conversation with a dentist who wants some strategies on how to buy out a miserable partner, I met with Paul Nelson back at The Bush (which we tolerated) and created the “Mother of all Prospect Lists”, so as to see exactly what our new business is looking like over the months ahead:

• Grade A prospects - people who will join in October
• Grade B prospects - people who will join after October
• Grade A activities - products and services that will generate cash flow in October
• Grade B activities - products and services that will pay us later in the year.

List completed, my confidence in the next 3 months had grown by an order of magnitude.

Paul and I enjoyed a pint and laugh - and then I was “Billy-no-mates” for the evening.

A solitary Diavola pizza (yes - you’ve guessed - Pizza Express in Farnham) as I read my latest novel and a long soak in the bath before watching the second half of Manchester United v. Benfica on TV - 1-0 to the Reds - great end to a busy and productive day.

Lights were out at 10.00pm.

Here is my client Dr. Nigel Olesen (and my big yellow car), outside his newly acquired premises in Oxford.

They may not look fabulous at the moment - but wait and see!

I’ve worked with Nigel as a client for over 6 years and have seen his implant referral practice grow from strength to strength. Nigel is a great guy who loves golf, fishing, shooting, his Lotus and the delivery of world-class clinical skills to his patients. I enjoy his company and the way his mind works.

After literally years of searching, he has finally found a location in central Oxford and completes (fingers crossed) on the purchase later this week.

He plans to move premises to a brand new “state of the art” facility early in 2007 and on Monday I was invited down to:

• Facilitate a team meeting to consider, decide and act upon the marketing campaign that will launch the new business;
• Walk around the bare premises with a piece of chalk and mark on the floor which rooms will be where;
• Discuss with Nigel his overall business strategy for the next 3 years

Although this isn’t a profitable day by the standards of workshops and “gigs” - I loved it.

I get such a buzz out of being involved in start-up projects like this one - and I look forward to a “grand opening” sometime next year, when Nigel’s vision has become his reality.

One of those days when being a business coach is a blast.

I am delighted to receive my daily dose of inspiration from Story People:

Often, I write all day long with white ink on white paper,
late into the night, until it is all I can do to feel the letters curving to earth from the tip of the pen & then,
I fall asleep.
Dreaming of running, or maybe driving in a car the color of water & I wake the next day remembering nothing &
I gather the stack of paper & a pen of black on the desk in front of me &
the words begin to dance over the page like long legged insects across a still lake &
the words in white whisper behind & underneath the new day.
If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it:
the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. & there is nothing more to it than that.

Off to central Manchester on Saturday, for a chance to look around the city for the first time in some months and also indulge my two daughters.

As we enter the city centre by car, the police cordon the whole area off and turn us away.

I had completely missed the fact that Prime Minister Tony Blair is arriving in town that morning, in preparation for the Labour Party conference - and that 15,000 protestors have also taken the opportunity to tell him how they feel about the war in Iraq, hunting, the Trident missile, communism, Islam, gay rights, Guatanamo Bay, the decline of Tupperware, the poor performance of the Ford Edsel, slavery, keeping pandas in captivity, out of town shopping malls, speed cameras on motorways and just about every other thing you can think of that’s happened since the Beatles. I think I saw one banner blaming Blair for the fact that Glen Miller had gone missing.

So whilst I am trying my best to indulge in some plain and simple retail therapy, a collection of wierdo’s, drop-outs, students, fundamentalists, teachers, engineers, trades unionists and Uncle Tom Cobley are parading around the shopping streets to the tune of “One, two three, four - we don’t want your bloody war.” Observed with a combination of disinterest and confusion by hundreds of 12-18 year olds who are in Manchester to buy the very latest music and fashions.

Curiously, I discover a discarded pile of Friends Of the Earth placards later in the afternoon, when the protestors have finished and wandered off for a GM cappucino and Danish. Have FOE moved on from pollution to weightier matters?

At least our Catholic community have ignored the encouragement to fight with the Muslims, as suggested by their new Fuhrer, Godfather, Pope. In fact, I have to admit that I am a little impressed that so many people with so many things to protest about can be united by their common hatred of one politician (well maybe two if we include that American guy that’s working him) and set aside their differences for the day. Good news was that the whole affair was peaceful, in spite of the hundreds of policemen in battle-gear who seemed genuinely dissapointed at the lack of anything to do on an unusually warm and sunny afternoon.

My suspicion is that the absence of Manchester United supporters who were watching their team down in Reading, probably contributed to a peaceful day.

There is, however, one blessing in all of this - no traffic! It’s the first time in my life I have walked around the city with no cars crawling bumper to bumper - and it’s quite wonderful.

So here’s an idea for Manchester City Council (we were Britain’s first nuclear-free zone you know - way back).

Hey “comrades” - why don’t you close the city to traffic every weekend - encourage shoppers to park just outside, bus them in - and maybe more people would choose that option, rather than drive out to the Trafford Centre and avoid the congestion, outrageous parking fees and asphyxiation? Just a thought.

On the way into town, I am amazed at the sheer volume of property development that is going on. The developers are still building urban apartments. Having converted all of the Victorian canal-side cotton offices, in which Marx and Engels developed their theories of capital and the working classes in the 19th Century, they have now moved on to start building shiny new glass towers, the most impressive of which is the new Beetham Tower which, at 47 floors, will be home to the new Hilton Hotel and England’s highest residential property when it opens later this year.

Money continues to pour into the city and there were parts of the skyline that I just didn’t recognise. A far cry from 15th June 1996, the day I arrived back from a trip to San Francisco to discover that a huge terrorist bomb had devastated the shopping centre of the city.

Friday I drove from Bristol to the Holiday Inn, Doncaster to spend the afternoon presenting to 100 people for a fee of £147.00!

Why would I do that when I can pick up speaker fees as high as £3,000 a day in the UK?

When I am asked to speak at a conference I normally take a look at “who is behind it.”

If the conference is arranged by:

• A supplier of services to the profession or
• An independent group of practitioners who are pooling their resources or
• a large trade of professional association

Then I will ask a much higher fee (closer to the daily rate I achieve when coaching my clients) - because I know they can afford it, because I know they will get fantastic value for money and because I know I’m worth it!
But when the “gig” is organised by a much smaller and less affluent group, I’ll “do my bit” and ask them what they can afford. I’m putting something back into a profession that has been very kind to me - and exposing myself to the risk of picking up some new clients.

And then there are the talks I give for the National Health Service.

So yesterday’s “gig” was organised by the South Yorkshire and East Midlands Postgraduate Deanery.

In fact, the real reason I was there is that my client, the very excellent and enthusiastic Bev Harston, Practice Manager of Glendair Dental Practice and DCP Tutor for the whole Deanery recommended my services as speaker and, with the help of Kathryn Woolass, Postgraduate Dental Tutor for Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotheram, made it happen.

So the money is lousy - but the rooms are always full of very open-minded teams. Doncaster was no exception.

I arrived after my long drive to pick up the tail end of Ashley Latter’s presentation on ethical selling and communication and, once again was reminded of what a great speaker he is.

It was good to take lunch with Ash and catch upon what we are respectively doing - I’ve known him for 7 years and as our businesses have grown we see each other less and less. Ash is also arranging for me to coach a group of his clients outside of dentistry and there is a very lucrative Strategic Alliance developing.

Ash has worked with a group of franchise owners for a couple of years and has realised that they are all “Lattered” but need/want more. He has recommended that they get “Barrowed-up” next. I think it’s a forward-thinking business owner who reaches the limit of what he can do for a client and then recommends them to a “competitor” for further coaching. Hat’s off to Ashley, who hasn’t asked for a “bung” for doing that - he just knows it’s right and knows I will compensate him with many client referrals in the future.

Then on to my presentation on “Team building and Communication Skills”.

Well - it was a Friday afternoon - so I decided to have a laugh with them.

After Ash had warned them that the “Robbie Williams” of dentistry was speaking in the afternoon (!) I had to live up to the introduction - so I adopted my “bold, outrageous and provocative” stance and had them laughing in the aisles - great show if I don’t say so myself.

The icing on the cake was that Paul Nelson met with one of the dental principals present after the meeting and agreed for him to take a full-day practice audit AND to join The Dental Business School.

So my 200 mile drive for £147 turned into an afternoon of great fun, a strategic alliance that could bring in over £30,000 of new business in 2007 and a new client who will invest £5,500 in coaching with us in the next few weeks.

That cloud had a very silver lining.

Three days on the road, in Bristol, Scotland and Doncaster - and hardly a moment to rest, let alone write blog posts!

Today we are at The Norton House Hotel, just outside Edinburgh, where another large group are enjoying our third workshop on customer service, the Patient Journey and selling skills.

UK dentistry is changing - there is a silence at some times as I can see the clients’ minds ticking over - thinking about the changes they need to make to stay ahead of the competition.

Because of my travel schedule this week, I am falling behind with emails and other work.

That wasn’t helped by a 5.30am alarm call from the Hilton this morning that failed to materialise.

I won’t share with you my first words when I woke at 7.00am this morning - suffice to say that a rush followed but I was still primed and ready to go at 9.00am.

It’s been a good two days and tomorrow will be a nice change, guest speaking at somebody else’s conference!

Shortly, off to the airport and yet another flight.

Today has been another business development day and I have spent the last 7 hours mainly writing copy:

1. This week’s ezine;
2. The launch of a new mini-retreat to take place in November and
3. Creation of a PowerPoint slide to explain our proposed 2007 corporate structure (for Team CB)

One or two adminstrative matters have cropped up along the way but my mind has been well focused since I began at 6.00am.

It is always important, when writing sales copy, to keep the desired outcome of the delegates in mind, rather than another list of “how clever I am”- so I’ve been working hard to make our Autumn mini-retreats as attractive as possible. I’ll be launching them officially in next week’s ezine.

The really bad news is that I’m off to the dentist shortly for some root canal treatment - always a seat-gripping experience.

Then a long drive up to Bristol in advance of our Patient Journey workshops there tomorrow and Edinburgh on Thursday.

I’ll be finishing the week in Doncaster on Friday with an afternoon presentation on team-building.

In fact, I packed my bags this morning before spending 9 days travelling - no doubt by the end of that lot I’ll be doing my impression of Bill Murray in “Lost in Translation”.

Photo by Yoshio Sato - © 2003 Focus Features. All Rights Reserved.

Monday is normally a “buffer” or business development day - and I’ve been working with Bonnie on the future cash flow forecasts and also a preview of our corporate structure and tax planning for 2007.

With the aid of knowledge from our accountant, we are considering some alterations to the way our company is set up, in order to take advantage of legitimate strategies to reduce the overall burden of personal and corporate taxes.

Although I am not a dentist, I was mindful as we spoke, that many of my clients are currently considering the incorporation of their dental practices IF a clear advantage can be demonstrated.

Along with other advisors to the profession, I have counselled caution in this regard, because a perceived saving in tax can bring with it a raft of consequences from an administrative, time management and reporting perspective.

At The Dental Business School, we are considering the relative merits of partnership, limited liability partnership and incorporationfor 2007 and beyond.
Its a complex issue and I’m a lot further on in my understanding today.

Barbara Naisby of Black Isle Dental Studio, Ross-shire, Scotland facilitates a feedback session on “marketing” during Saturday’s meeting.

I’m completing this post on a very tired Sunday after a 3-hour drive back from Bristol last night.

During Saturday we established the “shopping list” of support services that members of a dental producer group would require.

We also discussed the pricing strategy for those services, a likely corporate structure and sources of seed capital to move the project forward.

Team CB has emerged with a host of ideas and some deeper friendships with those we invited.

Perhaps my favourite moment was at the end of the second day when I asked who would want to be a member of this producer group and who would want to be an investor. A near unanimous show of hands demonstrated a level of trust that I found humbling.

The next step is to move towards a formal business plan and strategy - and also those inevitable spreadsheets to figure out exactly how much this is going to cost.

It dawned on me this morning that I may soon be an owner and leader in a £10 million business - and that I had better look at my current performance and behaviour and see whether it matches up.

It is quite astounding when you reach that conclusion all by yourself, rather than at the behest of other people.

A heartfelt thanks, in conclusion, to all the clients who showed up and participated so fully, to the Aztec Hotel who excelled in customer service - and to Team CB who organised and handled the event with such professionalism.