Jez Rose

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Jez Rose’s first year in the EC was a whirlwind of activity. Between the implementation of new marketing pillars, Adwords, setting up new systems, banner retargeting and learning to use social media more effectively, Jez barely noticed the remarkable results; he had gained 80 new agents and increased his turnover by 200%.

These were great signs of success by any means but he was determined to get serious and make his business the best it could be.

Jez says, “ I had been approached by a number of managers and individuals on executive leadership boards asking me to coach them on motivation, mindset and strategy implementation, so I sat down and began pulling my own resources and knowledge together in order to create behaviourally effective plans in response to their requests. I always ensured that the advice that I gave and the techniques I presented actually worked, so I put them into practice and created a global strategy.

“What better place to start than the EC Six Pack? A key thing that I took away from reading through the Six Pack was Nigel’s advice about taking a moment to stand still, take stock and take drastic measures if your numbers don’t add up.

So I sold three “vampire” businesses that were sucking up my time and money.

Focusing on just one business gave me the opportunity to develop three new services and add a premium product, and as a direct result of this, we had sales of more than £10,000 within just two months of implementation.

“A big revelation for me since joining the EC was the concept of 90 minutes of protected time every single day to grow MY business and to get and keep customers. It’s genius and it bloody works!”

To start out I only did this when I needed to, but now I do it seven days a week, without fail. Sometimes, if time is tight or I’m going to be doing a lot of travelling then I’ll arrange for a driver, or ask Mrs Jez to drive, so that I can do my 90 minutes on the move.

I’m deadly serious about the impact that scheduled, protected time has made to my business, and to my life. It’s changed everything. Really.

“It’s those 90 minutes that have been vital in securing me the time and opportunities to get implementing – and that’s the key. You can read books and watch videos until you’re old and grey but at some point you’ve got to stop and put it all into action. We’re all looking for the magic wand; the magic pill that will do it all for us but, in reality, we’re guarding an empty safe. There aren’t any more secrets- all that’s left to do is to put them into action.

“Take my printed newsletter for example. Nige and the EC assured me it would work and as a direct result of sending a monthly printed magazine to my clients, I added £28,500 to my bottom line. I know this because I asked why the client had scheduled work with us after not hearing from them for six or more years. They told me that it was because they’d forgotten all about me, but now, due to the magazine, they were reminded of what they were missing out on by not working with us.

“We also sent out regular emails and lumpy mail to stay in touch and position our key services. It commonly resulted in contracts, as did spending £200 on personalized cards to cold clients with whom we’d lost touch.

“Innovation in marketing has been key. When I couldn’t find the names of a few key prospect contacts that I really wanted to get in touch with, I sent out a Guess Who? board game (thanks to fellow EC member for the idea) with a post it note on it, attached to an envelope to complete with cover letter and a copy of our client magazine. As a result of those packages, I am now in discussions about a sponsorship deal worth £45,000 a year.

“I also outsourced nearly every role that I didn’t have to do, including a few that I could have done but didn’t need to, which freed me up to keep a closer eye on strategy, spend more time building key relationships and also develop new services. It also improved efficiency and productivity, too. For a long time I resisted outsourcing, and at one point I didn’t think that I had the money to, but I bit the bullet because I realised that I had reached capacity- that nothing more could get done with just me working in the business. Fortunately, I found the right people and they’re now critical to the smooth running of the business today.

“Our turnover rose twelve fold to £500,000 in a short time and this didn’t happen by reading. It’s been long hours, hard work and persistent effort. I’ve had to regularly amend strategies and get my head down to JFDI. The results, however, have been better than I ever would have imagined. I’ve published books, toured with a one-man theatre show and developed a TV show as well as written for national newspapers. The most important thing for me has been to stay focused. I have very clear goals, strategies for those goals and after consolidating the masses of knowledge available to me (The Vault, old editions of The Circular, The Six Pack and various business books) I’ve been able to find the space to breathe and finally start putting things into action.”