Fantastic Branch at Bilsborrow

I was out with Paula Vennells (our network director) on Friday and we went to a fantastic branch at Bilbsborrow near Lancaster
Sharon the subopostmistress was really pro-active in driving sales and we were there to deliver a golden ticket award for most improved branch on focus income
They had a carpet promoting products on the floor at the counter
There retail area was one of the most professional and well merchandised of any business that I've been to and it was a joy to visit
All the team always think about
How to deliver great service and tell the customers about our products and services
How we can continually improve the store
How to make the most of the space available

Some examples of Sharon going the extra mile for her customers:
Bilsborrow post office is on the main road between Preston & Garstang (A6) its a busy branch, however the relationships Sharon has built with her customers and local business's is a real credit to her and her team, she supports local events & festivals by extending her opening hours to provide all the usual post office facilities but also to provide cash & change to the smaller local business to ensure these events are a success. I have been in branch and customers actually travel past other post offices to come to her branch for there post office needs. The branch have had numerous issues with collections mainly from Parcelforce which could have been a major problem but not for Sharon, if the driver didn't turn up then she or her husband David would put the parcels in the car and drive all the way to Leyland to ensure her customers were getting the service they required (this is now sorted). Sharon has attended the face to face training events and always brings her team with her, she fully supports the training. Sharon see's the benefits the training brings for her team and for her customers, increasing their product knowledge, confidence and everyone's ability to have effective conversations with customers (and to colleagues who work in the retail side).

Great nights in the North East!

We've had some great success in the North East with evening , or all day , events - Probably more success than their football teams
Only last week we had an event with 7 new branches on the STEP programme and it was great to see their passion for success and thier desire for learning
It's great to see and if we could bottle up all the excitement and desire to win , then the results throughout would be fantastic
It's always worth thinking about what you do to drive passion, and desire to achieve in your branch
Do you make it fun
Do you enjoy work
Do you encourage and reward success

Proud of a branch

Swarn - who is one of my agents in Thornaby has now , twice stood up to speak to other agents /branch managers about the success story of his branch on the STEP programe.
It's great to hear how positive he is and that the programme has been such a success for him across all products (Not just FS products)
It's really all about
Quality of conversations with customers
Quantity of conversations with customers
Quality of staff having those conversations
and the sales model really does drive the above areas by coaching the right conversations, talking about the opportunities for every customer, giving the staff the confidence and ability to succeed

NFSP Conference

I was at the conference in the peaceful setting of Peebles just south of Edinburgh
It's the one main event where the NFSP get together and it's often (to me anyway) a mixture of humour and vitriol
Whenever i speak to NFSP representatives i have a great conversation - we will not always agree but there's an understanding of each others points of view
At the conference, in my opinion, many of the speakers on the podium often wanted to attack the business and get a cheer rather than make a valid point , which i found frustrating and disappointing
There must be a better way of engaging with agents but i still don't quite know the answer?