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A conversation with Michelle Scott.

MSVA

Fast track My Most Trusted trainer and relationship builder extraordinaire.

Michelle Scott
Michelle Scott

You can feel experience in a conversation can’t you?

Michelle imparts infectious enthusiasm partnered with absolute belief that business on the smartphone has moved into a completely new era.

One of four kids growing up in South Africa her father worked in a goldmine and her mother had 32 boys aged 6 to 18 in her house at a large children’s home, she ran it with an iron fist.

Michelle’s inherent feistiness inherited from her mother, and the considered thought process of her father are admirable traits.

After schooling Michelle studied fashion design, and quickly realised she enjoyed the process side and the psychological side of people in business.

Feeling her need to grow and discover people in life she’s she switched jobs including spells as a switchboard operator and a bartender in a nightclub.

But it wasn’t until she started to be involved in the Florist industry and working closely with senior management she began to realise importance of relationship management.

It’s core to her thinking process core to her career growth and one particular woman poured emotional problems into her work which again helped her to learn how to work with senior management in other industries, including estate agents and landscaping.

So, with this experience and core confidence she reveled the interview process, and it took her exactly where she wanted to be, the rewards were good

The only thing that didn’t really work out was a short space of time working in a hotel, but apart from that she’s forged a career with huge administration skills, interpersonal skills and above all relationship building skills.

Getting married and moving to the coast.

Michelle loves Mossel Bay near the Klein Brak river bordering the Garden Route National park, a beautiful part of the world, she loves watching the whales in the mornings.

Earlier in the year she bumped into Scott Cundill of My Most Trusted and she just knew instinctively this was her vocation, she would say that My Most Trusted {MMT} has changed her life.

TRAIN THE TRAINER

It’s a big role on the fast track training program and Michelle is fastidious.

The benefits

Michelle’s clients are looking to reduce their marketing costs and increasingly they are focusing on return on marketing investment. She is moving ahead of the trend for quality relationship building and warm lead generation.

Although my most trusted is a simple to operate proven system for creating warm leads, it requires time training yourself, her clients haven’t got the time and they want to quickly implement MMT succinctly and precisely.

She confidently exclaims that any business can generate 1500 warm leads a year PER LinkedIn account without a hint of selling.

Her fast track training program instills the habit of use.

Her quickly delivered training guarantees anybody using the My Most Trusted platform will absolutely fly.

Maltix Partner

Intrinsic to her belief that the smartphone has become the number one business tool, she’s also smart enough to see the adoption of small business problem solving using Dynamic QR landing pages.

Implementing professional in situ QR solutions has been a rapid learning curve for her and she’s very excited about getting these solutions into her business community.

Her leading question is “What keeps you up at night ?” we have a solution.

These QR are going on the side of her car !

Click or SCAN

My Most Trusted Trainer
My Most Trusted Trainer

VIDEO explainer for My Most Trusted

My Most Trusted
My Most Trusted

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A conversation with John  Ambra

VP sales TAWK The largest CHAT room on the planet

Business tech blog for small business from Maltix online stationery.

serviced vcard
Online stationery

In preparation for a google meet call next week to some contacts via Marc Jarret’s WhatsApp networking group, I thought an introductory BLOG would be useful.

Eight years ago, I decided to install a chat room into my WordPress maltix.co.uk website, I was recommended TAWK and have used it ever since without a hitch and also use the App.

A couple of years ago, a group of us banded together as Partners within the My Most Trusted programme through Scott Cundill.

We became a self help support group, the idea was we would learn much quicker collectively than individually.

As ringleader, I set up a SLACK system where we could share and manage vast quantities of email correspondence and documentation.

We began integrating technology we were using, especially Google Meet for up to 100 people for free, a brilliant tool and so easy to use to this day.

It was during this time that we began to realise there was a lot more to TAWK than met the eye, so I invited the very modest John Ambra into our sessions.

A conversation with John Ambra, nonchalance Aussie style

Lovely relaxed conversation with John this morning, the sales VP from Tawk the largest chat room on the planet.

John is an unassuming man with an interesting background in direct sales.

He started off as a door-to-door knife salesman and his party trick even today is to cut a five cent coin in half using the very same knife from 20 years ago.

That’s the value of selling something that’s worth $1200 I guess.

After university he set up a small business being a DJ and with his parents help put some money into the musical equipment, he then got more and more into direct sales.

The mindset of commission only

I’m with John, the best sales people in the world are commission only.

To be excellent earning through cold calling commission takes its toll.

You don’t hear of people talking about the benefits of commission only and the personal growth you need to experience to get really good at your job.

Jump forward to a 21 year old John starting his own sales company with some big US Brands.

After nine years and loads and loads of different types of products, boutiques etc over 120 people were on his team, commission only.

After 9 years running his own company, a good friend of his Rob began to talk about the next stages within his CHAT room creation called TAWK, on New Year’s Eve 2017 the stage was set.

Rob was looking to refocus on his company and needed somebody to take over sales within a couple of days over a percolated coffee, John and his brother committed to TAWK

In 2018 a big change came into John‘s life because he decided to shut down his sales company, that was tough for him, but he needed change.

John said it was really interesting going to work with people he had known since primary school, including their wives!

A bootstrap company with numbers that take your breath away.

Numbers trip of the tongue with John, nonchalantly announcing that the dashboard attracts 4000 new clients a day and they have got 7 million users.

Tawk controls 20% of the marketplace and they get regular offers for the sale of the company, it aint happening, the journey has a long way to go.

And the strapline hasn’t changed from day one “Forever FREE”

I asked how they make money, a bit cheeky maybe ? not at all replies John.

There are elements in place that make money.

Many business account managers employ TAWK chat operatives for a dollar an hour and then there’s the VA service to let you become more productive by freeing up time.

There’s also a White Label offering if you’re not familiar it allows you to brand other peoples technology within your own brand, a seamless provision of service.

Tawk has also added video screen share and very sophisticated CRM

2023 is a real big year for growth adding more tools and more value into into the system.

John confidently predicts that the integrated services of TAWK will become the biggest business operating system on the planet.

With 2.9 billion widget transactions a month on Tawk, you cannot possibly doubt that.

Next year this CHAT room moves into SMS and email ability to seamlessly interact all your channels in one place.

WhatsApp Facebook Instagram, website, App all in one place with more integration of in situ payments and in chat payments.

This is the exact same spirit of in situ smartphone business we keep on about.

There are more exciting announcements on the horizon moving towards crypto-based payments as well perfect for small business.

It’s easy to see business adopting TAWK as a one stop shop, one place to login into in the morning, everything you and your clients converse about all in one place.

3 Words about John: Gritty. Generous. Intune

CLICK or SCAN to view dates & register

This is the worlds first EVENT platform built for the Smartphone with secure CRM integration. RENT directly from Maltix

Add EVENT to the diaries you use and share via you phone.

Chat room coaching
Chat room coaching
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Failing small business trapped in the slow lane

blocked in by trucks

Massive growth towards the smartphone is crushing the very life out of your business.

In the very 5 seconds you think your business should get noticed, you are being dropped like a stone.

We are all on a busy road boxed in by big wagons, it’s uncomfortable and you cannot wait for the open road again, this is just like your website!

Look at the picture above, which car is yours?

Look again and you can see an alternative, an empty railway.

The Landscape for small business using the internet effectively is being driven down by blinkered thinking, yet simple value solutions are finally here, especially with online stationery.

Failing small business trapped in the slow lane

Dynamic QR

Ingenious in situ point and shoot solutions.

Loads in one second on the very device everybody carries.

Obvious isn’t it?

The challenge is that print companies simply do not understand the technology, it’s not their core skill.

And webmasters cannot implement the technology without the skills of a print and copy designer, it’s not their core skill.

Do you feel that you are missing out on the smartphone revolution?

Are you frustrated that you are not getting enough customers and don’t deliver a world class service?

Request a free demonstration and see for yourself how our services can engage your customers.

They’ll be able to learn about you, interact with your business and order products and services, whilst holding their smartphone – the single device that is always with them.

The vast majority of Maltix clients come to us in confusion and exasperation because their online stationery is, well, a constant disappointment.

Talk to an expert, click CHAT, leave a message we will get back to you.

William Nicholls

Founder and MD Maltix LTD

A WFH opportunity

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Why your website is a disaster on the phone

PWA deal today

The majority of website business traffic is conducted on the phone, yet most websites are a complete disaster.

It’s got nothing to do with internet speed !

The average Millennial born after 1980 will drop your website like a stone if it doesn’t load in less that 2 seconds.

If your a bit nerdy, go Google “why is my website so slow on the smartphone”

The Millennial actively looks for QR and the New Progressive Web APP in combination.

Almost for sure your fancy website is a terrible disappointment, yet you keep paying out a fortune for your “web team” or put incredible effort into your own website that continues to under perform.

Use your own website as an example:

HERE IS ALL THE PROOF YOU NEED

Find out the speed of your website, prepare yourself to be really upset.

GOOGLE TEST

Are you on a PC ? Now load this webpage on your phone.

Millennials predominantly dont use PCs !

Do the same test with a QR live link DEMO

Do the test again with a Progressive Web APP DEMO ( No APP store required! )

A website on the PC an APP on the phone

Perplexed ? you should be.

Talk with the people who believe that the website is over

Long live the website

First name: Last name: Telephone: Email: Note:
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Property Agents continually neglect the needs of the Smartphone user.

Estate Agent/ realtor QR advice

And risk being vulnerable to early adopters.

Subscription QR is a paper based Tech solution with a focus on adopting QR in the Property market

Pick up your Smart phone ( People dont carry PC’s around with them !)

You can print this off and Scan with a Smartphone, hand it out to your colleagues, fax it !

You can also Scan off your PC , you can also use QR smart links, a bit like a short website link, but this is a Smartphone first document.

Created by Toyota in 1994, once the QR code is scanned it will then take you to a specific address.

It’s astonishing what a QR code can be connected to !

Tick the boxes and email to yourself

QR code uptake has increased exponentially with 70% of all Smartphone users expecting QR in their daily routine.

They know from experience that the QR code always leads to Smartphone friendly information.

The Smart QR industry specifically adopt smartphone friendly widgets and content.

For example, a smartphone enabled PDF, obvious isn’t it ?

Certain industries have embraced QR but the property industry remains way behind the curve and almost certainly vulnerable to early adopters.

Somehow the Estate Agent / Realtor industry harks back to the tradition of the appointment with an Agent and neglect the needs of the smartphone user.

Maybe there is an inherent lack of detail within the industry ?

Gone are the days where the detail can be discarded because the smartphone user has upended the sales cycle.

By the time your average Millennial make an appointment, their research is already done !

And woe betide the Agent / Realtor who fails in the detail on a property instruction or introduction, especially during the stress of a pandemic.

The other startling problem in the Property industry, is that there is usually a fundamental issue with the technology employed by Estate Agents and Realtors.

The typical technology would be infinitely more successful used in tandem with QR.

Millennials avoid websites like the plague, they are impossible to navigate at speed and load slowly in comparison to a PWA or QR code.

(The burger bar navigation on A Progressive Web APP is so simple on the smart phone )

The presumption that a database driven website, with glossy images created on a large PC connected to a high speed internet connection somehow works on the small Smartphone device with a satellite connection is a mistake.

It’s as if Agents and Realtors are held to ransom by their in house ‘tech experts’ who in turn have a deep self interest in staying on the payroll.

The future trends are all pointing in one direction and thats outsourced subscription cloud solutions.

Adopting QR in the Property Market.

1. How to Use A QR Code:  always have a call to action.

2. Include The URL: Try to include the URL (web address) on the marketing material as not everybody will want to use the QR code e.g. if you are putting the code on a set of particulars then include the URL for the property on your website. This is so much easier using a QR URL like this https://archers-3bed/finchley

3. Help Test & Measure: With QR codes you can track how many people have scanned the code. Therefore allowing you to know how many people have scanned from a recent leaflet drop. This is how you test and measure marketing.

Campaign request Scan statistics

4. Where Should The Code Take The User To: Think twice about linking to your homepage.

Select a Subscription QR Company that provide a dedicated social media landing page or Property template for the individual property.

5. Size Matters: Only use high definition print QR codes that read within on second. Spend effort and thought on QR placement. Listen to the collective advice and best practice of an outsourced Expert.

6. Increase Website Traffic: QR code should face inwards and outwards on window displays, be at a scannable height and well illuminated with no sheen or plastic reflective covering. QR in the right position will be scanned day and night 24/7

7. QR Codes must link to Property Detail: ( Precise and standardised Property details )

This Property Detail template has the option of GEO locator. This example is switched ON.

Using outsourced Professional subscription QR and Agent or Realtor knows exactly where the QR was scanned.

3 bed rental detail
3 bed rental detail template

This Template is great for Property of the Week open space large QR showcase

Scan for photo and video
Scan for photo and video

8. Where Should Your Agency Use QR Codes: on all particulars, window cards, lists, leaflet drops, business cards & brochures, hoardings, vehicles and For sale boards as the main feature, Place Agent V Card QR in the property window if possible.

9. Every property in every sector within the Agent/ Realtors portfolio should have a professional VIDEO and the secret to this is to source a templated property Video APP

Momenzo Access
Momenzo Access for Agents / Realtors

10. Outsourced professionals monitor the the Code 24/7:  They never assume the code always works and have automated procedures that flag any QR link problem

11. Why Subscription QR is so important. An outsourced cloud based service. Every QR within your subscription you own for the Subscription period.

Any QR code can be changed after print

Any QR can be redesigned with a different call to action or role at any time its all part of the 24 hour service.

Sell a property, no problem, we will change everything in readiness for the next property.

Spot a typo, it will be changed immediately.

12: Using QR to automate your clients requirements.

Allow clients to book viewings directly into your Agents calendars, connect particular Agents to particular properties.

Use you subscription QR for Smart V CARDS

Example V card

You have my attention, lets discuss with an Expert

First name: Last name: Telephone: Email: Note:
Choose a local Expert
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Over 50 touchpoints in most completions.

Mary-Ann-Dougherty
broken customer service
Broken customer service has to stop

And why Estate Agents simply cannot keep up with he demands of the Smartphone user.

In the high-stakes world of home buying and selling, understanding the path to a purchase is both an art and a science.

Our analysis shows that the average home buyer requires 52 touchpoints, spanning from initial research to contact with an Estate Agent to actual purchase.

What were our top findings?
There’s an average of 52 touchpoints from first inquiry (like a smart form submission, chat room query ) to completion.

The Metrics.

If one sales agent sells two homes per month, that’s 24 buyers per year x 52 touch points = 1,248 touch points a sales person has to manage in a year.

And that doesn’t include all of the other inquiries and contracts that cancel.

Average time from first inquiry to close was six months for primary residence and 15 months for secondary homes.

80% of Clients submit a smart form to start their enquiries, mostly off their Smartphone.

Drip email and newsletter campaigns can increase traffic by as much as 5%

But our research suggests a Progressive Web APP with no download required will increase enquiry traffic by as much as 20% using a combination of free notifications and SMS

Over 50 touchpoints in most completions.

How did you determine the amount of touchpoints in a single home buying transaction?

What are the top most crucial touchpoints? MIND MAP


Progressive Web APP notification advocacy
Online and QR based smart form submission
Email, CHAT and TEXT
QR based appointment booking
Bespoke Smart Brochure interaction EXAMPLE
Video interaction via Smart brochure and window QR

How can Estate Agents make the most of each touch point?
Speed is critical.

The probability of reaching an online lead goes down the longer you wait with a follow-up email, call or chat reply.

The Millennials insist on absolute immediacy on their Smartphone and the killer is that whatever platform they touched, they expect you to have a record!

Your Smart Brochure, Smart form pages, Company email, telephone calls and texts, QR links, Chat room, and Progressive Web APP have to be joined into teams within a CRM

The rule for the Smartphone user now is a maximum of 10 minutes on any medium, or they drop you like a stone.

Get it right and Smartphone advocacy on social media goes through the roof.

Within the first 10 minutes of inquiry — 98% chance of reaching them

Contact 4 hours later — 95% chance of reaching them

Contact 8 hours later — 92% chance of reaching them

Contact 12 hours later –80% chance of reaching them

Contact 24 hours later — 60% chance of reaching them

Contact 48 hours later — 5% chance of reaching them

This is why it’s critical that sales people get immediate notifications about hot leads and that follow up is relevant and automated.

Depending on the stage of where the buyer is in the purchase cycle, personalisation is important.

Estate Agent Touch Point MIND MAP

Link to Smart brochure functionality

Mary-Ann-Dougherty
Mary-Ann-Dougherty Board Mentor Maltix. The Millennials demands are extreme.
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Estate Agents fail their clients by not optimising the Smartphone sales journey.

Because of old practices, Estate Agents ”still operate in an organisational Cul de sac”

Tam Duran
Tam Duran, Maltix board advisor in conversation with Will Nicholls Founder of Maltix Smartphone solutions.

Newswire, Medium Daily Digest and general property press. August 2021

Touchpoints are neglected and broken in many businesses, but particularly the property market.

Advocacy and the referral are now at the beginning of the sales cycle.

The sales cycle has been completely up-ended by the Millennials.

Mortgage moments of opportunity occur much earlier in the
process than they used to.

Ref: Maltix March 2021

They used to be at the end !

Activity based marketing has shifted to the relevant activity.

Invariably that’s on the Smartphone !

Estate Agents fail their clients by not optimising the Smartphone sales journey.

“Today’s cross-touchpoint experiences are broken“ Will Temple explains:

Because of old practices, estate agents ”still operate in an organisational Cul de sac”

Will Temple
Will Temple thought leader and coach.

They generate enough revenue to neglect their future proofing, but this can turn in a instant.

Ref: Maltix

And thats a huge problem for management that’s generally too young to make good judgment on future proofing their business.


Consumers aged 20 to 45 The Millennials.

New rules:

“They trust advocacy on social media, explore their wants on a website, but buy and engage on an APP”

And thats the problem, most Estate Agents think that using the website and the telephone is satisfying their customers needs ……………….it cannot !


Executives must shift their approach to ” identifying
high-value cross-touchpoint tasks – and then design those
touchpoints to support those tasks…”

“Brands must focus on optimising the
journey, not each individual touchpoints”

Think A to Z business, think APP in APP solutions.

All the touchpoints related to the detail, e. g, financial documents, bank statements, mortgage quotes and their decision should be chronologically incremental.

And evenly spaced in the time frame.

Say 10 weeks to sale, then 10 bitesize increments is good.

Perfect for the logic of Progressive Web APP.

Perfect for the two way communication methodology of a Progressive Web APP.

The Millennial is heavily into the one stop smartphone shop.

In both vehicle lending and mortgage lending, the
moments of opportunity occur much earlier in the
process than they used to.

By the time the savvy Millennial are in contact with an Estate Agent they are much closer to fulfilment than most Agents realise.

It can be said, that the Estate Agents role is completely changing and the variable costs of the traditional model are changing obsequiously and inexplicably.

Changing enough to affect Fixed cost models as well!

“Every loan purchase is a journey for the borrower”

It’s critical to map that journey and understand when the
moments of opportunity occur.

Then your financial institution can open timely dialogue about product choices.

Understand you percentages:

Over 80% of the completion journey focuses on the geographical area to purchase and physically looking at the property.

The Millennials put huge trust on quality videos, they have a brilliant skill set of spatial awareness, absent in the pre Smartphone generation.

A property without a top quality video is tantamount to neglect as far as the Smartphone generation are concerned.

Meeting with an estate agent is easily abandoned when they have access to video.

And the preferred method is looking up that pro-video via QR code

The clues of A to Z needs of the Millennial are already obvious, they already and painfully have a disjointed 65% internet journey with plenty of reasons to abandon the process.

Ask your team to conduct all their business on a Smartphone for a month, ban big screens and PC’s

Then you will begin to see the problems you are presiding over inside your business.

Talk to a Partner today.

APP operational within 3 months.

Book a call
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The Age of Cheap is Over

Mary-Ann-Dougherty

The bill for unaffordable business methodology is overdue.

Mary-Ann-Dougherty
Mary-Ann-Dougherty Maltix Partner.

Think this through for a minute, and yes Im shouting at you.

As prices continue to fall the value of your money goes up….. correct ?

Technology is incredibly disruptive and causing deflation.


Technology that used to cost millions to build can now be rented for pennies.

App share
App share technology


The smart phone is literally replacing the high street.


Since Covid, technology is doubly accelerating this trend.


The value of our money is going up because prices are going down…… now do your agree?


Government panic is accelerating the reaction to the point that money printing is at the point of by passing banks all together because banks are failing to lend.


Call it furlough, call it helicopter money, our Chancellors are not sleeping properly.


And in a deflationary cycle, obsequious debt deflation inhibits and prohibits the ability to pay off historical debt. It’s literally impossible.


Most people do not understand the difference between a million and a trillion, its time you looked at the 12 zeros in a trillion.

The bill for unaffordable business methodology is overdue.



Two party politics has produced an unprecedented dichotomy for the electorate.
Do we vote for socialism for the rich or socialism for the poor?

Both political divides sit on a system that historically relies on inflation to pay off historical debt.


Covid is forcing us into a scarcity mindset, the abundance mindset is long gone.

The Age of Cheap is Over


But stocks and property are our salvation right ?


Without 220 Trillion of printed money being printed what would the value of your UK property actually be?


Would your stocks actually have increased?


Inflation matches our picture memory.


The notion of deflation goes against our education.


It also flies in the face of everything in our fiscal life, even if we are 90 years of age.

The bill for unaffordable business methodology is overdue.


Questioning the economic picture from the inside is impossible.

It’s like trying to invent a new colour..

Government is preventing a free trade fiscal economy

The clues are all around.

Cash is out of favour.

PROOF: They even stop you on your travels if you carry too much !

Are you a business owner?

The opportunity for business to adapt quickly is only hindered by FEAR.

The tools to adapt to the new digital high street, to conduct A to Z business , remove Fixed costs and survive are in the palm of your hand.

You just have to grasp it before the wind blows it away.

I cannot shout any louder, talk to a partner today.

Mary-Ann-Dougherty Maltix Partner.

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A Company Directors cart before the horse

It’s a well known fact that Company Directors skills are visionary and conceptual, with a notorious blind spot when it comes to too much detail, especially technology.

An article in conversation with Maltix Consultancy Partners who specialise in digital transformation.

And thats reinforced more and more by a junior asking for clearance on tech projects which the Director has absolutely no idea what it’s for.

It’s as if other departments do their thinking for them.

“I have people who do that, go talk to Nigel he does that”

With an open mind, Directors are fully equipped to force downward change, but feel that they lack the ability or the knowledge to talk “savvy tech”

Worse still they assume that technology marketing is automated in all their processes.

It can be, and there is a whole new emerging technology connected to payment systems, especially subscription based business models.

They readily sign off the expenditure for SEO and Google this that and the other but neglect the knowledge and experience from their past.

Companies with savvy boards easily outperform their competition.

Marketing is not the Horse, marketing is the cart.

Marketing people have nice comfortable salaries to protect, they see their job as complex and safe, and that might be true.

But if the Marketing people do not fully understand that the sales cycle is connected to the marketing model, then it’s a Company Directors job to rap the knuckles and ask some serious questions.

It’s too easy isn’t it?

Pay out a bunch of cash and people miraculously come to your website from Google.

But the metrics and KPI’s are a bewildering moving target and the Company Director can find it nearly impossible to evaluate what the marketing budget is actually achieving.

A Company Directors cart before the horse

It’s time to focus on the horse.

Marketing is not the Horse, marketing is the cart.

Prioritising the focus back onto the horse has a profound affect with the smartphone generation.

The Millennial’s and increasingly the Gen Z Smartphone generation have up-ended the sales cycle.

WHY WHY WHY 3 words that end in Y

They require immediacy and APP simplicity and the reward is advocacy

DETAILED BLOG HERE.

By the time they source you product or service, they are only looking for 3 things.

APP based A to Z business

Fulfilment of their order

The opportunity to be a social media advocate

Now you have a simple KPI inside your business.

An article in conversation with Maltix Consultancy Partners who specialise in digital transformation.

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One month in tech is like a year

retail
Marc Lambert pioneer using a Maltix built PWA

Marc Lambert online shoe and sportswear retailer Newswire July 06 2021

I inherited a business through my mother in law, a retail shop with 22 staff and a consistent $900,000 turnover

The business had lost profitability year on year for 7 years straight.

I could see the symptoms but didn’t understand the cause.

I very nearly spurned the opportunity all together, the hours were crazy and the back office systems chaotic.

The business was just about breaking even on a very modest Directors salary.

I had actually inherited a gobble monster inside a vicious spiral of upward costs.

By chance I came across some videos on you tube under “Break even analysis “

A light bulb went off in my head, my garden was full of weeds and the pruning was going to be brutal, I needed help and fast.

My first port of call was The Maryland Chamber of Commerce in Annapolis.

I met a highly regarded Consultant in the harbor, where we sat and talked for 2 hours.

The culmination of thought had one simple answer, we had to digitise as much as possible, as soon as possible.

We had to reduce the moving parts of the business, generate more business and lower variable costs.

That was phase one and we completed that in 6 months.

What happened in reality was floor to ceiling change, so much in fact, the main shop front asset was sold and fixed costs almost completely removed.

One month in tech is like a year.

It felt like I was destroying 27 years of business knowledge.

In fact the telephone system which cost $16,000 in 2011 was the first casualty.

APP based telephony was key when Covid broke, we needed our home workers to act on order deliveries and I had to manage that through a CRM and billing platform connected to their own smartphones.

The e-commerce part of the site we kept, we removed the website and replaced it with an APP.

These decisions fundamentally changed us from being a bricks and mortar retailer to a full online retailer selling and distributing to our target sportswear audience.

My staff were amazing and turned garages and workshops into storage and distribution.

We now operate with 7 staff, all on higher salaries. Our turnover is rapidly climbing and we hope to overtake the 2019 turnover within 2 years.

We now ship coast to coast and our reputation is growing on social media.

My advice to anybody contemplating the digitizing of their business:

You have to trust your clients, it’s what they want, it’s where they do business, it’s on their Smart phone.

Marc Lambert online shoe and sportswear retailer Newswire July 06 2021