Motivational Speakers | After Dinner Speakers | Keynote Speakers | JLA Speaker Bureau - JLA

JLA: How will digital change the way we work?

JB: We will increasingly embrace the ‘anywhere’ economy, a connected business eco-system in which we work where and when we choose. The future is free agent. There are already 4 million in the UK who are neither employers not employees, and this total is set to climb.

JLA: Has recession changed medium and long-term trends?

JB: In general no, but it has pushed back the adoption of new technologies. It’s also made companies refine their business model towards a leaner and more responsive framework, with fewer long-term and full-time employees.

JLA: Which old assumptions are already turning out to be false?

JB: The one that said we would soon return to business-as-usual. Instead we’re entering a 'new normal' in which the rules of global business and management thinking will need to be re-written. The old gurus with their 'mechanical' theories will be increasingly redundant.

JLA: Do you have an all-purpose formula for beating the competition?

JC: My mantra has always been a phrase my father taught me: ‘Observe the masses and do the opposite.’

JLA: How do you persuade those opposed to or afraid of change?

JC: To remain competitive, change is imperative. Products are becoming obsolete much more quickly. The dynamics of business are constantly changing, and so is the competition. In terms of staff, the key is full and transparent communication.

JLA: Do you have a tried and tested strategy for attacking new markets?

JC: Anyone planning to expand to new territories must do as much market research as possible before making the step: simply understand who your customers are, where they are and what they want.

JLA: What about mature businesses?

JC: All companies need to maintain an entrepreneurial culture, and a focus on people. It’s very common to become too process-driven as you grow.

JLA: Are you as ambitious now as when you first launched the business?

JC: At 50 I feel like I’m just at the beginning of my journey. I’ve been carefully nurturing and growing my company, and in the next few years the plan is to build on those foundations and really hit new heights.

JLA: What have you learned from the recession?
BJ: Building flexibility into the organisation’s structure helps ensure resilience. This and the need for trust, based on transparency and clear communications. Solid relationships secured today will become profitable partnerships tomorrow.
 
JLA: How can you regain trust, re-build confidence and rekindle ambition?
BJ: With truth, authenticity and energy. Consumers want a relationship - to feel part of a community, a working friendship. This means demonstrating integrity and responsibility, and telling it like it really is.
 
JLA: How do you motivate when pay rises are out of the question?
BJ: The magic to motivation is belief - allowing your people the opportunity to take pride in the organisation. Treat your employees as you would have them treat you - like a marriage, rather than a one-night stand.
 
JLA: How can you persuade the risk-averse to embrace innovation?
BJ: Remove the Fear.

JLA: Has recession accelerated the business response to climate change?
JH: The recession provided an excellent opportunity for companies to re-think the way they operate, but too many still cling to 'business as usual.' Those who have made significant investments in green, like M&S and GE, are getting good returns on their investment.
 
JLA: Isn’t every large company trying to promote its 'ethical' credentials?
JH: Yes, but most are not prepared to go far enough - which could lead to them going out of business while more progressive competitors pick up the opportunities. A CEO recently said “In 10 year’s time the most successful company will be the most sustainable company.” I think he's right.

JLA: Which sectors / models are most likely to provide the engine for growth?
MH: VCs are a good guide. They’re looking for opportunities in e-commerce, clean energy and healthcare - anything that reduces the costs of treatment.

JLA: How can companies rebuild confidence and re-kindle ambition?
MH: In a world of social networks where actions and motivations are laid bare, only those that have a customer-focused mission and mean it will succeed.

JLA: What of social networking?
MH: More than anything it will lead to a different way of engaging with customers - of segmenting, researching and identifying them and determining a risk profile. We’re just stumbling along the first steps of the journey, often resented by those who don’t want you to intrude into their personal domain.

JLA: Isn’t social networking only for large companies?
MH: No, they’re a great leveler. Social networks are a great opportunity for small entrepreneurial companies, whilst they’re sometimes a pain in the neck for the establishment when they become a focus for complaints.

JLA: How can you catch or stay ahead of competition in a flat market?
MH: You need a total product and service proposition that is different and better than the competition, to communicate the difference with clarity - then deliver it.

JLA: Can the public sector learn from the private?
MH: Both sides can learn from each other, but the environments and drivers are so different that the uncritical adoption of private sector wisdom in the public sector can do more harm than good.

JLA: Is the priority in 2011 to batten down the hatches or invest in growth?

LJ: Overall we are investing and planning for expansion – the economy will be tough, but there remain opportunities.

JLA: Is there an all-purpose formula for beating the competition?

LJ: I don’t believe there is a magic formula. It’s about domain knowledge, hard work, listening skills, an ability to motivate and delegate, charm and judgement.

JLA: Would you rather be first to market, or learn from others mistakes?

LJ: Being a pioneer can be painful. Often it is easier to replicate an idea but execute more effectively.

JLA: How do you ensure a business stays entrepreneurial as it matures?

LJ: It is very hard – one way is by splitting up divisions into small groups, perhaps even physically in separate premises, and creating a sense of ownership within each discrete element.

JLA: How can you rescue a company in a declining industry?

LJ: Cost-cutting and reinvention – easier said than done!

JLA: Do you have a tried and tested strategy for attacking new markets?

LJ: Copy the techniques they have used in the US. JLA: What tips can you offer SMEs looking to develop export markets? LJ: Build a truly world-beating website.

JLA:  What will the next technology wave enable?
ML:  Technology is moving at an exponential rate. Gartner’s Hype Cycle divides it all into ‘wows’ and ‘sighs’ – but only in the latter phase does it begin to effect real change. So whilst we are wowed by the thought of Autonomous (self-driving) cars and Augmented human beings (aka superhumans), to grasp technology’s real impact on society we need to consider boring things like batteries and mobile phones. That’s where the true breakthroughs will come in the next decade.
 
Business will start to offer creative consumers (like tweeters) a piece of the action - ‘profit for effort.’ When they create something, whether a viral campaign or innovative ideas to improve service, they will be rewarded with recognition or money, or both.

On another plane, 3D-printers will be to manufacturing what laser printers were to desktop publishing. The technology is becoming cheap and easy enough for anyone to design something the world has never seen. The UK could open 4,000 factories every day as people start to play.

JLA: How about 20 years on - the world in 2030?
ML: Our children will enjoy cheaper and more efficient energy. The notion of ‘peak oil’ will be no more than a cute reminder of ‘fin-de-siécle’ pessimism. One of the more exciting solutions is coming from a genome pioneer who is taming bacteria to produce faeces in the form of high-octane diesel droplets.

We should also prepare for teleportation (made possible by work at CERN), nanobots to monitor our health and vaccinate us, the world’s first 130-year old woman – and maybe our first teenage Prime Minister!

JLA:  Which old assumptions are no longer true?
ML:  Extreme assumptions are always wrong. Life is not getting better all the time, nor is apocalypse imminent. Similarly we often overvalue new ideas in the short run only to drastically underestimate them over the longer term. This is certainly true of the impact of the world wide web, and will be the case with alternative fuels.

JLA: What happens when there’s no money to invest in the business?
RM: When times are good there’s money and appetite to explore new avenues, often at the expense of the core business. Conversely when times are bad, investment opportunities might be closed - but this means innovators can turn their attention to the core. This might be their saving grace, against a background of changing market conditions and customer expectations.
 
JLA: How can start-ups and SMEs compete with multinationals?
RM: Recessions always present opportunities for SMEs. Big businesses scale back, and sell off good parts of their operations at bargain basement prices. Faced with any disruption, they find it less easy to change than SMEs. This is why start-ups are so important to government policy; in any downturn new jobs are created by small businesses, not big ones.

JLA: Which sectors and business models are most likely to thrive?
RM: Good ‘back-to-basics’ businesses should do well, as will others less susceptible to change: people still need to eat. But it’s not really a question of which sectors will thrive, rather that companies in all sectors need to change to take advantage of new opportunities. For the entrepreneur or innovator, they can materialise in the lousiest of industries.

JLA: How can business re-build confidence and rekindle ambition?
MM: Nothing is more important than staff retention. It’s all about how you treat each other day-to-day – and how you deal with customers and suppliers. Good communication, reliability, integrity, competence and professionalism breed a positive culture that underpins all levels of the business.

JLA: Which sectors are most likely to thrive?
MM: E-commerce will keep growing despite the weak economy, because consumers know the web is one of the places to get a good deal. Meanwhile the web gives entrepreneurs access to a live focus group to analyse trends and test products cheaply, so it’s a breeding ground for thriving businesses.

JLA: Did you learn anything new from recession?
MM: I learned to adapt, and to make change part of company culture. Every business needs to work harder as a team to ensure it weathers the storm. Recession also offers a great opportunity to improve the work ethic.

JLA: Is online subscription the only way newspapers can survive?

AN: In the long run, yes. There’ll be a long transition period when paper and digital exist side by side, with the latter slowly growing in share. Unless newspaper publishers establish a digital revenue model they will go out of business.

JLA: Could digital turn out more profitable than print?

AN: It might. You don't have to knock down trees, paste ink on them via capital-intensive machines then expensively distribute them. Once the legacy costs of print have been buried digital could be very profitable on a low cost, high volume basis.

JLA: With video on demand, will we soon see the end of TV schedules?

AN: Not for a while. The linear networks will continue to decline in audience share, but slowly. As X-Factor shows, even in a multi-channel world there are still huge audiences for water-cooler, event TV.

JLA: Can social media hold politicians and business to account?

AN: No. It can help on the margins, but activists don't have the resources or the expertise to do the job properly without the mainstream media.

JLA: Have you learned anything new from this recession?
MP: The past twelve months have shifted how people shop - irreversibly
 
JLA: How do you re-build confidence and re-kindle ambition?
MP: With innovation and bags of trust
 
JLA: Can start-ups compete with established chains?
MP: Only in areas where they genuinely offer something different
 
JLA: How do you see social networking and online impacting on the high street?
MP: The winning brands will ultimately and seamlessly merge their online and offline offer. Retailers will realise the web offers a potential way beyond a simple sales channel - creating dialogue, brand immersion and a right of reply that has hitherto been extremely difficult.
 
JLA: Which business models are most likely to thrive in the next few years?
MP: The experiential, the avuncular, the collaborative and the value orientated.

JLA: How is Innocent feeling about 2010?
RR: We've gone from drinking Kool Aid to getting our mojo back. In fact we're thriving – and benefiting from a raft of international expansion after doing an investment deal with Coke.

JLA: Have you learned anything new from the recession?
RR: After nine years of extreme growth we saw decline, losses and redundancies in 2008. We learned a lot, and learned it the hard way. But now we're leaner and more focused - so ultimately it’s been good for us.

JLA: How can SMEs compete with multinationals in this climate?
RR: The only way you beat your competition is by doing a better job than they do at looking after consumers. Fortunately that's as possible now as it’s ever been.

JLA: How can any business rebuild confidence?
RR: With confession, sincerity, vision and passion

JLA: How do you catch or stay ahead of competition in a flat market?
RR: Invest in nourishing the relationship between your brand and your consumer – it’s where the real value in any business lies. 

JLA: Which sectors or business models are most likely to thrive? 
RR: Those that sell experiences and entertainment rather than things - we've all got enough stuff.

JLA: Is ‘make do and mend’ here to stay? No more rampant consumerism?
RR: Hopefully people are increasingly valuing experiences above items, which is good for the soul if not the economy.

JLA: Is the priority to batten down the hatches, or invest in growth?

DR: It has never been a more crucial time to invest in growth. In 2011, it’s the role of entrepreneurs and young businesses, as wealth and job creators, to spearhead the UK’s economic recovery. And with sectors like technology moving as fast as they are, it has never been a more exciting time to go it alone. But entrepreneurs need the help of the government and banks; unless we have faith in investing in start-ups, we have little chance of sparking economic growth.

JLA: How do you encourage innovation?

DR: The only way to encourage innovation is to create the right conditions. I believe that entrepreneurship can be learned and, therefore, anyone can run their own business. We have to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools to achieve success, and ongoing support to take them through the start-up phase and into growth. We need to empower people to feel that they can launch a business.

JLA: How can a business remains entrepreneurial as it matures?

DR: Businesses can remain entrepreneurial by continuing to look at their industry – considering disruptive ideas to better meet customers’ needs and reduce their costs. They must constantly ask how they can take advantage of new solutions to compete. This takes passion and drive, but it means a business can continue to innovate – it’s all about the mindset.

JLA: What should government do to aid an enterprise-led recovery?

DR: Recovery depends on the creation of new companies and the growth of those whose innovations increase productivity. It will be the young businesses, not the small ones, who will lead this country out of recession. It is vital we nurture them. Government must increase economic freedom for new businesses, cut the time it takes to start one and radically streamline regulation. In my view it should also encourage enterprise education and insist that a specific percentage of state procurement goes through small and medium-size businesses.

JLA: How do you decide in which businesses to invest?

DR: I look for web-based businesses that can quickly grow to a large size with a small amount of capital. My latest is a location-based micro-blogging service that allows users to post flirty messages to ‘hot’ people they’ve seen in their area - creating ‘hotspots’ of good-looking people. The student behind the idea ran into trouble with his university, who shut the site down – but not before he’d delivered something special and incredibly uncommon: proof of market demand.

The host of BBC’s HARDtalk has interviewed a number of the world’s great innovators, from Sir James Dyson to Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia) and Craig Ventor (bio-scientist). Distilling his research, Stephen has pinpointed five qualities they all appear to share: an indestructible will, passion (almost beyond reason), outrageous optimism, a super-sized ego and a ‘rebel yell.’

JLA: What’s the first step in encouraging innovation?

SS: We need to find ways of assessing individuals on their own merits - with rewards for innovative thinking, rather than play-it-safe mediocrity. And then we need to invest in the best ideas.

JLA: What else can we learn from great innovators?

SS: They encourage insiders to get outside, explore, and bring back fresh insights. And they don’t confuse seniority with creativity.  

JLA: Why are some parts of the world better at innovation than others?

SS: There are cultures where fear of failure smothers the risk-taking impulse. It’s not just about individuals – it’s about tapping into supportive networks, whether for seedcorn capital or just many pairs of helping hands.

JLA: How do you convince those opposed to change?

SS: They need to be persuaded of its merits by example, and careful (though time-limited) nurturing.

February 2011

JLA: What is the key principle of customer service? 
IS: It costs six times more to win a new customer than to retain one, so every interaction should affirm the reason why he or she chose you in the first place.

JLA: How can you quickly transform your reputation?
IS: Easily - by delivering bad service you will very quickly damage your reputation. Unfortunately, restoring it can take a long, long time.

JLA: But in a slow recovery, isn’t it all about price?
IS: Only if you are offering a pure commodity and have no control over the customer experience. Surveys rate price far below quality, reliability, trust and recovery.

JLA: Does the same apply online?
IS: So long as you provide customers with a simple way of serving themselves. And remember whilst you save on overheads, you only get one shot at impressing online customers.

JLA: How do you build loyalty online?
IS: When a customer feels he’s being listened to and the offering is customised, loyalty is greatly enhanced - partly out of reluctance to go through the whole process again with another supplier.

JLA: What’s your priority in 2011?

JT: To batten down the hatches! The vat increase impacts on us significantly, so we’ll look at ways of securing additional revenue. Regular reviews of promotions and offers tend to provide a cash boost and give customers the opportunity to make savings.

JLA: How do you encourage innovation?

JT: We operate a ‘tell James’ scheme and reward colleagues for sending in ideas even if we’ve thought or heard of them before. Most of our best ideas emerge this way - we just help to orchestrate them.

JLA: How does a mature business stay entrepreneurial?

JT: Everyone must remain vigilant and open to new ideas. Great money making tips and business opportunities usually come from the most unlikely of people - and when least expected.

JLA: Are you as ambitious now as when you first entered business?

JT: Definitely. 2011 will present many business, economic and social challenges - but I’m in training for my next triathlon and very much up for the contest!