In my past I worked in both the sales and marketing teams for Diageo. It was where I ‘grew up’ professionally after university and have very fond memories of both the company and the teams, many of whom I am still in touch with.

They currently have a number of vacancies both in Scotland and England, which I am aware of via their employee referral programme. If you think you have the talent and can cut the mustard in a business development, account management or marketing (London based) role for this global drinks giant, please get in touch before mid September.

Have a great CV ready and I’ll give you the role profile and next steps. Good luck!

Video: Harley experience on bike trip to Northern Ireland     

 We have been going on annual motorbike trips for the last couple of years with friends. This August we travelled to Larne in Northern Ireland, then up around the beautiful Antrim Coast, all the way to Letterkenny.

If you have never visited the area, I would highly recommend it. It is stunning with sandy beaches, ruined castles, seaside towns and cliff side roads.

By pure coincidence we were there the same weekend as a Harley ‘HOG (Harley Owners Group) meeting, where  hundreds of bikes were gathered for the weekend at Coleraine. On the Saturday they were on a run to Londonderry and back. We missed them by 10 minutes and tried to find them all the way to Derry. We had given up hope but luckily managed to find them just before they set off to return.

This video is of us having the amazing experience finally finding them and riding out with them for a while. Thanks Harley HOG!

Laura Molloy is the guest member speaker at the Scottish Women In Business event on Tue 9th August 2011. Laura will give a brief account of her personal journey into running her business RPL, then a easy guide on how to avoid ever uttering the fateful statement “I paid for flyers and they didn’t work…’.

The Lunch will start at 12:00 at The Art Club, 185 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HN

top tips for better cold calls

As a small business it is important for RPL’s business development and growth that I meet prospective clients on a regular basis. This requires that I make good telephone sales calls.

RPL is a service business selling to other businesses, so it is crucial to get those all important meetings to make it to the next stage of finding out how I can help their business. Here are my 5 top tips in cold calls to make sales appointments.

 1. Get the right name and number. If you do not have the persons name it looks like you don’t care that much. Utilise the vast resources out there. If Google does not reveal what you need, you can access online newspapers such as ProQuest available via the library.

2. Have a connection. Prepare a link to the person you want to meet, however tenuous. How did you get their number, are you in the same Linkedin groups or Facebook friends, do you live near them, do you have a common contact? Whatever the link, use it to distinguish you from every other sales caller.

3. What’s the point. Why are you calling them? If you can’t express this clearly in the first few second; forget it. You must know what it is you can do for them or why they might benefit from your buiness, otherwise what’s the point? Do not call and expect them to tell you about their business, they won’t.

4. Be human. Think about your tone. Remember; you’ve called them, so sound like you would really like to see them, be friendly and chatty.

5. Be consise. They want to know why they should meet you and how long it will take. Tell them this as precisely as possible, as we are all busy people.

RPL can provide sales training and business development services for your business, for more info call me on 0141 637 9358

Glamping

I have recently returned from a family holiday in the Highlands and Islands of the West Coast of Scotland.

Our travels took us to the Isle of Arran, a wonderful mix of nostalgic atmosphere and outdoor activity. Next we travelled to the isolated coastal area of Kintyre, which hangs down like an loose arm from the mainland. Taking a short ferry ride to get there we were greeted by a 15 mile single track road before getting closer to the main town of Campbeltown. From there we kept going until we reached the edge of the Irish Sea and the campsite at Machrihanish. 

I always wonder what people do for a living in that type of environment. In this isolated edge of Europe, apart from farming, how do people survive? I raised the conversation with my husband who responded with the brilliant quip ’in Scotland camp sites and golf courses are like rats, you’re never more than 10m away from one’.

It was a light bulb moment for me. Sure enough everywhere I looked there was a cleared bit of land, either in woodland or on the sea shore, with a few caravans and tents pitched. Any spare land between the cattle and sheep farms had been carved into spectactularly beautiful golf courses.

When we got to our own wigmam at Machrihanish, we were absolutley delighted with it. Looking at it objectively it was a sturdy, well equiped, wooden pointy shed. But the word ‘wigwam’ is just so romantic, and the setting of rolling hills down to the Irish Sea and (yes you’ve guessed it) a top notch golf course.

It got me thinking about the opportunity for rural Scotland to capitlise on the glamping trend which is currently being covered in every weekend suppliment and lifestyle magazine. How better to add value to the whole campsite than placing a few interesting structures for people to sleep in around the site? Wigwams, tipis, yurts, painted gypsy caravans, airstream caravans, tree houses, the list goes on. £20 per night for a large tent pitch becomes £40 per night for a relatively inexpensive capital outlay.

Entrepeneurial Scottish tourist businesses should grab it with both hands and turn the trend into a long term step change in value and experience for the hardy souls who want a remote rural experience, but like me could be enchanted out of my hard earned cash by a romantic twist to the camping experience.

Inside the wigwams @ Machrihanish

I am seeking anyone who may be interested in having Solar PV installed in their home or premises at cost price in return for it being filmed for a promotional video.

My client is a small but growing electrical/ solar energy specialist . As part of their marketing activity we would love to film a full install and edit into a snappy short video for promotional purposes. In return they are willing to install at cost price.

Ideally the install would take place in the next four to 6 week. They will complete a full survey of the property to assess the requirements, design the install with your input, provide a price based upon that then if all is agreeable full steam ahead.

The property will finally feature in a short video which would be in the public domain via website, social media etc.

Interested? Please get in touch with myself directly on 0141 637 9358.

Colleagues and business contacts from across Scotland gathered at the Crowne Plaza on 24th June 2011 to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of RPL Sales and Marketing. The theme was ‘New’ and guests experienced a range of speakers and demos.

Arrow Corporate Promotions  demonstrated the latest gadgets and widgets to impress customers. Most popular were the funky people shaped USB sticks which I think you can have made with almost anyone’s face.

Next Morag Malloy (no relation) inspired us all with her account of how she made a massive impact for the launch of her business Fission Creative using social media including Twitter and YouTube.

I presented how I had had to learn new ways of working by creating online training programmes

Finally Brian Payne from Beatroot Workshops ran an amazing drumming workshop. The noise was deafening and it was pretty spectacular to see 25 drums being thrashed by business people!

The curry was delicious and I for one enjoyed a glass or two of wine. Elaine Gaughan from Burnside Travel walked away with signed drum skin.

There was also a lovely gesture from my long suffering husband, who presented me with a bottle of bubbly and gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Thanks love!

All in all the event was a success with some great feedback in the social stratosphere over the next few days including;

Well done for organising a fantastic event last night to celebrate her 3^rd birthday. I want to learn the drums now.

Just wanted to say that was possibly the best networking event I’ve been to, if only they were all as much fun!

Video and photos are on their way. Here’s to the next 3 and beyond!

Today we are please to say we put up our new website for RPL.