Category: Diversity and inclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented disruption to the way we work and live.

When events like these take place, it is tempting to batten down the hatches, shut up shop, and hope that the storm passes quickly.

I believe that is the wrong approach. I think this is the time to be bold, smart, and think of innovative solutions to the problems our businesses face. If, like me, you employ a lot of people, there is no excuse for doing nothing and waiting for redundancies to become unavoidable.

We need to work out how to help our customers through this difficult time. We must also figure out how to win new business, despite the constraints. We need to find novel ways to motivate our teams. And we must be considerate of customers and suppliers who are struggling.

I know it’s not easy. At BigChange, everyone will be working from home for the foreseeable future. That means we essentially have 160 separate offices in operation in 4 countries.

That is why I have introduced a daily catch-up call for each department, starting with a sales call at 9am. On each call, the first priority is mental health. We check in on everyone in the team to make sure they are coping. We make sure we talk about the successes of yesterday and praise hard work and ingenuity.

This daily contact and support is going to become even more crucial once the schools close today. Every working parent will need flexibility and understanding from employers.

We have also introduced a buy now, pay later scheme for both new and existing customers that buy more licences. We are allowing them to run BigChange for six months before we start charging. We hope that will help to alleviate some financial pressure in the short-term.

For customers who are concerned about the safety of employees at this time, and wish to track their engineers and workers out on the road, BigChange can track vehicles through its app – we don’t even need to come and fit a tracker. This may be useful if the rumoured lockdowns do take place.

Our priority is to help customers to keep trading. This is why we have updated our software with up-to-date COVID-19 guidance and risk assessments. This is essential for mobile workers.

Cashflow is going to be extremely important over the next few months, so I advise every business owner to keep a close eye on it. If you haven’t already, it’s time to make reductions from the ‘nice to have’s and focus on the business-critical expenses, such as paying suppliers.

I am not immune to the climate of fear out there but I refuse to panic, or let it destroy my business. Let’s get through this together.

I think it’s important to recognise the people that have helped BigChange become a truly great company.

Those who are making this a great place to work, great at customer service; and great with suppliers. Our new receptionist has had a profound impact on BigChange. So, this blog is about Georgia.

I first met Georgia last year, when we had our Christmas party at Thorpe Park, just down the road from our offices. She was working there in a sales role, and helped to manage our booking. She said that she was on the lookout for a big change in her career, so we stayed in touch. When a front of house role opened up, she applied.

Georgia has been with us just three months but she’s made some incredible changes that are making life better for all of us.

We have six customer meeting rooms here and, every day, most are full. Georgia sends an email link from our JobWatch system to everyone at the company each day, letting us know which prospects and customers are coming in, when, and in what room. I can just pop in and greet our customer or prospective client. Someone from customer service can go say hello too. It makes people feel really welcome and valued.

She has brought in afternoon “pick-me-ups”, and always keeps the office well stocked with healthy snacks (as well as a drawer of Mars bars) to give us all a little boost if we are starting to flag after lunch.

Regarding managing our facilities we try to use our customers for all the work we can, from security services to electrical jobs and plumbing. All of these jobs are managed by Georgia, using our JobWatch system. She knows everyone, and the whole thing runs like clockwork.

Georgia has taken on the role of events coordinator, organising a Macmillan coffee morning at the office, and taking charge of the Christmas party, as well as our Secret Santa and Christmas jumper competition. Having someone who wants to take ownership of the social calendar, and is talented at organising fun and inclusive events, has been amazing for morale.

I never want to force my team to do things like Secret Santa or charity bake-offs. It’s important that these initiatives are decided by the team and organised by them too. Georgia knows the things that her colleagues love to do, and takes the time to make them happen.

I can’t tell you how important the receptionist role is at a growing company. But I shouldn’t call Georgia a receptionist, really. She’s much more than that. She’s a facilities manager, an events organiser, the face of the company, and the first point of contact many customers have with BigChange. She is invaluable.

I know that I employ a first-rate team here. But when people visit the office or call in, their first interaction is usually with Georgia. The fact that she makes everyone feel welcome, greeting everyone in that brilliant Scouse accent, is the icing on the cake.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

I am not often plagued with self-doubt but turning 57 has thrown me. It’s too far the wrong side of 50. I’ll be 60 in three years and that’s a really scary age.

I work with colleagues two generations younger than me now. It’s made me wonder whether I still have what it takes to build BigChange. Am I older and wiser? Or running out of steam?

In fact, right now, I feel younger than I have in a long time. I’ve lost a lot of weight over the past year (many thanks to all those who sponsored me https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/martin-port). I also feel lighter in spirit. I lost my dad two years ago. In my faith, you say prayers for your loved ones for 11 months after you bury them. Sadly, 11 months later, I buried my mother, so I have been saying those prayers for 22 months. When you experience tragedy, it takes time to grieve and get back on an even keel, but I feel I’m there now.

Older entrepreneurs aren’t as rare as you might think. A recent study by MIT found that the average age of a start-up founder is 42. The people who create high-growth companies are 45, on average[1]. The idea that all founders are pimply 18-year-olds is a myth. In the UK, the average business owner is 51. Ray Kroc didn’t open his first McDonald’s until he was 52. Maybe I’m not so old after all. As long as I’m the right person to be leading this business, I’ll work till I drop.

If BigChange does outgrow me, I would happily see out my days doing charity work. I would be proud of my legacy, either way. But I feel like I’m still the best person for this job. Yes, I’m older. I’m also calmer, more rational. I’m better with people. When you’re young, you want everything to happen yesterday. I’ve learned to bide my time and be patient. You can’t build a global success overnight.

I used to enjoy material things. These days, I’m content with my lot. I don’t need to buy anything. My focus instead is on creating wealth with the business, and helping our customers to grow.

People ask me if I’d consider selling the business, now that I’m getting on a bit. I reply that I’m a buyer, not a seller. I’m pushing on. I may have reached my scary age but I still feel like I can conquer the world. I’m seven years into my journey with BigChange and I feel more ambitious than ever. I want to turn this into a billion-pound business.

I believe I have another 20 years in me. You’ll have to carry me out the door.

https://www.businessinsider.com/young-startup-founder-myth-average-age-of-entrepreneurs-42-mit-study-2018-4?r=US&IR=T

https://www.finder.com/uk/business-owners-uk

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

The Brexit vote divided young and old. People who had already made their money, bought property, and perhaps even retired, were much more likely to vote Leave, while students and those on the first rung of the career ladder wanted to Remain.

When I started reading articles about the backlash – young people saying they wanted to deny older Brits the vote, claiming they were out of touch and selfish, and older people calling Millennials “snowflakes” – it worried me.

We need to bridge the generation gap. I’m in my fifties, and I am in no doubt about the talent and contribution of young people. BigChange could not thrive without them.

My kids are young – they range in age from 18-33 – and they have given me some incredible ideas for the business. When I said I wanted to call my new product “The Marketplace”, my daughter said, “Don’t do it”. She works in digital marketing and she explained that “marketplace” sounds like a place to hawk products or advertise, whereas what I’m building is a place where like-minded entrepreneurs can team up and help one another. She convinced me to call it the BigChange Network instead. She may be young but her advice was sensible and I listened.

When my son was at school, he used to rave about a concept called Golden Time. When kids did great work, their teacher would reward them with an hour of fun activities that they really wanted to do. I was inspired by the idea and have offered Golden Time at my business. My colleagues get their BigChange birthdays off to celebrate the way they want, and we give them extra time off as a reward for great ideas or going the extra mile. I call it Golden Time.

It sounds like a cliché but young people are the future. They are more technologically minded, they have fresh ideas and they are more adaptable. Listening to them makes me more adaptable too. I may be at the Saga stage of life but I don’t want to turn into a dinosaur who can’t change or try new things.

And this is a two-way street. My kids listen to me (at least sometimes) and my colleagues at BigChange listen to my ideas and experience because I respect theirs.

The young and the mature should not be at war. We should be listening to each other and working together to build great businesses – and a world – that we can all enjoy.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

If you Google “Should I hire friends and family?” you will be confronted with pages of cautionary tales about why this is the worst idea ever. They’ll take advantage, says one entrepreneur. You have no leverage, says another. You can destroy relationships, according to a third.

As usual, I’m going to be controversial and say, that’s all nonsense. Hiring friends, family, and people from your community is the best way to grow a business.

I love employing people I know. If you know an individual, that’s half the battle won. You know their character, their strengths and weaknesses. Over the last 20 years, I’ve been employing more and more people from my community, friendship circle and family.

For example, BigChange wouldn’t be where it is today without the incredible contributions from my wife, Amanda, and my brother, Anthony. Also not to forget the Scully family Andrew, James & Lauren.

When I tell people that Amanda and I have been in business together for 16 years, they tend to be shocked… “How can you work with your wife?” I can honestly say: it’s been a breeze. She’s my marketing director and a major asset in the business; she spots things that I miss. And she’s tenacious. If she doesn’t agree with my decision, she won’t just drop it. We’ll be debating all weekend long. She’s not just a director in the business: she holds the same number of shares as I do so she’s a true partner.

My brother started out in new business development and is now the cornerstone of our renewals team. He does an incredible job and I sleep easy knowing that he is handling the crucial job of keeping existing customers happy.

Out of the 100 colleagues in the company, about 75 are people I know, whether that’s through my synagogue (there are three rabbis working here!), an impressive young woman that I met on reception at a local hotel, or a family friend. My sales director’s father was my former manager when I was 14 and worked as a shop assistant at a clothing retailer! An additional 25 colleagues are people I’ve worked with in the past.

One of the major benefits of working with people you know is that they understand you. They know how I operate and don’t have to adapt to my management style.

Of course, you do need to stick to some important rules when employing friends and family.

Firstly, you have to commit to absolute transparency. If you have bad news, don’t try and dress it up differently. Be open about what you expect, and about your plans. This isn’t always easy. During the 2008 banking crisis, I had to let 60 people go from my previous business. We were under pressure from the bank and had to cut costs quickly. It’s really hard to put people you know through a process like that but I was completely upfront about what was happening and why, and everyone understood.

Second, always follow through on your promises. You can’t be the kind of boss who makes outlandish claims and then reneges. That’s a sure-fire to lose people’s respect, both personally and professionally. Bad bosses hide behind ambiguity; don’t let that be you.

Finally, never give people you know preferential treatment. When thinking about the benefits of employing friends and family, I almost wrote that they are more loyal. But then I realised that’s not actually a fair statement: all my employees are loyal, dedicated and go the extra mile. They aren’t somehow more committed just because we met at a party a few years ago. This is why you need to make sure you don’t allow nepotism to creep into your organisation. Meritocracy rules at BigChange.

And if you employ a friend or family member and things aren’t going so great, what do you do then? This is a question that everyone asks. I can honestly say that this rarely – if ever – happens. But if it does, I have the ultimate weapon. I call their wife or partner. Usually their spouse will listen to the issue, and it will be resolved by the time Monday morning rolls back around. It’s not politically correct but it works!

So make sure you’re not missing out on some truly great people. Think about how your friends, your relations and the people in your community could fit into your organisation. It could be the best thing you ever do.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

On a flight back from Marseille last week, I experienced some of the best customer service of my career. It happened while flying EasyJet to London Gatwick.

I wanted a snack but, as some of you may know, I’m on a diet https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/60-pounds-heavier-reality-being-start-up-founder-martin-port/. When I scanned the menu, I quickly realised there was nothing healthy on offer. I called the stewardess over to complain. Her name was Anna and she was (rather fittingly) from Hungary.

I asked why there were no low-calorie options on the menu and she apologised and said that was all they had. Any other day, that would have been the end of it, and I would have gone hungry. But she returned a few minutes later, carrying a fruit pack with sliced apple and grapes. She’d taken it out of her own lunch box. She wouldn’t accept any money for it.

This was an example of a tricky customer– me – asking for something out of the ordinary. I warned Anna when she came over that I wasn’t going to be easy to please. She laughed and said there’s no such thing as an easy customer these days.

The experience got me thinking about customer service, and how we at BigChange can go even further for our loyal customers. In this digital age, you must never say “no” to your clients, or ignore feedback. But it can be hard, as a medium sized business, to accommodate difficult requests.

For example, we are constantly looking to improve our mobile workforce management software. According to a recent Gartner report, 70pc of organisations will cite customer satisfaction as a primary benefit derived from implementing field service management by 2020, up from 50pc today. This is why we maintain an open dialogue with customers about the kinds of tweaks they’d like to see implemented. We get a lot of praise for the system we’ve built but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to make it even better.

No two businesses are exactly the same, so we have compiled a wish list with about a thousand different ideas from across our customer base. We have an incredible development team that works wonders, considering our size, but we can’t always action these tweaks as fast as we’d like.

This is a hard thing to communicate to customers. I recently intercepted an email from a colleague regarding one of their development requests. My colleague was polite but firm, telling the client that their request was unlikely to be actioned any time soon. I almost had a heart attack. I quickly responded, thanking the client for their feedback and saying instead that we consider all requests and will update them when their idea moves to the development phase. I added that if I could be of any further assistance, they shouldn’t hesitate to email or call me.

We have lots of “Annas” here at BigChange and I want to help these stellar individuals to go the extra mile. This is why we have a new policy whereby a software development can be boosted to the top of the pile if customers vote to prioritise it. It’s a way to help my people explain the development process, and help customers to feel engaged and involved along the journey. It’s just another way to show that we’re serious about customer service.

I learned about meeting unique customer demands the hard way. When I ran my craft bakery business, Kroustie, each order was slightly different. We baked rolls to order and some chefs liked them flat, some puffy, some dense, some light. This meant I had to divide up each batch to ensure each customer got exactly what they wanted. It was an important lesson in keeping everyone happy.

Just like those bread rolls, none of our BigChange customers are identical. We continually improve our service to suit their individual needs as we grow but it’s an ongoing challenge.

I could write a book on this subject but I have an important task to complete. I need to go to EasyJet’s website to write a letter of recommendation about Anna from Hungary. I’m hoping that her quick thinking and compassion will be recognised by the company, and that a promotion or bonus is on the way. After all, to truly build a great customer service culture, we need to help the Annas in all of our organisations.

She made a real impression on me. From now on, when faced with a tricky customer request, I will always ask myself: what would Anna do?

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

We need to stop bashing our salespeople. They are the engine room of the economy.

“I work in sales”.

If I said this line in America, people would smile and look interested. There, salespeople are held in high esteem. There is an understanding that a great salesman is extraordinarily useful, both to the customer and to the company they work for.

Here in the UK, it’s a different story. It’s a uniquely British thing to hate salespeople. I don’t know where this irrational dislike comes from. Perhaps it’s tied into the British fear of talking about money. We find too much success and sky-high earnings somehow distasteful.

Today, I’d like to talk about why I love the sales people, and why you should too. This is my call to arms for British business to start re-educating staff and the public over the value these hard workers bring to the economy.

There’s a major misunderstanding about sales. People immediately think of cold callers or used car salesman but did you know there are an estimated 2.2m sales people in the UK? Think of any successful person you know; I guarantee they sell. A top accountant doesn’t spend his time balancing figures; he’s out meeting new clients and winning business. A successful lawyer isn’t sat behind a desk all day; she’s the face of her brand.

It takes an enormous amount of skill to sell well. Top sellers are methodical, organised, tenacious, they know their product inside out, they are fantastic at presentations, they are empathetic and understand what people need. Sales people build relationships that can last years. They are the go-between that manages the relationship between customer and brand.

It can take years, decades even, to get really good at sales. So why can’t you get a degree in sales from a British university? It’s crazy that you can get a degree in marketing or business, but not sales. The ability to sell – and sell well – is not just a professional skill, it’s an ability that helps the individual in every facet of their life.

Some organisations have woken up to the power of sales training. Forward-thinking firms like P&G and Unilever have programmes that give bright, skilled staff the tools to become great salespeople, because they know that the future of the business relies on this talent.

I want sales, as a profession, to be treated with the same level of respect as a doctor or a dentist. I want it to become commonplace that anyone who is struggling to make good money in their chosen career can think, “I’m going to move into sales instead and provide for my family”.

Company bosses like me have an obligation to celebrate sales people. We also need to champion organisation-wide education about the value they bring. Yes, sales people can earn a lot of money, but the revenue they create is also shared by the rest of the employees in the form of pay rises and company incentives.

This is not a second-class profession so let’s stop putting people off this important and useful career.

Sales people are to be treasured, not trashed.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

We’ve all received unwanted nuisance calls and SPAM emails, some of us may have suffered from identity theft and fraud too. These are just some examples of the misuse of our personal data.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the European Commission’s way to strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the European Union and beyond. Whilst the UK may be leaving the EU, the UK has confirmed GDPR will still become UK law. There’s no opt-out from the legislation, it dramatically increases the levels of fines for non-compliance and data breaches, and your systems, processes and data need to be in shape by 25th May 2018.

BigChange is a software and data company that continuously improves information security and uses its flagship JobWatch system to manage its business including personal data. We have our GDPR compliance well in hand, and we’re making available some of the JobWatch tools we’ve developed to help our customers with their compliance.

As a business, a Data Controller, you may be managing data about individuals because they consent to you doing so, or because you have a contract in place. We can help.

Managing data subject consent could be time consuming, GDPR requires that you record a periodic opt-in. JobWatch CRM records which data subjects opt-in, how and when. We will soon release the ability to select a set of people, send them a branded email requesting consent, and record who opts-in. Specifically:

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

Change is a coming, companies want more than just location based information.

Look out for more features, Job Scheduling, CRM, Health & Safety, Financial, Mobile Apps and more. Upgrade your vehicle tracking system today and experience a BigChange for small change. www.bigchange.com

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

Yorkshires Fastest Growing Building Maintenance Company Loves JobWatch

“I needed a system to help manage our costs. We weren’t planning routes correctly and we were losing data. I came across www.BigChange.com on the internet. I saw a few companies but chose BigChange because they had a real desire to offer a service, most companies had a couldn’t care less attitude but I could tell the company was hungry and I trusted my instincts. We have seen dramatic improvements over the last two years since having JobWatch installed. JobWatch provides instant feedback from our engineers. We are totally paperless now making us much more eco-friendly. We have saved a fortune on time and admin hours. RoadCrew customer service are amazing.“ Jordan Woods, Managing Director, Woods Building Maintenance. (Planned & Reactive Maintenance)

Martin Port
Founder & CEO