Welcome to our November 2009 News Brief

Hello, and welcome to the Third Edition of our Monthly Business News Brief.

We commenced issuing these News Briefs with the purpose of providing useful, challenging and thought-provoking comment and advice to business owners.

This month: we comment firstly on concerns about the poor quality of online service, and secondly, risk of industrial espionage.

We hope you find these articles of interest.

In order to help you get better results, we are also offering a free Business Healthcheck to business owners, and this will also include a free consultation with you, lasting up to two hours.

P.S. There's still time to have a go at our "Excuses" Competition (see below, great prize!)?

Kind regards

Gordon JH Mowat CA
Managing Director

If you would like to email us with comments or enquiries, please click here, or feel free to visit our website at http://www.aspiremanagementservices.com

If you wish to be removed from the Aspire Management Services mailing list, please click here

Online customer care should be top priority for businesses

Personal recommendation has always the best form of advertising for most companies but the explosion of social media sites means ‘word of mouth’ marketing is now more important than ever.

Around 53 per cent of adults now carry out more transactions online than ever before as a result of the economic climate but 77 per cent of them claim to have experienced online problems in the process.

Walls have ears, eyes and spies

Almost 500,000 businesses in the UK could be victims of industrial espionage and many won’t ever realise until it’s too late.
Bugging, electronic surveillance, social engineering, computer hacking and old fashioned bribery are all on the rise ascompanies look for ways to gain advantage over competitors in a tight economy.
“We’ve heard of all sorts going on recently including people being planted in rival organisations which makes the checking of references especially important.” said Andy Hamilton-James, Director of the National Security College, the UK’s leading specialists government licensed security training centre.

Get a free Healthcheck on your business

Well, all the economic pundits who managed to talk us into a recession are now talking about seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. However, we're not quite there yet ....

How has your business been faring over the last year? Could some areas be performing better? Then why not take advantage of our Free Business Healthcheck service?
Simply click here to download then save a copy of our Health Check Questionnaire. It should take just 15-20 minutes for you to fill in. Once completed, just email it back to us at: info@aspiremanagementservices.com or fax 01436 821901.

We'll then contact you to arrange a free no-obligation appointment to discuss our thoughts and findings with you arising from your questionnaire.

And finally ...

Enter our “Excuses” Competition!

What is the most outrageous excuse you’ve ever heard from customers for not paying on time?

"The dog ate your cheque ..."

Have a go at entering our nation-wide search to find out - and win a great prize! Read more!




	Welcome to our November 2009 News Brief Hello, and welcome to the Third Edition of our Monthly Business News Brief. We commenced issuing these News Briefs with the purpose of providing useful, challenging and thought-provoking comment and advice to business owners. This month: we comment firstly on concerns about the poor quality of online service, and secondly, risk of industrial espionage. We hope you find these articles of interest. In order to help you get better results, we are also offering a free Business Healthcheck to business owners, and this will also include a free consultation with you, lasting up to two hours. P.S. There's still time to have a go at our "Excuses" Competition (see below, great prize!)? Kind regards Gordon JH Mowat CA Managing Director If you would like to email us with comments or enquiries, please click here, or feel free to visit our website at http://www.aspiremanagementservices.com If you wish to be removed from the Aspire Management Services mailing list, please click here


			Online customer care should be top priority for businesses
			Personal recommendation has always the best form of advertising for most companies but the explosion of social media sites means ‘word of mouth’ marketing is now more important than ever. Around 53 per cent of adults now carry out more transactions online than ever before as a result of the economic climate but 77 per cent of them claim to have experienced online problems in the process. Read More


			Walls have ears, eyes and spies
			Almost 500,000 businesses in the UK could be victims of industrial espionage and many won’t ever realise until it’s too late. Bugging, electronic surveillance, social engineering, computer hacking and old fashioned bribery are all on the rise ascompanies look for ways to gain advantage over competitors in a tight economy. “We’ve heard of all sorts going on recently including people being planted in rival organisations which makes the checking of references especially important.” said Andy Hamilton-James, Director of the National Security College, the UK’s leading specialists government licensed security training centre. Read More


			Get a free Healthcheck on your business
			Well, all the economic pundits who managed to talk us into a recession are now talking about seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. However, we're not quite there yet .... How has your business been faring over the last year? Could some areas be performing better? Then why not take advantage of our Free Business Healthcheck service? Simply click here to download then save a copy of our Health Check Questionnaire. It should take just 15-20 minutes for you to fill in. Once completed, just email it back to us at: info@aspiremanagementservices.com or fax 01436 821901. We'll then contact you to arrange a free no-obligation appointment to discuss our thoughts and findings with you arising from your questionnaire.
	And finally ... Enter our “*Excuses” Competition! What is the most outrageous* excuse you’ve ever heard from customers for not paying on time? "The dog ate your cheque ..." Have a go at entering our nation-wide search to find out - *and* win a *great prize*! Read more!