January Talk with Mark Fletcher

TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN 2022!
We're half way through January and we're beating the blues by sharing positive tips and thoughts from business owners. Today we're talking to Mark Fletcher who is a director and loss assessor for Aspray covering the areas of Swindon, Cirencester & North Wiltshire. Aspray helps people make successful building insurance claims and help them return their property to pre-loss condition.

What are your top PR tips for 2022?
A. Step up your social presence online.
B. Step up your networking.
C. Become part of the community you work in.

And your top financial tips?
A. Know where you are with your finances. A good bookeeper and accountant to keep you on top of things.
B. Turnover does not pay bills, monitor cashflow and profit.
C. Double check your finances every day.

Who are your top three business buddies in your corner for 2022? 
A. Darren Gillam from Drain Developments - we started out in business around the same time and met at networking. We talk a lot about business and personally. 
B. Larry Hamilton-Wright who runs Aspray Exeter. We met at our first annual conference a few years ago. With the ethics of Aspray supporting each other, we became good friends and bounce ideas off each other from a technical and business perspective.
C. Mark Guest from Goliath Property Group. Mark is one of my contractors, we talk every day. We bounce ideas and come up with solutions to make things happen.

What are your ethics for 2022? 
A. Continue to treat our customers fairly.
B. To be as green as I can be. Every little bit helps.
C. Continue to treat our contractors and suppliers fairly. They are key to us treating our customers fairly.

What are the attributes you are looking for in staff/suppliers in 2022?
A. Commitment 
B. Honestly
C. Fairness

What will you be investing in this year? 
A. PR/Marketing
B. Sales
C. Additional franchise territory

What will you be doing differently?
A. Investing (see above answer)
B. Additional drying equipment
C. Recycle as much as possible coming out from refurbishments.

What are you doing for charity or community this year?
Through BusinessWise, the referral group in Swindon, we all support Swindon Night Shelter and Renew (Men In Sheds) and that will continue this year. 

There are multiple ‘awareness’ days & weeks & months in January 2022 – could you pick just one and say why you’ll be engaging with it: 
National Handwriting Day:- I may be coming at this from the opposite direction as I am dyslexic and have struggled all my life with handwriting and spelling. So this takes me out of my comfort zone.

With spelling and having worked internationally most my professional life, the amount of times I sent emails and the next day I have had a reply saying they love working with me as they learnt so many new words! And could I advise them what those words mean? I think some were disappointed when I told them it was a spelling mistake..!

On handwriting, I am not good. I sat in a supplier meeting one day, making my notes and the MD turned to me and said he wished he could do shorthand..! I had to laugh as that was my best handwriting! 

Any special offers for January or February 2022 you’d like to mention?
We offer £100 off your excess if we manage to reinstate your property to pre loss condition.

And finally:
I'm so excited about 2022, it's my 4th year in business and I love what I do which is to support people and treat them fairly!

For more information visit https://aspray.com/swindon/