I thought I would share with you the opening of an article I wrote for Dentistry this morning – you’ll have to wait for the main article for the “ten tips” but the thoughts on the day were worth sharing.
I’ve pootled around my desk this morning, enjoyed 45 minutes on a cross trainer at the gym, soaked in the bath and had clam chowder on the beach – all good stuff.
Bad news is a 295 mile to London before the day ends.
I promised the Breathe team that I would complete certain obligations, so the next two days are team training events in the West End and St Albans, before the Independent Seminars gig with James Goolnik and Ian Scott on Friday – back to Falmouth late Friday night.
Hopefully just in time to see the Tall Ships sail away on Saturday (I’ll miss their visit – bugger).
A promise is a promise – and I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends.
Anyways, before I pack and go – here is the article start:

Ten Top Tips to make my demographic feel “special”
 
I’m writing this article on my 55th birthday and, as I lay in bed this morning, wondering what topic to focus on (how sad is that?), it seemed appropriate to indulge in a little selfishness, not just on my own part but on behalf of my beloved demographic — us “baby boomers”.
 
Those born between 1947 and 1957 — the single most important group in the developed consumer world.
 
I suppose it’s a sign of the times that the postman brought one solitary birthday card this morning — from my financial adviser! He is probably hedging his bets between investing my pension funds moneys , the sale proceeds of my business, or the life assurance claim check when I peg out.
 
But at least of all my professional advisers, he was the one who bothered to have a system — even bothered to hand-write the greeting.
 
So where are all my other birthday greetings? In order of volume, they are:
 
1. Email and links to web sites;
2. Text messages;
3. Facebook!
4. Comments to my blog;
5. A couple of phone calls;
6. A card in the mail.
 
So there is a big message about the future of print media as well as postal services. And possibly also a message about the “baby boomers” — that we are becoming a lot more “techie” than you may have imagined (as I sit here typing into my Sony Vaio, with 3G iphone by my side).
 
As far as the business of dentistry is concerned — you MUST be mindful of the “baby boomers” — because we account for over 40% of all retail spending in the UK and, I would suggest, account for the lions share of investment into higher-value dental treatment in these credit crunch times.
 
So keeping us happy has to be one of your most important customer service objectives going forwards.
 
I’m 55, I like an occasional afternoon nap, I love technology, I keep fit, I eat and drink well, I want to look good and feel good, I can afford it  and, in the words of business coach Dan Sullivan, “it seems the more tired I get, the more idiots I meet.”