Unique Client Solutions Will Mix Business With Pleasure in Jobs Biopic

Unique Client Solutions are thrilled to mix business with film pleasure in the form of the Steve Jobs biopic which has been confirmed to close the Sundance Film Festival 2013.

As a customer acquisitions company to the entertainment industry the team at Unique Client Solutions have their finger on the button when it comes to film industry news. We're thankful that we've got plenty of fingers because we've got another one firmly in a business development pie as well! It's not very often that we get to mix the two together but when we heard that Joshua Michael Stern was directing a biopic on the Apple founder Steve Jobs, starring Aston Kutcher in the title role, we got pretty excited!

At Unique Client Solutions we've always been admirers of Steve Jobs, for us he is the epitome of an entrepreneur and his unique management style has been commented on over and over in the period following his death. Very little has been released about the film so far, apart from some stills of Kutcher as the Apple mastermind which show an uncanny resemblance between him and the younger Steve Jobs. So what can we expect from the film?

Simon Tomlinson, managing director of Unique Client Solutions, thinks that we are in for a treat. "The fact that it's been chosen to close Sundance is testament to how eagerly anticipated this film is. I read the book on Steve Jobs and it was a fascinating read so I'm exited to see how the film turns out and whether it will shed any new light on this complex man. Jobs was one of the greatest innovators of our time and I think as business leaders we can learn from him. It's such a treat to be able to mix business with pleasure!"

This isn't the only film about Steve Jobs that we can expect to see on the big screen. Aaron Sorkin is also set to release an authorised biography of Jobs, the rights to which are owned by Sony Pictures. He recently revealed that he plans to take an unusual "real-time" approach to the script and said that he intended to write three scenes only for the film, each set backstage immediately before a product launch. No details of cast or release date have been revealed yet. Unique Client Solutions will be interested to compare the two films when they are released.

The Sundance Film Festival 2013 will run from 17-27th January.  At Unique Client Solutions we'll be watching out for the reviews eagerly.

Unique Client Solutions Confident Growth 100 Will Make a Difference

Unique Client Solutions, a customer acquisitions company with offices in Nottingham, is confident that the city’s new Growth 100 plan will be a huge help to new businesses.

The managing director of Unique Client Solutions, Simon Tomlinson, knows only too well how difficult starting a new business can be. Therefore he was delighted when he learnt that Nottingham was leading the way in helping new business owners to develop their skills. The new scheme, called Growth 100, has been set up by the city council to allow experienced business leaders to give management coaching and share practical skills with newcomers.

The council is currently inviting businesses, both new and established, to sign up to the scheme and the programme is set to start in early 2013. Along with local business leaders, academic experts will also be on hand to give out advice.  What does Mr Tomlinson of Unique Client Solutions think of the scheme? “Quite frankly I’m very impressed. This is exactly the sort of thing that helps businesses to survive and grow in an uncertain economic climate. Within our own company we have a strong business development programme and we find that guidance from those with more experience gives newcomers much more confidence and the practical skills to succeed.”

Nick McDonald from Nottingham City Councils Jobs, Skills and Business office has big plans for the scheme. He said, “We believe our Growth Plan has the potential to completely restructure this city’s economy.” The plan for the scheme is to equip business owners and leaders with the skills to help create more jobs in the city and Mr Tomlinson agrees that this must be a priority.

“At Unique Client Solutions we’ve seen the difficulties that people face in finding a job, particularly young graduates or school leavers. New businesses are far more likely to have entry-level positions available so I think that this scheme will help this group particularly.”

Businesses who are interested in applying to the scheme should email businessgrowth@nottinghamcity.gov.uk, or visit www.mynottingham.gov.uk/growth100 the scheme is free and open to businesses of any size.

Unique Client Solutions and Mr Tomlinson in particular, will be following the scheme carefully, “We’re delighted to have such a forward-thinking scheme going on in our city, at Unique Client Solutions we’re confident it’s going to be a success.”

Unique Client Solutions Chooses Books for Young Leaders

Unique Client Solutions picks out 4 books that every young leader should read.

At Unique Client Solutions we pride ourselves on being excellent students. We’ve picked out the best books to develop your leadership style and keep you ahead of the game. In our competitive field of direct sales, young leaders are always looking for a way develop their skills and stand out from the crowd. These experts have done the hard work for you. No matter what stage you’re at in your career there’s something to be learnt from these guys.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t

By Jim Collins

The book addresses what it takes to make a good company really great and the skills that young businesspeople need to lead them. Jim Collins reinvented the evaluation of business leadership with this book and his findings changed the face of modern business.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

By Robert Cialdini

Persuasion is the heart of the customer acquisitions industry that Unique Client Solutions works in. So this is a book that is a must for anyone in the sales industry. It teaches you how to reach your clients, customers, suppliers and your own team. This book is based on Cialdini’s own experiences and he interviews a whole host of people in the sales industry and beyond.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

By Stephen R. Covey

At Unique Client Solutions we think everyone should read this, no matter what industry you’re in. This insightful book offers advice on prioritisation and empathy amongst other topics. Easy to read and incredibly practical this is useful for personal and professional development.

True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership

By Bill George

Ever feel that you’re fed up of being told how to lead and simply want to develop your own style? We hear you! Bill George interviews senior leaders who offer their advice on how to understand yourself better and use your strengths to their best possible advantage.

Unique Client Solutions on Networking

Looking to improve your business contacts or find new people to mentor and inspire you? Unique Client Solutions specialises in customer acquisitions and marketing and whether we’re learning from people in our industry, or looking to make new business contacts we love to network! Here are a few tips to become the best networker in the room.

1. Pick your venue

Firstly make sure you’re going to the right events. If you’re looking to get to know people beyond your office or company then pick a larger meeting or networking event. If you're looking for a more intimate setting where you'll get to spend quality time with people then find something more suitable.

2. Dress appropriately

That doesn’t mean necessarily mean dress flashily. You want to come across as smart and professional. You should wear the same thing to networking events that you would wear to an interview.

3. Arrive early and stay late!

Unique Client Solutions recommends that you prepare yourself for a long day. It’s never easy to get chatting during meetings so you’re going to have to allocate time before or after the meeting. Don’t plan your return travel for immediately after the meeting is scheduled to end!

4. Pinpoint who you want to approach

Are you looking to find a support network at your own level, or are you looking to make an impression on someone more senior? Is there someone who you know is having a fantastic year and you want to learn from them? At Unique Client Solutions we like to do our research before we go and have a few specific people in mind that we want to spend time with.

5. Make contact with key figures before events

If at all possible, particularly with more senior people, it’s worth getting in contact with them beforehand. You can mention that you’d love to chat to them for a few minutes to discuss some specific points. That way you put yourself ahead of the crowd before the meeting even starts.

6. Plan what you’re going to say

At networking events time is tight so it’s always a good idea to have an idea of what you want to say. It’s easy to waste the few precious minutes with idle chit-chat and before you know it they’ve moved onto someone else. Unique Client Solutions would suggest that you jot down a few questions you want to ask.

7. Don’t forget your business card!

You’re definitely going to want to keep in touch with people you meet so make life easy for them and you. Have plenty of business cards with you to hand out.

Unique Client Solutions on Timeless Leadership

Unique Client Solutions looks at the fundamentals of leadership that never go out of fashion.

Keeping ahead of the game when it comes to customer acquisitions is fundamental to the success of Unique Client Solutions. We’re constantly mixing the tried and tested with the new to find the best possible techniques for our sales to ensure our clients the best possible results. We like to think of ourselves as great mentors too, and are keen to learn from others about the methods that they use to be great leaders. However, at Unique Client Solutions we believe that there are three aspects of being a great leader that never change.

Firstly mentorship. No matter how good we are at what we do, at Unique Client Solutions we believe in education at every level. Picking a mentor is something that you should take time over. What do you want to get out of your relationship? Have they been through the same things that you’re going to go through? Will they push you as much or as little as you want? When we’re mentors we aim to guide and encourage and help them to get everything they can out of the relationship.

Empathy is sometimes easily overlooked in any fast-paced business world. However the ability to spot when your team members are anxious or overwhelmed is an important leadership trait. In competitive industries like direct sales there are a lot of confident and driven individuals but everyone has a human side. At Unique Client Solutions we believe that you should remember to develop your emotional intelligence as much as anything else. Everyone has bad days and you need to know how to get the best out of people on every day. You’ll have to adapt your techniques accordingly.

Trust is essential for any relationship to develop. Do you have the trust of your team? Do you trust them? Trust is earned by being consistent in what you say and do. At Unique Client Solutions we value the trust of our clients and that ethos filters down through our company.

For more leadership information, visit our blog.

Leaders Who Come From the Bottom Up Make Better Managers

Unique Client Solutions recently read research that bosses who have been through the system of an industry themselves, make better leaders.

Unique Client Solutions was interested to read the research conducted by London’s Cass Business School and the University of Sheffield which analysed every Formula One race that has taken place over the last 60 years. The results showed that teams led by bosses who had started out as drivers or mechanics themselves won twice as many races as their competitors.

The figures showed that success was dramatically improved in businesses led by ‘expert leaders’, those who have a deep knowledge and experience of the firm’s core business, rather than general managers who are trained with a broad range of skills. One of the authors of the study, Dr Amanda Goodall said “Should the BMW boss be an engineer? Are doctors better at running NHS hospitals? We would argue, yes.”

Unique Client Solutions, a customer acquisitions company with offices in Sheffield and Nottingham, was not in the least bit surprised by the research. A spokesperson for the company said, “There has been a general swing over the last few decades to train people up to be ‘managers’ who can go out and work with any kind of business. Whilst we’re sure some of them are very successful surely it is common sense to have someone with a detailed knowledge of the sector and who have also learnt to be great leaders?"

The research concluded that ‘expert leaders’ made better managers because their technical knowledge allowed them to put together better tactics and their strategies were more intuitive. They were more adaptable and had more credibility and better relationships with their teams who respected the fact that they had done it themselves.

A representative for Unique Client Solutions concluded, “This is a fantastic news and we think that this is going to really promote the importance of having a detailed knowledge of your industry and having respect amongst your team. We work in the direct sales industry and our managers have detailed sales knowledge which we think is fundamental to our results. They have the respect of our associates, they have first hand skills that are required day in and day out, and they’re also fantastic motivators. We think that it is a winning combination that makes Unique Client Solutions a top choice in our industry.”

Unique Client Solutions on How to Have Shorter, More Productive Meetings

In the business world many people feel overwhelmed by seemingly endless meetings. Unique Client Solutions encourages you to put a stop to long boring meetings and follow a framework to success.

Unique Client Solutions is a thriving customer acquisitions and direct sales company, and like any business, meetings are essential to the company’s success. However the team at Unique Client Solutions believe that when it comes to running a successful meeting, they’ve got the particulars down to a T.

All business meetings fit into one or more of three fundamental functions.

1. To ask for approval for something

2. To get input and ideas from other people

3. To disseminate information.

Now that you understand this Unique Client Solutions suggests that you always use this framework to work out why you’re having a meeting. You’ll probably find that you can hit multiple objectives in a meeting but if you separate your meeting into these sections you’ll find they are more productive.

Set yourself goals of what you want to achieve from your meeting and set them out at the beginning. “Today I’m going to give you three pieces of information about our latest project. Next I’d like your ideas on how we can solve this problem…finally I need your approval to get this outstanding issue signed off.”

Tell people how long the meeting is going to last. Unique Client Solutions suggests that you work out approximately how long each section is going to take then leave 10 to 15 minutes at the end for any overhang. If you commit yourself to a timeframe then you’re going to push yourself to stick to it. If you end up discussing something for too long, and there are other things that are pressing, take a note of what you were saying and schedule another time to discuss it.

Don’t schedule too much into one meeting. Simon Tomlinson, manager at Unique Client Solutions says, “The longer your meetings are the more people are going to switch off in them and they’ll become less productive. If people know they’re going to be quick and painless they’ll come into them with a better attitude and you’ll get more done.”

By sticking to this simple framework Unique Client Solutions is confident that you will see the difference in your organisational meetings. 

Unique Client Solutions Congratulates the Olympic Torchbearers

The street-by-street route that the Olympic torch will take has been announced as well as confirmation of the torchbearers. Unique Client Solutions looks into some of those who have been selected.

Unique Client Solutions understands that the torch will arrive in the UK on the 18^th of May and will start on its long journey from Lands End the next morning. The 8,000 mile journey will be undertaken by 8,000 torchbearers who have been nominated through various progammes run by Locog, Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung, the latter three are major sponsors of the London 2012 Games.

A spokesperson for the customer acquisitions company said, “All of the torchbearers should be incredibly proud to have been nominated and selected for this honour. At Unique Client Solutions we think that it is a great way to recognise the personal achievements or community spirit which got them nominated in the first place. It is a fantastic reward for their fantastic effort. It is in the perfect spirit of the Olympic Games.”

The torch will visit every region in the UK and stop off at landmarks such as Stonehenge and the Giant’s Causeway.

There will be 7,300 nominated torchbearers and the remaining 700 will be athletes and celebrities. Each of them will carry the torch for approximately 300 meters meaning that on average there will be 110 people carrying the flame each day. Sheffield-based Unique Client Solutions have learnt that the Olympic Chief, Sebastian Coe, will be carrying the torch through the Steel City as it was his home town. He said of the honour, “For me Sheffield was where all my athletics really happened so that would be the obvious place to be involved.”

Another of the torchbearers will be Steven Tomlinson the 14 year-old son of Jane Tomlinson who raised £1.85m for charity before succumbing to breast cancer in 2007. He will carry the torch through Leeds on behalf of his mother in recognition of all her hard work.  The oldest torchbearer will be Diana Gould who will be 100 just before the start of the Olympics. Unique Client Solutions were delighted to hear that she still runs exercise classes in her retirement flats.

The representative for Unique Client Solutions finished, “Carrying the Olympic flame is such an integral part of the Olympics, we’re so excited to see it come through Sheffield and we’ll definitely all be leaving the office on the day to watch it go by.”

Unique Client Solutions would like to congratulate all of the individuals both nominated and selected to be Olympic torchbearers for the London 2012 games.

Unique Client Solutions Focuses on Empowerment in Leadership

Just how important is making people feel good when you're a leader? Very says Unique Client Solutions.

There are hundreds of different styles of leadership and one person will tell you one thing whilst another the complete opposite. However, most leaders are agreed that sometimes a little tough love is needed. Of course, says Unique Client Solutions, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it carefully. The customer acquisition company in Sheffield is all about making their team feel great and shares their experience with you.

As a leader you should think of yourself as a mirror. If you reflect optimism and confidence, your organisation will do the same. At Unique Client Solutions the goal of every conversation is to make people feel more capable and more willing to work to the best of their ability. As a leader you’re there to empower them, not tread them into the mud.

The key skill you need to learn as a leader, believes Unique Client Solutions, is humility. Before you’ll ever be a great leader you need to be confident enough in your achievements to realise that not everything is about you anymore. Once you find a route to humility you will quickly get out of the way of your own ego and will lead others with confidence, focusing on their needs.

Leadership should not be thought of as telling people what to do, rather guiding people to think for themselves. You can set the pace, the attitude and educate those people, if you don’t then you’re never going to see them taking it to the next level and working alongside you, rather than for you.

Leadership is all about how you make others feel. Simon Tomlinson, one of the team managers at Unique Client Solutions had these words of wisdom to impart; “How good you are as a leader is not reflected in you but in the achievements of those you work with. If you make others feel inspired, motivated, happy, confident and empowered you’re going to see great things coming from them. If you make them feel humiliated, embarrassed and angry then you’re not.”

Unique Client Solutions is confident that with these ideas in mind you can lead your way to a happier, more successful team.