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I spent a few years pursuing all sorts of aspects of the Aerofone business, creating a new aerofone* logo (see card below), negotiating to have our own top-up terminal so retailers could sell electronic mobile top-ups (ie no stock!). I also negotiated to have our own-label aerofone* mobile service to sell alongside our Vodafone and Cellnet business – our handsets would come up with the aerofone* logo. We also launched Pollytel fixed-line phone cards (with a parrot logo). I also developed an automated quotation system for the sales team.
Jo illustrated something during my time there that I have reminded myself of many times subsequently. She highlighted the false assumption that issuing your team with a PC/terminal was a sufficiency for efficient work practices. She printed out a simple and relatively short A4 letter, properly laid-out, with spellings and punctuation completed correctly. She asked each person with a terminal to copy-type this and declare the time it had taken. I took four minutes which I know Jane, an old-school shorthand-typist, might have halved. It was shocking to learn however that most took over twenty minutes, a few took several hours. Which highlights that seeing your team sat at a terminal, apparently gainfully employed, should not suggest that they are being productive.
But, my work on the ‘Apple’ shows was beginning to come to fruition and I moved on.
The Grandkids were growing – Chloe, Dan and Laura and Artie (photoshop-ed by Matt)
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