Who would think that misplacing a small pencil sharpener would have such an effect on my ability to run a smooth call session? No! Me neither! Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE stationery.  I love a high performance pen like a Parker (of course) or a Cross where you can have a fancy looking outside and stock up on refills. I have a Mont Blanc on my wish list!  I love it when businesses invest in a good giveaway pen – it means their marketing messages hang around a bit longer before you throw them in the pen bin or recycle them into plant markers.

The other day (.. well a few years ago actually before ‘you know when’) I was in an art shop taking in all the stationery and I found a super high performance pencil sharpener!  Now, for me, even better than those lovely pens is a lovely sharp pencil!  Up until the point when I saw said sharpener, I had only experienced short term sharpening followed by long term disappointment when the blades started to blunten (.. is that a word?).    There he was – Noris the Staedtler … ‘Vorsprung durch sharpening!’.  For months, he sat proudly on my desk while I zipped through my calls.

When I am researching new companies for my clients, I take a lot of notes and flip between keyboard and paper.  Noris recently took itself off for a trip behind some boxes and stayed there for a few months (I’m renovating my house – I’m not normally this messy!) until he popped back up again.   This interim time without little Noris has had a somewhat chaotic effect on my note taking as I suffered a stream of poorly performing pens.  Imagine my unbridled joy at our reunion, when Noris and I celebrated with a jamboree of sharpening.

Why am I telling you this?  Because, dear reader, you can’t control everything in life but for the day to run smoothly, there needs to be a system with a place for everything and everything in its place!   I run at optimum efficiency on the phone when the most  apparently insignificant detail of a pencil sharpener is on my desk next to the pencil pot ready for action!  From the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

If you need someone to help with business development in your organisation. The pencil pot is full and my note book open – please drop me a line on joanne@pushbikeb2b.co.uk