Fire Escape

Tom Fletcher runs the Jackson Fire and Security Cambridge franchise, and has had an eventful first six months in his business. He describes a typical day. 

5.30am

Wake up, shower, walk the dog, then drive into Cambridge to attend a breakfast networking event. I attend up to three breakfast events a week. is having trouble with an intruder alarm. I forward the email to one of my engineers and task him with contacting the customer and dealing with the problem.

6.30am

I arrive at networking event. It is attended by the same business people each week, and we use it to learn about each other’s businesses and pass referrals. 

8.30am

I meet one of my engineers in the car park outside the networking event to give him some stock that arrived yesterday for a job he needs for today. I keep my supply chain as lean as possible. 

8.45am

I have a coffee with a business associate who may have mutually beneficial contacts. We find ways to promote each other’s services. 

9.30am

I receive an email from a customer who is having trouble with an intruder alarm. I forward the email to one of my engineers and task him with contacting the customer and dealing with the problem.

10am

I drive back to my office. One of my engineers calls me to get some advice about a problem. The question is very technical, so I ask him to phone one of his more experienced peers at the head office.

10.30am

I have a coffee and call the head office to get their advice on an access control quote I’m taking back to the client tomorrow. We thrash out the options and I make sure I fully understand the key differences.

11am

I have a note in my diary to call back a potential client today about a quote I presented him two weeks ago. I get through to him, but he hasn’t made a decision yet, so we agree that I’ll call back again in a week. I call back a few more leads, but they aren’t available. I leave notes in my diary to follow up again.

12pm

Grab some lunch from my kitchen, usually a salad, and then take the dog for a walk. I call the head office during the walk to chat through some marketing ideas.

1pm

Drive back to Cambridge to survey for a potential fire alarm install. I set a date in the client’s diary to come back and present the quote. The client tells me they already have two and they’re looking for the cheapest deal. This will be a challenge.

2.30pm

I drive back to my office.

3pm

I start designing the fire alarm I’ve just surveyed. I’ve deliberately given myself just two days to prepare to keep the sales cycle as short as possible. I also make sure that everything is ready for the access control quote I’m taking back to the client tomorrow.

4.45pm

I start receiving end of the day feedback from my engineers by email. Once a week I attend an evening networking event similar to my business breakfast events.

5pm

Evening is for admin, internal email replies, scan in paper documents, conduct book keeping, write social media articles, prepare marketing emails, etc.

6.30pm

My wife gets home from work so I put everything down to say hello and enjoy the evening together.