As I write this, this we are in the middle of yet another heavy snowstorm. It is never-ending and there seems to have been snow on the ground since before Christmas.

Spikey and I make valiant efforts to clear our own pavements, but most shops in the street don’t bother. I guess I am old-fashioned, but I like the front of our shop to be cleared of snow and ice as soon as possible.

The bad weather has certainly affected trade throughout the UK and while some dealers tell me they are still doing very well, others report a fall-off in sales.

Even the staff in those flashy airport shops tell me that passenger numbers are well down and so consequently is trade. This was really brought home to me last week when I was passing through Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. Its superbly fitted, prestigious Sony outlet is an absolute showcase for the company’s products, but it was completely devoid of any customers.

Let us hope that by the time this appears in print, the worst of the weather will have passed.

Sometimes sales staff can give their employers problems by “over-promising” on the virtues of a product they are selling.

Usually matters like this can be resolved fairly quickly, but it has taken BSkyB years to win a court judgement in a case it brought against Hewlett-Packard.

Last week, HP’s EDS division [now HP Enterprise Services] was found liable for “fraudulent misrepresentation” by telling lies about the time it would take to deliver a working system. It was supposed to assist Sky in managing its subscribers.

The man who broke the promise was Joe Galloway, the managing director of customer relationship management solutions at EDS. Unfortunately, in a plot worthy of a Sky TV drama, it was discovered that Mr Galloway had also lied about his college degree. One of Sky’s lawyers revealed that his dog Lulu had been awarded the same degree by the same bogus college in the Virgin Isles, only the dog got a higher mark.

Sky was awarded an interim payment of £200 million.

So remember not to “over-promise” to close a sale. And maybe it would be best to properly check out any references provided by potential employees.

There seems to have been quite an improvement at Comet and at Currys. They have quietly reduced staff numbers, but I notice that the standard of service is much better.

Comet and Currys have spent a great deal on staff training, providing personal and online training. A small fortune must have been spent by DSGi on its excellent productlearningcentre.co.uk website, as it covers everything from selling product cover plans to teaching the difference between LCD and plasma screens.

One of the Currys staff I spoke to was very enthusiastic about the training event at Farnborough airport that she and 300 others attended.

She especially liked being able to chat to representatives from Sony and Panasonic – products she liked.

During my travels last week, I visited the Comet near Chippenham railway station. The entrance to this store is incredibly well fortified against ram-raids, but inside everything looked in good order.

The staff were very friendly and I listened to a salesman called Ian giving absolutely perfect advice to a couple who were buying a computer.

Despite these improvements, Comet and DSGi stores are still a long way behind the standard of service at most independents.

Graham Knight