Getting to know you......

getting to know all about you.....etc. There's a playful mood in the office today as the sun is shining and there's a new lady delivering sandwiches who's proving rather popular. I don't tend to buy them myself - I mean the sandwiches are very nice, but if I buy lunch at 10.30 then it's lucky if it survives until 10.40. Then I go home at night, look in the mirror, think I look fat and then tell myself that I will eat less and exercise more.....over pizza and a night in front of the telly.

Was I in a good mood when I started this? Oh yes, there it is. Last night I saw the new movie Julie and Julia (or it might have been the other way around) and I have to say I thoroughly recommend it. To summarise, it's the story of Julia Child - the world famous author and TV cook, and Julie Powell; a young wannabe writer who starts a daily blog as she cooks her way through Julia's entire cookbook.

What struck me is that Julie's blog became a very personal thing, and whilst her readership was small at the beginning, the New York Times wrote an article about her and before she knew it, she was being offered publishing deals and had a worldwide following.

People related to her blog because she was letting them in to her life. Every success and failure was written about, and whilst the underlying theme was cooking, her readers felt that they had a friend to whom they could relate.

This got me thinking about my relationships with my customers. I realised that those customers with whom I have the best relationships are those whose lives I know a little more about. They're not merely marketing managers and sales executives - they are mothers, fathers, aspiring musicians, ballroom dancers, adrenalin junkies and so much more. I consider these people to be friends - they congratulate me on my personal successes and I theirs, and then every once in a while, we might actually do some business together too.

Now I am sure that if you thought about it, you'd probably say the same of your customers too. But what about the people that aren't your customers yet? What about those prospects that you're just dying to get on board? Well you've probably done your homework and learned as much as you can about the company, but surely all of your competitors have got access to that information too.

So here's the clever part. Why not present them with a gift that's just a little bit....random. Something useful yet at the same time, something that needs to be discussed. Let's face it - all you really need to do is start a conversation. After that, your own questioning skills can come into play and you can start learning all about that prospect in the hopes of turning them into a client.

With access to over 1 million products worldwide, you don't always have to send the items that you see in mainstream catalogues. Think about what you want to achieve when you give a gift and then let's work with you to find the perfect thing.

Now is the absolute best time to be thinking about this. People are gearing up for Christmas and our end of year Christmas gift catalogues are already being sent out to our clients. Don't be a slave to tradition though. Tradition dictates that you send out gifts to your clients to say thank you for the business that they have given you throughout the year. Why not send out gifts to your hottest prospects instead? Imagine the reaction when you call the office to make sure that your gift was received and you get your call put through. That's the time to set up that first important meeting and get your business set to grow in 2010.

Remember, we're not dealing in giveaways here - every gift that you send is an investment in your future. Spending £10 on a gift to land a client worth 100 times that really cannot sound like a bad idea. "But wait!" you cry "What if the gift doesn't get me that client?" OK Mr Optimism, think about it like this - if £10 yields you one client worth £1000, then you can send out 100 gifts, get a crappy 1% return on your investment and still break even. Not bad eh?

So let's slap on some festive merriment and get a little busy. Like I said, our catalogues are ready and rest assured, those people with whom we'd love to form a relationship next year will be getting a gift from us. Let us help you do the same. My links and contact details are there on the right - no, your right.

Happy Christmas

What's your greatest challenge?

Good morning my blog loving friends around the world and how are you on this glorious morning? Well I do wish some of you would tell me. I notice that a few people read this blog every day but nobody ever posts a comment. It doesn't need to be anything life changing, just something like "I've read your blog and I found it interesting". Now I'm not trying to put words in your mouth or anything, but it seems that some people believe that comments are only there so that readers can insult writers, followed by insulting the other readers of those writers, followed by insulting the mothers of the readers of those writers, followed by going off on some obscure tangent. But we all have to start somewhere.

In my travels through the world of sales training and marketing blurb, I like to take note of the more interesting questions that get asked. One of my favourite sales gurus - Jeffrey Gitomer - regularly points out that the best sales relationships come from asking the best questions. Indeed, I'm always pleased when I hear the reaction, "That's a good question," because those are the only ones really worth asking.

And so we come to the title of this week's blog. What's your greatest challenge? Now this doesn't have to be a universal answer covering every aspect of your business. You could break it down into your biggest challenges in sales or, to bring things into my arena, marketing.

Some of the challenges we hear are obvious - people don't know what we do, too many time wasters, no budget, too much diversity, no budget, limits on time and oh, did we mention no budget?

The thing is, people don't think of these things as challenges - they think of them as reasons to fail. They are obstacles, or barriers, but therein lies the beauty of language - obstacles can be overcome - a challenge is exactly that, it's something that challenges you. It's something that, with the right tools and the right attitude, can be met.

Our mission here, is to turn challenges into goals. If you have a clear picture of what your company is NOT achieving, then you also have a clear picture of what it is you want to achieve. All you need to do now is calculate the best route from where you are to where you want to be.

Now I'm not claiming to be one of these business coaches that stampedes into your office to start telling you how to run things. I'm not going to start proposing that you all come into the office naked on Fridays (seriously, did you see that Naked Office show on telly? How utterly ridiculous). I want to help you when it comes to rising to your marketing challenges, so I shall end this blog with the very same question with which it began, and would ask you to please get in touch so that we can work on solving them together.

So tell me, what's your greatest challenge?

Sorry I'm Late!

Hello my blog loving chums from around the world. For those of you that logged on first thing this morning to catch the latest installment, I thank you for your enthusiasm and apologise that it wasn't quite cooked all the way through. On the plus side, there's a good reason that things were a little late, and it's because we are BUSY!

That's right. We're actually busy. Our phones are ringing, our website has traffic and our regular customers are being told by their evil finance directors (you know the ones - they're like Bond villains only without the fluffy white cat and the eye patch) to actually get out there and order some merchandise.

What happened to the recession? Did we miss a meeting? Frankly I don't really care, because if market confidence has truly started to return then we're ready, willing and able to help.

I find myself thinking that a positive attitude may have something to do with what's been happening. Allow me to explain (even if you don't, I'm going to any way). Last week I had a good week in business - various clients who had quotes from me were finally in a position to move forward with their orders, and so, with only 4 working days in the month gone, things were going well.

On Sunday night, I felt an overwhelming sensation (steady on) that this week would be good for me too. Now I'm not claiming any psychic abilities, unlike those mediums that parade their skills on so many satellite TV stations. Seriously, do these people expect us to believe that people have crossed over into the ethereal plane and yet will not be able to move on until they tell their loved ones that the remote control has fallen behind the back of the sofa?

What about the ones who can predict the future with total certainty. Why have none of them won the lottery? And for those of you who just started thinking about Derren Brown - yes, I watched it too and it was very clever, but it is a TRICK and he freely admits it.

But back to my point. I just believed that I was going to have a good week and, amazingly, that's exactly what has happened. I've spoken in the past about a positive attitude, and for many people this is just a cliche, but there's so much more to it than that.

How would you like to find yourself in a win-win situation? You can. Think about it. Tell yourself tomorrow that you're going to have a good day. Approach everything with enthusiasm. Help as many people as you can. Solve as many problems as the day can present to you. No matter what, just keep telling yourself that you're having a good day.

By the close of business, one of two things will have happened. Either you will have had a day filled with new orders and lots of business, or you will have had a day filled with productivity and a group of people who appreciate your efforts. The orders may not happen right away, but they will happen.

Most importantly, note the smile on your face as you leave the office, all set for the weekend. That Friday smile is the exact same smile you should bring back to work on Monday morning.

Success is infectious. The more you're surrounded by it, the more you want it for yourself and the more you'll work to achieve it. How incredible would your workplace be if everyone there was working towards everyone else's success as well as their own?

Perhaps your company has started to feel the earliest twitchings of the Christmas spirit. Well if you do get involved in giving gifts, now is the best time to look. Our factories have put together end of year gift catalogues for you to read in front of a roaring log fire with a glass of egg nog and a mince pie. Or you could can just do it at the office - it's really up to you.

Remember, the best and most popular deals get swallowed up quickly, so don't miss out. Me and the rest of the Merchandise Mania elves are ready to take up the challenge of finding you the perfect gift for your staff and customers, so please give us a call.

Have a great week in business - whatever happens!

Sometimes a brush off will pay off

Good morning and welcome to another bright and sunny day in the wonderful world of marketing. Unless you're reading this in the afternoon in the rain, but then there's still no reason to not approach your day with glee.

Why am I so cheery? No particular reason - it just seems to me that given a choice between being a grumpy old sod and injecting a little mirth into people's day, it pays to go for the latter.

This week, I'd like to speak to all the sales people out there. You know who you are - actually, some of you don't. Some of you still think that you work in creative departments or marketing or admin, and that sales is someone else's responsibility, but the fact is that if you deal with customers and help them to do business with your company, then you really are in sales.

To the more traditional sales people, let me ask you a question. How many times a day do you get told to "send in some information". Loads? Me too. Next question - how often do you actually do it? Interesting - I imagine that for many people, that second digit is lower than the first. Don't feel bad, we all do it because we think of such things as a brush off.

Nine times out of ten, they are exactly that. Some polite person who wants to get you off of the phone without simply telling you to go away. Now in the olden days, sending information to everyone who asked for it was a costly business. Catalogues can typically cost a company around £5 per head and so it was often thought of as not being worth the money.

But now we have email, everything has changed. A template introductory email costs nothing and takes next to no time to send. Now some of you don't believe in email as a means to introduce your company but think about it - if that potential client isn't going to read your email, then they're just as unlikely to read that glossy expensive literature.

Hold on though. Do you remember I said that nine times out of ten you're being brushed off? That's probably quite generous, but what about that one out of ten that's still out there?

To site personal experience, a few weeks ago I called a major organisation in the hope of doing business with them. This was a cold call - I had no leads whatsoever. The lady on reception not only told me to email in, but she also gave me some generic, impersonal email address. That combination would be enough to put off most people, but as I already had the email written I sent it off, made my notes and then forgot about it.

Imagine my surprise when, a couple of days later, that company's marketing executive got in touch and made an appointment to meet me. We're now speaking regularly and we're hoping to do some very big business together.

The moral of the story? Seriously? You mean you didn't work it out already? OK then - some marketing is FREE. The only investment that you have to make in it is time. Certainly, a clever piece of promotional merchandise can and will open more doors for you, but if you don't position yourself to handle the work in the first place, what would be the point?

Now I may well have just shot myself in the foot. My job is to sell promotional merchandise, but the truth is that I don't see it that way. My job is to help you with your marketing, looking at as many angles as I can and once again, I am happy to dispense this advice for free.

Have a good week in business and please do place a comment here if you feel so compelled.