I’m a salesman. It’s what I do. When I’m not writing blogs or coming up with new ideas for my clients, I am on the telephone, trying my best to introduce Merchandise Mania to as many new clients as I can.
Now don’t get me wrong, if I had so many briefs to fill that I didn’t get a moment to myself, then new business development would be the first thing I would drop. As much as I love cold calling – and strangely enough, I really do, our first priority here is to give a top flight service to our customers, and that is never going to change.
Sadly for me, I don’t have an endless stream of briefs on which to work. In the current economic climate I’m getting more and more excited about selling pens. ME! And you know how I feel about pens. If you don’t please refer to some of the earlier blogs here or buy a copy of my latest book “Pens – What’s The Big Fricking Deal?” available from all imaginary bookshops.
And so it is that I return the world of cold calling. Now as I have said, I actually enjoy it. There’s a certain joy to striking up a rapport with a complete stranger over the telephone, using nothing but your wits to guide them round to your way of thinking. Naturally, it’s fun when it works out that way, and the potential for the next call to be just the one you want slightly takes the edge off of the 20 previous people who told you that they were not interested.
But then you get the polite ones. Oh no, I’m not talking about the ones who say “thank you” right after they’ve told you to go away. No. There’s a breed of people much, MUCH worse than that. A group so malevolent that there are still some nights that I wake up screaming. Vietnam was nothing compared to having to deal with this lot – they are pure, crystallised evil, and they may well be working right next to you. (Hey, wouldn’t it have been cool if some spooky music had come on just as you’d started reading that bit? I mean, it would be extra spooky because how would it know when to start? I don’t know how fast a reader you are do I? Still, it would have been cool.)
How can you spot them? It’s easy. Their response to a cold call goes something like this – “Well we don’t buy any merchandise but if you’d like to send me a catalogue we’ll keep it on file.” AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! That’s worse than dropping the G in “morning” (see the blog from 3 weeks ago).
These people mean well – they do, but they are MORONS! It costs me money to print my catalogue. It costs me money to store my catalogue and it costs me money to send my catalogue out. You have just told me that you DON’T buy merchandise which begs the almost obvious question that everyone reading this must now be shouting at their screen…..”WHAT THE ?%*&!**? DO YOU NEED WITH A CATALOGUE?????”
And what about keeping it on file? Do these people do that at home? Have they stored every piece of junk mail that they have ever been sent? Is their loft piled high with DIY catalogues and Donkey Sanctuary newsletters? Of course not. If you don’t need it, then just don’t ask for it.
The problem is that they’re just being polite. Asking for literature is the easiest and nicest way to get a sales person off of the phone without causing upset. At least that’s what they think. Now the inexperienced salesman will rub his hands together and proclaim that he’s just made a good sales call – they’ve asked for literature – he may as well put the deposit down on his new speedboat now.
The smarter, more experienced, or frankly just plain cynical sales person will know better. He has been brushed off – it happens. Do we dwell on it? No – we take a moment to analyse if there is anything which we might have done better and then we move on to the next call.
Good manners may be one thing, but there is no substitute for straightforward honesty. It may seem harsh, but it’s ultimately refreshing. I’m only asking if you’d like to consider working with me. If the answer is “no”, I won’t take it personally, especially if it’s because you don’t buy merchandise anyway.
So just give me a hearty “thanks but no thanks”. You don’t need my catalogue – you’re never going to read it and the “file” you speak of is currently sat under your desk, currently housing 2 empty plastic cups and a banana skin. And I have just one question for you – if you don’t buy merchandise, how do you market yourselves and how has it been working for you so far?”
There are plenty of people out there who genuinely have no need for promotional merchandise. Don’t feel bad for them – it’s Christmas – give them some soup.
This is the last blog of 2008. I’d like to thank you for reading, and for those of you who have left comments too. Please tell your friends and associates about this blog – I love writing it and plan to keep on doing so. One final reminder to please sponsor me in the London Marathon – the link is on the right hand side of the page.
Happy Holidays.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Thursday, 11 December 2008
A sneak preview into your next marketing meeting...
Here is the agenda for your next marketing meeting:
Item 1 – We haven’t got any money for marketing
Item 2 – Please refer to item 1
See? And you were planning on taking up valuable minutes of your day to have a meeting. Look at the time you’ve saved!
In the last week alone, I have spoken with countless companies who seem to have had this very meeting. They get a lot of really good ideas together, phone around for quotes, organise samples, negotiate better prices and then WHAM! They get told by their bosses that there is no money to be spent on marketing.
Is that going to happen in your next meeting? Are you asking for quotes right now, safe in the knowledge that you are actually allowed to buy anything at all? I don’t want to sound bitter, but I am, so that’s how it’s going to come across.
Here’s a scenario for you. What if I told you that if you spent £5000 with me today, that I could turn it in to £25,000 within 2 months and what’s more, if I didn’t, I would give you all of your money back? Now remember, you’ve just been told that you have NO money to spend on marketing. Do you think that £5000 might just magically appear from somewhere? You bet it would.
Now wind things back a little bit. I don’t have a magical means of turning that £5000 into £25000. Or do I? You see before all this credit crunch, monster munch, lordy help me please nonsense hit, people all over the world believed in marketing. They spent money to increase their company’s exposure. They couldn’t necessarily show you a spreadsheet pointing to how their marketing spend had been converted into revenue, but they knew that it had.
So why did they stop believing? Fear – that’s why. People lose faith in all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, and then as soon as everything is alright again, that faith is restored. Funny thing though – that thing you stopped believing in didn’t go away just because you stopped believing.
It’s a bit like the fairies in Peter Pan. For those of you not familiar (oh don’t act like you don’t know) if you stop believing in fairies, they die. It’s slightly different in business – if you stop believing in marketing, YOU die.
Marketing yourselves properly now is more vital than ever. I read some good advice this week that I would like to share with you. Don't think of words like "advertising" or "marketing" - those have negative feelings attached to them. Think instead of words like "increased exposure", "greater market share", or "more profits". Now that I have given you that warm fuzzy feeling, go and find me that £5000 we were talking about!
Food for thought, but then so is salmon.
Item 1 – We haven’t got any money for marketing
Item 2 – Please refer to item 1
See? And you were planning on taking up valuable minutes of your day to have a meeting. Look at the time you’ve saved!
In the last week alone, I have spoken with countless companies who seem to have had this very meeting. They get a lot of really good ideas together, phone around for quotes, organise samples, negotiate better prices and then WHAM! They get told by their bosses that there is no money to be spent on marketing.
Is that going to happen in your next meeting? Are you asking for quotes right now, safe in the knowledge that you are actually allowed to buy anything at all? I don’t want to sound bitter, but I am, so that’s how it’s going to come across.
Here’s a scenario for you. What if I told you that if you spent £5000 with me today, that I could turn it in to £25,000 within 2 months and what’s more, if I didn’t, I would give you all of your money back? Now remember, you’ve just been told that you have NO money to spend on marketing. Do you think that £5000 might just magically appear from somewhere? You bet it would.
Now wind things back a little bit. I don’t have a magical means of turning that £5000 into £25000. Or do I? You see before all this credit crunch, monster munch, lordy help me please nonsense hit, people all over the world believed in marketing. They spent money to increase their company’s exposure. They couldn’t necessarily show you a spreadsheet pointing to how their marketing spend had been converted into revenue, but they knew that it had.
So why did they stop believing? Fear – that’s why. People lose faith in all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, and then as soon as everything is alright again, that faith is restored. Funny thing though – that thing you stopped believing in didn’t go away just because you stopped believing.
It’s a bit like the fairies in Peter Pan. For those of you not familiar (oh don’t act like you don’t know) if you stop believing in fairies, they die. It’s slightly different in business – if you stop believing in marketing, YOU die.
Marketing yourselves properly now is more vital than ever. I read some good advice this week that I would like to share with you. Don't think of words like "advertising" or "marketing" - those have negative feelings attached to them. Think instead of words like "increased exposure", "greater market share", or "more profits". Now that I have given you that warm fuzzy feeling, go and find me that £5000 we were talking about!
Food for thought, but then so is salmon.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Coffee - the prelude to everything
Coffee - it means so much to so many people. For me, it's the start to my working day. Sure, mine only comes out of a vending machine in a plastic cup and has all the sole of a Westlife album, but without it my day simply could not begin.
To the French, a natural accompaniment to their morning croissant. To the Dutch, it's the other drug that you get in Coffee Shops. Where would ante natal groups congregate if it weren't for their local Starbucks? Seriously, have you seen how many buggies they can cram into a single store? My wife and son attend there on a weekly basis - they go there more than church, which is really not all that difficult given that we're Jewish.
What third date has ever ended with "Do you fancy coming in for a snog?" and how many meetings with clients have been set up with an invitation to buy that client a cup of coffee over which they might chat?
Coffee is so much more than a beverage. It's a euphemism, it's an excuse, it's a motivator, a crowd pleaser, a way of life. Even those sad people who tone it down to decaf still "use" coffee.
Ultimately, coffee is a tool, and what makes it unique is that almost no one uses this tool incorrectly. Think of every other tool at your disposal - have they always worked exactly the way you wanted them to 100% of the time? Of course not. Coffee isn't like that - whatever you need it to do, it will do it. It's the Harry Potter of business tools and yet it's so easily taken for granted.
Is the same true of your marketing effort? Do the people in your business just expect gifts and advertising and literature to magic themselves out of thin air and present themselves to your clients without a second thought?
Ask the majority of marketeers and they'll tell you that the answer is yes. They feel woefully under-appreciated and yet without their sterling effort, business may well ground to a halt.
However, armed with this vital piece of knowledge, companies still consider marketing budget to be the first thing they cut when times are tight. THIS IS WRONG! When times are tight, my customers are going to spend less - I get that, but they are going to spend, and they're going to make a real point of shopping around for the best deals. Now if your competitors are climbing the nearest bell tower and shouting about their deals more than you, where exactly do you think that customer is going to go?
And what about when times aren't tight any more? When the small time thinkers have closed their doors there'll be a massive pool of potential clients out there looking for someone to help them, and chances are they'll go to the people who market themselves properly.
You've cut the budgets. OK, we get that, but don't let that mean that you end up buying nothing. Just make sure that you align yourselves with a company that will help you buy wisely - and there's no prizes for guessing who that might be!
This week, my colleague Sophia wanted a mention. That was it.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
We've Got Experience
You know what really winds me up? You should - I find at least one new thing to moan about on a weekly basis. No, I'm not talking about the X Factor, the price of petrol or the fact that my local Tesco now employs people to stand at the front of the store with microphones shouting special offers at me as I walk in.
No, what winds me up is lines like this - "We've got over 100 years' experience in this industry", when what they actually mean is that there are 25 people working there and they've even factored in the work experience girl who's been there for 2 weeks. She's only making tea, but bloody hell it's a good cuppa. What's worse, people who tell you that they were "Established in 1965" - so what? Lot's of things happened in 1965, why should the fact that you decided to start a business affect my decision to work with you.
Of course we all know why they do it. It's to work on the basic principle that if they have not gone out of business that they must be good. Sure, there may be some truth to that, but why is it that we find ourselves thinking that the default position of any business is to eventually close down?
And why is collective experience used as a statistic? I could easily tell you that Merchandise Mania has over sixty years of experience but it's crap. We've got a big team and we've got experience ranging from 1 year to 15.
Surely the only real measure of a company is how good they are RIGHT NOW. In the current market, a firm's ability really is on show. If they can give their customers what they need in this climate, then they're ready for anything, and there are people who have been in business for less than a year who will fall into that category.
The moral of the story? If you're putting some marketing literature together - Don't open with how long you've been in business, it's not interesting. Tell me what you can do for me right here and right now. Your capabilities should speak for themselves and if they don't, perhaps you should consider consulting with a marketing agency who will help crystallise your message for you.
Give us a call, we've been around since 2000 and I personally have 38 years' experience (of being alive).
No, what winds me up is lines like this - "We've got over 100 years' experience in this industry", when what they actually mean is that there are 25 people working there and they've even factored in the work experience girl who's been there for 2 weeks. She's only making tea, but bloody hell it's a good cuppa. What's worse, people who tell you that they were "Established in 1965" - so what? Lot's of things happened in 1965, why should the fact that you decided to start a business affect my decision to work with you.
Of course we all know why they do it. It's to work on the basic principle that if they have not gone out of business that they must be good. Sure, there may be some truth to that, but why is it that we find ourselves thinking that the default position of any business is to eventually close down?
And why is collective experience used as a statistic? I could easily tell you that Merchandise Mania has over sixty years of experience but it's crap. We've got a big team and we've got experience ranging from 1 year to 15.
Surely the only real measure of a company is how good they are RIGHT NOW. In the current market, a firm's ability really is on show. If they can give their customers what they need in this climate, then they're ready for anything, and there are people who have been in business for less than a year who will fall into that category.
The moral of the story? If you're putting some marketing literature together - Don't open with how long you've been in business, it's not interesting. Tell me what you can do for me right here and right now. Your capabilities should speak for themselves and if they don't, perhaps you should consider consulting with a marketing agency who will help crystallise your message for you.
Give us a call, we've been around since 2000 and I personally have 38 years' experience (of being alive).
Thursday, 20 November 2008
This year, Christmas falls on the 25th of December
Wow! A sarcastic title. That's not like me at all is it? It seems however, that for many people, this piece of valuable information comes as a bit of a surprise.
It's not uncommon in the retail world, plenty of people choose to do their Christmas shopping around 5pm on the 23rd of December and yet still find themselves moaning at the endless queues, overworked staff and the fact that there's only one decent Scalectrix left on the shelves to be fought over by twenty dads, and we all know they only really want it for themselves anyway don't we?
Is it all just down to poor memory? Do they suddenly wake up on the day before Christmas Eve and remember that, not only do they have kids, but that Santa Claus has never actually been proven to exist (sorry kids, but if you're old enough to read this blog, you're old enough to know the truth - Santa is nothing more than a corporate puppet - a marketing tool - a media whore, if you will)?
No, let's be a little more charitable to these people. It's just bad planning, The problem is that lastminute.com used to just be a website, but it evolved into a state of mind. Maybe it was the other way around though - if we all did plan ahead properly, there wouldn't be any last minute deals would there?
Now what did you do last Christmas? Did you send cards? Did you donate the money to charity? Did you give your staff and customers gifts or did you simply cry "Bah humbug" and chuck half a lump of extra coal in the fire on Christmas Eve? In which case, why are you still heating your offices with coal fires? This is the 21st century you know.
Whatever you did, are you PLANNING on doing it again? A lot of companies like to measure the effectiveness of their Christmas plans, but surely that only needs to take you up to April - six months will offer you more than a decent indication of whether or not something is working.
Therefore, our busiest period for Christmas merchandise should be around April and May, but sadly it is still November - a time when people want all of us magical little elves to turn 4 week lead times into 4 days and have manufacturers lower their prices despite the fact that demand has doubled. Frankly if you believe any of that is possible, then I imagine a belief in Father Christmas is really not that much of a stretch for you.
Oh! So that's the problem - everyone's clinging to their inner delusional five year old! That's alright then, just put your feet up and let's see if 500 diaries magically find their way under your tree.
So please grab your 2009 diary (what do you mean you haven't got one yet?) and make a note in April to organise your Christmas merchandise, otherwise you'll have to remember the words of that famous poem:
Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Because they were all down at Tesco....
crapping themselves with worry.
It's not uncommon in the retail world, plenty of people choose to do their Christmas shopping around 5pm on the 23rd of December and yet still find themselves moaning at the endless queues, overworked staff and the fact that there's only one decent Scalectrix left on the shelves to be fought over by twenty dads, and we all know they only really want it for themselves anyway don't we?
Is it all just down to poor memory? Do they suddenly wake up on the day before Christmas Eve and remember that, not only do they have kids, but that Santa Claus has never actually been proven to exist (sorry kids, but if you're old enough to read this blog, you're old enough to know the truth - Santa is nothing more than a corporate puppet - a marketing tool - a media whore, if you will)?
No, let's be a little more charitable to these people. It's just bad planning, The problem is that lastminute.com used to just be a website, but it evolved into a state of mind. Maybe it was the other way around though - if we all did plan ahead properly, there wouldn't be any last minute deals would there?
Now what did you do last Christmas? Did you send cards? Did you donate the money to charity? Did you give your staff and customers gifts or did you simply cry "Bah humbug" and chuck half a lump of extra coal in the fire on Christmas Eve? In which case, why are you still heating your offices with coal fires? This is the 21st century you know.
Whatever you did, are you PLANNING on doing it again? A lot of companies like to measure the effectiveness of their Christmas plans, but surely that only needs to take you up to April - six months will offer you more than a decent indication of whether or not something is working.
Therefore, our busiest period for Christmas merchandise should be around April and May, but sadly it is still November - a time when people want all of us magical little elves to turn 4 week lead times into 4 days and have manufacturers lower their prices despite the fact that demand has doubled. Frankly if you believe any of that is possible, then I imagine a belief in Father Christmas is really not that much of a stretch for you.
Oh! So that's the problem - everyone's clinging to their inner delusional five year old! That's alright then, just put your feet up and let's see if 500 diaries magically find their way under your tree.
So please grab your 2009 diary (what do you mean you haven't got one yet?) and make a note in April to organise your Christmas merchandise, otherwise you'll have to remember the words of that famous poem:
Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Because they were all down at Tesco....
crapping themselves with worry.
Friday, 14 November 2008
The G in morning is not silent
OK, OK, I'm a day late and I'm sorry. I've been laid up in bed with some virus and to make matters worse my 7 month old, Felix, has it as well. And if you think I can moan when I'm ill, imagine what my offspring is capable of! Sleep deprived and with a throat that feels like I've just eaten a ball of wool wrapped in sandpaper, I'm still here to unleash my anger on the world.
And so the title of this week's rant. The G in morning is not silent. Nor is it silent in the word calling or meeting. For some reason however, there seems to be an entire generation of people who think that it is. You know who I'm talking about. You call up a company with a solid reputation and some hooped earring Chavette who is more interested in the X Factor than her job shrieks down the phone at you with a voice so shrill that all the dogs in the neighbourhood start howling.
"Good mornin'" they cry. You respond in a professional tone "Good morninG, may I please speak with so and so? "E's in a meetin' right now, who's callin'"
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! Die Die Die you horrible little person! You're killing the English language. You're the icon of everything I hate about the world.
Have you been there? I bet you have. Now I don't mind so much when I'm phoning to order a pizza from Domino's but these are people answering the phones in City firms - the sorts of places where a certain standard is expected and yet is clearly being overlooked.
Don't get me wrong. Language evolves - I get that. I mean why do you think it's so hard to understand Shakespeare? But the use of proper English need not be thought of as an art form. Language can be truly beautiful, and the spoken word shouldn't grate. Do I sound a bit like Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady? Well then By George, I think you've got it!
The people to whom I am referring often create the first impression that any potential customers have of their company. They are just as representative of the image of the firm as their logo or annual reports, and yet this seems to be an area where their employers will so quickly gloss over the cracks.
Is the same true of their marketing department? It can be. How often do we get people calling us to ask us for pens and mugs? Too often. I've said it before and I'll say it again - don't buy merchandise just for the sake of it. This is your company's image we're talking about. Is it really a good idea for a bank to give out a stress toy? What's the message - if you bank with us you'll have even more stress so you might need to squeeze this? WRONG WRONG WRONG!
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. When a company rebrands or even goes to market themselves for the first time, they really need to keep this in mind. If you fail to impress your potential customers from the moment they hear about you, you may never win their business.
So this week, please think about your image. If you were approaching your company for the first time, what would you be thinking of them? Is it the image you want?
If you're not happy with the answers, please let us help you. If you are, then let us help you feel even better about your image.
Once again just a chance to remind you that I am running in the Marathon next year and need sponsors. Please go to www.justgiving.com/pjrose and help me out.
And so the title of this week's rant. The G in morning is not silent. Nor is it silent in the word calling or meeting. For some reason however, there seems to be an entire generation of people who think that it is. You know who I'm talking about. You call up a company with a solid reputation and some hooped earring Chavette who is more interested in the X Factor than her job shrieks down the phone at you with a voice so shrill that all the dogs in the neighbourhood start howling.
"Good mornin'" they cry. You respond in a professional tone "Good morninG, may I please speak with so and so? "E's in a meetin' right now, who's callin'"
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! Die Die Die you horrible little person! You're killing the English language. You're the icon of everything I hate about the world.
Have you been there? I bet you have. Now I don't mind so much when I'm phoning to order a pizza from Domino's but these are people answering the phones in City firms - the sorts of places where a certain standard is expected and yet is clearly being overlooked.
Don't get me wrong. Language evolves - I get that. I mean why do you think it's so hard to understand Shakespeare? But the use of proper English need not be thought of as an art form. Language can be truly beautiful, and the spoken word shouldn't grate. Do I sound a bit like Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady? Well then By George, I think you've got it!
The people to whom I am referring often create the first impression that any potential customers have of their company. They are just as representative of the image of the firm as their logo or annual reports, and yet this seems to be an area where their employers will so quickly gloss over the cracks.
Is the same true of their marketing department? It can be. How often do we get people calling us to ask us for pens and mugs? Too often. I've said it before and I'll say it again - don't buy merchandise just for the sake of it. This is your company's image we're talking about. Is it really a good idea for a bank to give out a stress toy? What's the message - if you bank with us you'll have even more stress so you might need to squeeze this? WRONG WRONG WRONG!
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. When a company rebrands or even goes to market themselves for the first time, they really need to keep this in mind. If you fail to impress your potential customers from the moment they hear about you, you may never win their business.
So this week, please think about your image. If you were approaching your company for the first time, what would you be thinking of them? Is it the image you want?
If you're not happy with the answers, please let us help you. If you are, then let us help you feel even better about your image.
Once again just a chance to remind you that I am running in the Marathon next year and need sponsors. Please go to www.justgiving.com/pjrose and help me out.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
How much is your time worth?
When was the last time you actually worked out your true value to your company? I'm not talking about the fact that you make the best cup of tea or always bring in cakes on your birthday (it was mine on Tuesday, and I brought in loads of cake) - I'm talking about your value in pounds and pence.
A lot of people have no idea what they're worth so let me see if I can help. It's easiest for sales people to work this out so we'll use them as an example. Write down your annual target. Now divide that by 12. Now divide that figure by 4 and then divide that new figure by 40. What you have there is your hourly rate. If you started your own business tomorrow and charged by the hour - that's what you would charge.
How did that figure make you feel? Mine actually makes me feel pretty good. In my best year I was worth over £350 per hour. Now don't get me wrong - I personally didn't earn that much. If I did, I'm pretty sure this blog would not exist, well it probably would, but it would just be pictures of me flying my helicopter (at least now you know what I want for Christmas).
OK, so let's take a more modest figure of £250 per hour - that's what your time is worth to both you and your company. With that in mind, let's go shopping for some merchandise shall we? (Oh come on, it'll be fun, and if you behave I'll get you an ice cream).
So you're after some pens and you've got in your first quote and it seems pretty good. The total price is £1500. You're happy, but you think it's probably a good idea to go and get a few more quotes. So you start trawling through all of the catalogues that you kept on a shelf (people actually do that? I just thought you were all being polite. We just figured you put them straight in the bin, so thanks to those of you who don't) and you call up two more companies to ask them for a quote.
There's good news - the second quote comes in at the same price as the first one but then the third quote comes in and their total price is £1400. SCORE! Do you then order from the third company? Of course not! That would be sheer lunacy! No - you phone back the first and second company and tell them that you've had a better quote. They then go away and come back and beat the figure and after all of this back and forth, you've got the total price down to £1350 and you then place your order.
Well done! The whole process took two hours and therefore effectively cost you £500, and all so that you could save.....wait for it.....wait longer.....yup, you got it - £150. Fantastic!
The moral of the story? There's nothing wrong with shopping around, but do you know I've actually been having conversations with people who need me to take my prices down by pennies? They're looking at spending over £10,000 on marketing but they're negotiating over that last £40. Are times really so tight that we need to waste hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds to try and "save" money?
So by all means shop, but if you find yourself in a good relationship with your supplier then stick with it. Unless they're not me, in which case we really do need to talk. You didn't go with them because they were cheapest - they had something more and you believed it was worth paying for, and unless they really have let go of their enthusiasm, that quality is still there.
Now for those of you who do find yourself with a spare £10 - I have just been awarded a place in the 2009 Flora London Marathon. I'm running on behalf of Tommy's -The Baby Charity, and I need to raise £2500 for them. Please go to www.justgiving.com/pjrose and sponsor me as much as you can.
Have a good week in business, and let's see if we can all get our hourly rates up to truly offensive levels.
A lot of people have no idea what they're worth so let me see if I can help. It's easiest for sales people to work this out so we'll use them as an example. Write down your annual target. Now divide that by 12. Now divide that figure by 4 and then divide that new figure by 40. What you have there is your hourly rate. If you started your own business tomorrow and charged by the hour - that's what you would charge.
How did that figure make you feel? Mine actually makes me feel pretty good. In my best year I was worth over £350 per hour. Now don't get me wrong - I personally didn't earn that much. If I did, I'm pretty sure this blog would not exist, well it probably would, but it would just be pictures of me flying my helicopter (at least now you know what I want for Christmas).
OK, so let's take a more modest figure of £250 per hour - that's what your time is worth to both you and your company. With that in mind, let's go shopping for some merchandise shall we? (Oh come on, it'll be fun, and if you behave I'll get you an ice cream).
So you're after some pens and you've got in your first quote and it seems pretty good. The total price is £1500. You're happy, but you think it's probably a good idea to go and get a few more quotes. So you start trawling through all of the catalogues that you kept on a shelf (people actually do that? I just thought you were all being polite. We just figured you put them straight in the bin, so thanks to those of you who don't) and you call up two more companies to ask them for a quote.
There's good news - the second quote comes in at the same price as the first one but then the third quote comes in and their total price is £1400. SCORE! Do you then order from the third company? Of course not! That would be sheer lunacy! No - you phone back the first and second company and tell them that you've had a better quote. They then go away and come back and beat the figure and after all of this back and forth, you've got the total price down to £1350 and you then place your order.
Well done! The whole process took two hours and therefore effectively cost you £500, and all so that you could save.....wait for it.....wait longer.....yup, you got it - £150. Fantastic!
The moral of the story? There's nothing wrong with shopping around, but do you know I've actually been having conversations with people who need me to take my prices down by pennies? They're looking at spending over £10,000 on marketing but they're negotiating over that last £40. Are times really so tight that we need to waste hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds to try and "save" money?
So by all means shop, but if you find yourself in a good relationship with your supplier then stick with it. Unless they're not me, in which case we really do need to talk. You didn't go with them because they were cheapest - they had something more and you believed it was worth paying for, and unless they really have let go of their enthusiasm, that quality is still there.
Now for those of you who do find yourself with a spare £10 - I have just been awarded a place in the 2009 Flora London Marathon. I'm running on behalf of Tommy's -The Baby Charity, and I need to raise £2500 for them. Please go to www.justgiving.com/pjrose and sponsor me as much as you can.
Have a good week in business, and let's see if we can all get our hourly rates up to truly offensive levels.
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