MAY 2012
USP SAY OMM‌
Bryan Revell from OMM Group moves from signs to supplies
LIVE IT
The latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on
PITCH INVADERS
Products for the perfect sales pitch
THE EDITOR’S LETTER CONTENTS
JULIA DENNISON Welcome to the May edition of USP Magazine. Here’s hoping you’re having an inspiring start to the new financial year, and, by the time you read this, the rain clouds have cleared up and the hosepipe ban has found its solution (not likely on both counts). In this issue, we speak to a salesperson who is not afraid to be outside his comfort zone. In our High Rollers section, we interview Bryan Revell of OMM Group, a dealer well known for its targeting of vertical markets. A year ago, this skilled salesperson was in the business of selling signs – and pretty much signs only – but thanks to Spicers’s new sales academy, he’s right up to speed with the office industry. If he can learn that quickly about office supplies, the lot of you can learn a thing or two about signs, I think. Here’s wishing you a lovely month of May. Please get in touch with any news stories or updates on editor@dealersupport.co.uk. Enjoy!
04 NEWS 03 PITCH INVADERS The latest news and products to help you deliver that perfect sales pitch
HIGH ROLLERS 04 SAY OMM… Bryan Revell from OMM Group moves from signs to supplies
LIVE IT 06 HOW TO SPEND IT The latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on
Editor
USP MANAGING EDITOR JULIA DENNISON | julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk EDITOR BILLY TAYLOR | julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk REPORTER GEORGE CAREY | george.carey@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER VICKI BALOCH | vicki.baloch@intelligentmedia.co.uk SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER – MEDIA SOLUTIONS MATTHEW MOORE | matthew.moore@intelligentmedia.co.uk
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE – MEDIA SOLUTIONS KRYSTLE DAVIS | krystle.davis@intelligentmedia.co.uk DESIGNER SARAH CHIVERS | sarah.chivers@intelligentmedia.co.uk DESIGNER / PRODUCTION PETER HOPE-PARRY | peter.hope-parry@intelligentmedia.co.uk CIRCULATIONS MANAGER NATALIA JOHNSTON | natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk
USP magazine is published by... Intelligent Media Solutions | Suite 223 | Business Design Centre | 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QH tel: 0207 288 6833 | fax: 0207 288 6834 | email: info@intelligenmedia.co.uk | web: www.uspmagazine.com Follow USP on Twitter at Twitter.com/uspmagazine Printed in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk
PITCH INVADERS
All the products and developments you need to deliver the perfect sales pitch
STABILO WINS REDDOT DESIGN AWARD 2012 PRODUCT The New Stabilo SMARTball has been awarded the Reddot design award for its superior design quality. A total of 4,515 products were chasing the coveted Reddot – the quality seal for aesthetic designs and sustainable trends. The SMARTball won over a panel of 30 judges to receive the Reddot seal of approval. Stabilo’s new SMARTball pen isn’t called ‘smart’ for nothing. Sleek and sophisticated, the SMARTball is an ergonomic ballpoint pen with left & right handed versions that has an integrated touch-screen stylus, for touch-screen technology. Perfect to type, write, slide, navigate, sketch and play, the SMARTball stylus works on all devices with touchscreen displays (including Smartphones, iPhones and iPads). Already proving successful in the retail channel, the SMARTball is fast becoming one of STABILO’s best sellers and rightly so. With all these truly unique features, the SMARTball is a real innovation in bridging the gap between the analogue and digital world.
EXACLAIR: EUROSTAR COMPETITION COMPETITION ExaClair Limited has launched a major new campaign offering end users the opportunity to win one of five Eurostar breaks, to further assist dealers and retailers in marketing and selling the high quality Exactive range of files, folders and cases from Exacompta. “In a highly competitive market, we are committed to raising awareness around our brands, differentiating our products and helping dealers to achieve maximum sales,” says James Mead, Sales and Marketing Director, ExaClair. The closing date of the prize draw is 31 July 2012. Marketing materials for dealers to use via mailer campaigns are available to support the promotion.
PENTEL CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN SWINDON NEWS Pentel (Stationery) Ltd is celebrating 20 years at the company’s South Marston site, near Swindon, and a third of the company’s staff have worked for Pentel for over 20 years. Swindon was chosen as the ideal location, due to its proximity to excellent transport networks and distribution hubs. Twenty years on Pentel is still trading successfully from its South Marston home, which is the company’s only site in the UK. Some of Pentel’s most iconic products still remain world-beaters many years after their initial introduction. The N50 permanent marker was the world’s first fibre tip marker and is used in factories, warehouses and offices around the globe. This year N50 celebrates its 50th anniversary and is still one of the world’s favourite Pentel products for marking on many surfaces, thanks to its strong, robust bonded fibre tip and aluminium barrel. The green barrelled R50 Ball Pentel was the world’s first roller ball pen and forty years on is still popular in offices, schools and homes. New products that are making their mark include the EnerGel range, which has ultra quick drying liquid gel ink that writes smoothly and evenly, without leaving messy smudging on hands. As Pentel looks to the future 2012 promises exciting activity later in the year, with plans to be unveiled soon.
DEALERS SALES RISE WITH NEW HP TONERS PRODUCT Dealers are winning business and converting customers to the new high margin range of remanufactured HP colour compatible toners from Media Sciences by Katun®. Katun is so confident of their quality they are offering free samples and a dealer cash incentive scheme. “The sample program is a great tool. We have converted many customers simply by sending them a free toner to try, I’d recommend any dealer to utilise this.” Steve Symons, Director, Whitecrest & Hurleys. If you are a dealer who has not signed up yet don’t miss out on earning higher margins and incentivising your sales teams. Call Richard Betts 07738 642507 or Mark Brown 07780 833190
04 SALES ACADEMY INTERVIEW
“If you go in with a hard-sell, they’ll just think you’re in there to make a quick buck” A recent Dealer Support news story spoke of the success of New Talent Academy (NTA), a Spicers/P1 Training and Development collaboration, by citing one recent graduate’s delight at landing £6,500 on his first OP order days after finishing the course. This speedy learner was none other than Bryan Revell, a salesperson at the OMM Group who recently moved from working in graphics and vinyl to office supplies and was sent on the scheme in a bid to get him clued up. Clued up he quickly became. SIGN OF THE TIMES Revell’s background is in signs. Prior to his role at OMM, which is based in Stratford in East London, he was working for a signage company selling everything from reception, safety and store-front signs to etching on glass to obscure the view of a boardroom and installing anti-graffiti film. When that firm went bust a year and a half ago, his good friend Jason Richardson, a director at OMM, approached him. Revell remembers the conversation: “He said to me: ‘Bryan, I know you’re a good salesman in your industry, do you think that you could bring your industry over to us and we’ll financially support you selling your vinyl if you can bring in clients.’” It was a deal and Revell agreed to do his best at doing what he did best – selling signs. So from January 2011, he did just that – and he did it well. The directors at OMM were so impressed with Revell’s results that from January this year, they convinced him to branch out and sell the company’s core product – stationery. In a bid to help him learn about the office products industry, they put him on the NTA course, which they hoped would bring him swiftly up to speed. “It was a new challenge and I was up for it,” he remembers. GET WITH THE PROGRAMME The course was 12 weeks from start to
USP
MAY 2012
ROOKIE’S BRYAN REVELL, sales manager at the OMM Group, moved into office products with a bang, landing £6,500 for his first order. He outs it down to a solid training from Spicers’s New Talent Academy. JULIA DENNISON speaks to him about his promising future
SALES ACADEMY INTERVIEW
FORTUNE graduation day, with 16 classroom days of tuition, which took place at Spicers’ headquarters in Sawston. “It was pretty much a backwards and forwards exercise,” comments Revell. “Go back to your company one week, come back to training etc.” As part of it, he went out cold-calling in Cambridge town centre; toured the Spicers warehouse and spoke to sales reps from major office product manufacturers. “It was very handson,” he recalls, speaking positively about his experience as a whole. He puts much of the programme’s success down to leader Gary Naphtali: “I think that man is worth his weight in gold for what he does,” says Revell. “When I was told I was going to go on the course, I was really not looking forward to it – I thought it would be like going back to school. But with the way Gary teaches and the hands-on experience, he makes you so relaxed and you learn without even realising you’re learning.” This paid off when Revell secured his first office product order for £6,500 with a brand new account. “Since then, I’ve just been opening up new account after new account,” he adds. “Slowly, slowly – I’m not saying I’m taking over the world. I’m getting new accounts with little orders but if I can make them blossom, then I’ll be doing fine.” He continues to sell his signage products, but he’s not pushing that side of things, as he continues to concentrate on office products. “The core of this business is stationery, so I think they would like me to concentrate on that,” he says. “The vinyl and graphics is a bonus now.” A FUTURE IN OFFICE PRODUCTS Revell continues to learn and continues to be impressed by the breadth of products in office supplies. “When people ask me what I do for a living and I say I sell stationery, it sounds so boring, but if they were to see what you do, it is quite something else – [we sell everything] from print management to the OEM side of
things; absolutely everything,” he comments. “We even sell knives and forks if we have to – and furniture, you can plan someone’s office for them. It’s quite good. I really do enjoy it.” Alongside going after new business, his current project is to go through a list of customers on OEM’s database that have become inactive and get them to buy again. He’s had some success with this, but admits it has been a challenge. His plan is to stick with it: “It’s about trying to get that friendly face in,” he says, “because I really do believe that if you get on with somebody and you make that connection with them, then you have a lot more chance of success.” He feels it’s important to build that trust with them first: “If you go in at a hard-sell, they’ll just think you’re in there to make a quick buck and leave,” he continues. “I would rather go in there with a softly-softly approach: ‘How are you? Here’s my catalogue. This is who I am. I’m round the corner; I’m going to be here forever. I’m here for anything you ever need.’ Then, keep going back in to remind them you’re still there. Hopefully they take a bite of that cherry and I make some success of it that way. That’s my approach.” Time will tell, but judging from his achievements in this early stage – including securing housing development firm Barratt Homes as a customer – it seems like a good approach to have.
MAY 2012
USP
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LIVE IT
The best way to spend your free time and money
FILM
BIT OF BANTER
THE DICTATOR This is arguably Sasha Baron Cohen’s most outrageous character to date and that’s really saying something. After lampooning the fashion world with Bruno; gangster rappers with Ali G; and, well, I suppose Kazakhstan with Borat, he’s now deriding the despots with The Dictator. The story follows an exiled dictator who is trying to save his country from the scourge of democracy. Although this film is far more staged than his earlier offerings, there is still spontaneity to be enjoyed as he takes to the streets of America with his camel-endowed entourage. Cohen delivers a wonderfully deranged performance in the movie that the poster claims is a romantic comedy based on the best-selling novel Zabibah and The King by Saddam Hussein. Released 16 May
That doesn’t look anything like me
GOOD
GADGET
MUSIC
RIZE OF THE PHOENIX Comedy-rock-duo Tenacious D have returned after a six-year hiatus, and Jack Black and Kyle Gass are back on form after the band’s disappointing film debut in The Pick of Destiny. Once again Dave Grohl takes a seat at the drums and delivers as much raw-energy and joy on the skins as Black does with his vocals. There’s the usual mix of air guitar inducing rock-out tunes and comedy skits, as well as a song chronicling the pair’s time out since their last album: ‘The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage’. If you like your rock with a few laughs along the way, then look no further. Released 15 May
USP
MAY 2012
ONE CABLE
Designed to be the one cable that you will ever need, this handy device features an Apple, MiniUSB and MicroUSB connectors, which are designed to charge anything that uses any of these adapters. With more and more devices using MicroUSB charging adapters, the One Cable is also designed to be future proof so you won’t need to constantly buy new cables to keep pace with your burgeoning stock of gadgets. If Dealer Support readers enter the code ONECABLE in the rebate section at the checkout, delivery up to £2.99 is free.
BROWN GOLD An enterprising nine-year-old from LA has built himself a college education out of cardboard. Caine Monroy built an arcade entirely out of cardboard at the back of his dad’s auto parts shop, and charged $2 for entry. Unfortunately a dearth of foot traffic meant that no one came, until a local filmmaker stumbled across his creation. He encouraged all of his friends to come along and made a film about it. The film went viral and someone suggested that internet users could donate to a college fund for the mini entrepreneur. To date they’ve raised $168,000. DON’T BE YOURSELF Research carried out by the University of Greenwich has found that being yourself at work could damage your career. The study of 533 people found that those who opened up to their partners at home were likely to be happier, but the same approach was found to be counterproductive in the work place. I’m not sure that research was necessary to realise that it’s not always a good idea for employees to tell their bosses what they think of them.
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Challeng Channel mber 2012 te p e S 17-28
ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? With the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games coming up this summer, this year is undeniably a year of sporting achievement. If you’re feeling left out of the fun, here’s your chance to do something good for yourself and others. Dealer Support magazine is partnering with Antalis McNaughton and Pioneer Paper to take on the Channel Challenge 2012, to get the office supplies industry on their bikes in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Taking place from 17 to 28 September, the goal of Channel Challenge is to have 20 riders on each of the 10 stages of the relay. If every rider can raise around £100, with all the expected participants we will blow the £20,000 figure of last year.
The challenge Cycle one or more of the stages from Aberdeen to Brighton (each stage is around 85 miles)
The charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, dedicated to saving lives by finding the causes of breast cancer, improving detection, diagnosis, treatment and services
The dates 17-28 September
How to enter Please go to www.dealersupport.co.uk/channelchallenge2012 to find out more about the challenge, dates, cycle routes, setting up a donation page, logistics and cycle support, then email matthew.moore@dealersupport.co.uk with your choice of date/s.