USP October 2011

get tough on identity theft

USP

stopthinkact

CORPORATE CHRISTMAS Cashing in on branded gifts for the Christmas season

BREACHING SECURITY

Part II: How to capitalise on SME security measures

SALES EVOLUTION

Catering your sales approach to the Google generation

For more information contact Fellowes 01302 836835 | www.fellowes.com

OCTOBER 2011 ISSUE 97

THE EDITOR’S LETTER CONTENTS 3

NEWS PITCH INVADERS The latest news and products to help you deliver the perfect sales pitch

4

MARKETPLACE BREACHING SECURITY Part II: How to capitalise on SME security measures

9

CORPORATE CHRISTMAS How to cash in on branded seasonal gifts for the Christmas season

NINA ROSANDIC As Matthew Jane takes off the USP hat and places it firmly on my head, I am ready and set to launch into the world of OP sales, and will be looking to continue filling these pages with edible nuggets of wisdom to help you hit those monthly targets. Give me a shout with any ideas, suggestions or comment, or if you’d like to grab your five minutes of fame with a spot in the mag, then don’t hesitate to drop me a line at nina.rosandic@intelligentmedia.co.uk.

No sooner have we placed the flip flops at the back of the wardrobe, there’s already mention of the pinnacle event of the winter season. (I’m not ready to spell out the big ‘C’ just yet). A time of good cheer and goodwill to all men, but also a time for credit card maxing and budget pushing – it makes sense to take advantage of the imminent ‘great spend’. We look at how corporate gifts can be a lucrative way to gain from heightened seasonal company spending (p9). Jonathan Hills brings us part two of our ID Fraud series (p4), and Sean McPheat explains why it pays to build your online presence as an expert in your field (p16); you are being Googled, you have been warned – keep it clean people! We check in with our high roller of the month, cheeky chappy Mark Keevil (p12), who encourages the Global Office sales team to dance around the desks to James Brown – winner! And if that wasn’t enough, check out the breaktime section (p14) for the chance to win a funky wireless robot sound box.

Enjoy, see you next month!

Editor

USP EDITOR NINA ROSANDIC | nina.rosandic@intelligentmedia.co.uk MANAGING EDITOR JULIA DENNISON | julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR 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 PRODUCTION ASSISTANT SINEAD COFFEY | sinead.coffey@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHING ASSISTANT/ CIRCULATIONS MANAGER NATALIA JOHNSTON | natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER DAVID COLLINGBOURNE | david.collingbourne@intelligentmedia.co.uk DIGITAL MANAGER DAN PRICE | dan.price@intelligentmedia.co.uk

12

HIGH ROLLERS BRIGHT YOUNG THING Sales high-flyer Mark Keevil tells it how it is

14

BREAKTIME Fun and games and a wireless speaker up for grabs

16

SALES ACADEMY SALES EVOLUTION How best to cater your sales approach to the Google generation

18

LIVE IT HOW TO SPEND IT The best ways to spend your sales commission – from films to gadgets

16 ON THE COVER 04 BREACHING SECURITY

Part II: How to capitalise on SME security measures

09 CORPORATE CHRISTMAS

Cashing in on branded seasonal gifts for the Christmas period

16 SALES EVOLUTION 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

Catering your sales approach to the Google generation

NEWS PITCH INVADERS 03

All the products and developments you need to deliver the perfect sales pitch

PITCH INVADERS

INTERNATIONAL PAPER’S DUO COPY RELAUNCHED WITH FSC LABEL PRODUCT International Paper’s Duo Copy range has been relaunched with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation.

Duo Copy is manufactured at the paper manufacturer’s Luiz Antonio mill in Brazil using virgin wood fibre sourced from sustainable forests. It is the leading office paper brand from International Paper and is part of a family of papers that includes Duo Office and Duo Laser. As a further endorsement of their environmental performance, both Duo Office and Duo Laser are Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)-certified and are produced at International Paper’s Saillat mill in France.

Duo Copy paper is available in weight 80gsm and sizes A3 and A4, Duo Copy provides excellent value for money and is ideal for high volume applications. Its consistent and reliable quality makes it suitable for drafts, copies, archives and memos or similar office documents.

Duo Copy will be stocked and distributed by leading national paper merchant group, PaperCo, which has eight local and specialist operating divisions trading through 20 service and distribution centres throughout the UK. For samples and pricing, contact your local Paperco. www.paperco.co.uk

BETTER DUPLO SHREDDER DEAL

HSM AWARDED NEW ECO LABEL

PRODUCT IDEAL shredder distributor, Duplo International, has announced that as of last month, business shredders in security levels 2 to 4 will come with a market-topping three-year parts and labour warranty. In addition, the company has signed a new distribution agreement with leading machine wholesaler JGBM. IDEAL products are made in Germany and then imported into the UK by Duplo International. Duplo is an emerging power in the office products industry and is looking to emulate its dominance in the reprographic and printfinishing equipment market where its sales top £40m. As well as the shredders, Duplo also markets a range of trimmers, punchers, guillotines, folding machines and staplers.

In August, German office technology manufacturer HSM became the first producer of document shredders to be awarded the ‘OFFI Label’, an international seal of quality used for office products.

The OFFI Label aims to provide both consumers and commercial buyers of office products with a recognisable sign of quality and environmental protection and gives an insight into the manufacturing, raw materials, assembly, environmental impact and quality of a product.

Furthermore, products certified with the OFFI Label are checked against applicable national and European laws and regulations, and where necessary, against any additional criteria specific to the country. The uniqueness of the OFFI Label lies not only in its comprehensiveness but also in the fact that it is fully independent from the state and industrial sectors.

The OFFI Label was awarded to the HSM SECURIO B24, B32 and B34 document shredders in the business range, and also to the HSM SECURIO P36, P40 and P44 document shredders in the professional range. Henk Meinsma, owner of the OFFI Institute, presented both certificates to the HSM team in August.

PILOT PEN’S GREENER WORLD NEWS Pilot Pen Company’s UK site has been awarded a certificate from Greener World for recycling 27,835 kg of mixed materials during the 12 months to August. Marketing manager Alex Sinclair was happy with this result of over two tons per month: “We are always keen to demonstrate that we take our impact on the environment extremely seriously, as evidenced by our ISO 14001 certification, the internationally recognized standard for an Environmental Management System (EMS) and our award-winning BegreeN range of pens, all made from at least 70% recycled material.”

From the left: Dietmar Dengler (HSM), Henk Meinsma (OFFI Institute), Hanspeter Zeller (HSM), Jürgen Walker (HSM)

OCTOBER 2011

USP

04 mARKETPLACE id fraud

Securing the middle With the threat of ID fraud greater than ever, especially through the internet, Jonathan Hills takes a look at how dealers can help their SME clients protect themselves against the dangers of security breaches online and off

With fraud costing the UK economy over £27bn a year and business security beaches on the rise, the need for SMEs to secure their data has never been more important.

Fraud prevention solutions available to SMEs differ quite a bit from those of larger businesses but the principles remain fundamentally the same. SMEs, however, remain among the most targeted of all business types as they present the perfect combination of vulnerability and opportunity for thieves.

With the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) now able to order organisations to pay up to £500,000 as a penalty for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act (up from £5,000 last April), SMEs have to cover the security of their own documents now more than ever, or they could be dealt a fine that could put them straight out of business.

Safes, shredders and other physical security measures that have been used in the past to protect SMEs from fraud are now equalled (if not exceeded) in their importance by digital solutions as the traditional fraud prevention remains imperative.

Mark Hawkins, UK sales manager of Sentry Safe, has a few suggestions of things dealers should mention to clients when discussing fraud prevention.“Always ask your customers what measures they have in place for fraud prevention or data loss,” he says. “It’s a very serious subject that is critical to any business – always ask: ‘What would happen if?’”

USP

october 2011

06 mARKETPLACE id fraud

Getting your clients to contemplate what security measures they already have in place will allow you to get an idea of how advanced their existing protocol for information security is and demonstrates to the client what they are missing.

Other ‘traditional’ means are still imperative however as using the correct shredder is often necessary to ensure that your destroyed information remains destroyed and cannot be recovered. Remind your client that there is only one weak spot required for ID fraud to occur – and that their anti-fraud measures should be thorough and routine, especially in the way of digital fraud prevention.

Your client should be encouraged to invest in high-quality ‘cross-cutting’ or ‘micro’ shredders if they wish to ensure that they are completely protected against ID theft – standard shredders often do not suffice. Since the introduction of the new ICO regulations, it now may be a legal necessity for your client to purchase a Din Level 4 security shredder or higher if they handle confidential documents.

For larger and more profitable SMEs in particular, these measures remain imperative.

In addition, if they are expecting to eradicate information on CDs or DVDs then you should stress to them that they will require an appropriate shredder to do so.

SMEs are more likely to have several documents that cannot be stored via any other means than in physical form, in which case a safe is required.

“Don’t be frightened to bring up the subject in conversations with your customers,” says Hawkins, who considers alerting your clients of the inadequacies in their security system just as much a service to your client as a sales pitch.

“Safes are not as expensive as consumers think; costs do vary depending on the level of security you need – just make sure your customer’s insurance company will cover for the contents,” he adds.

Mentioning to a client that their insurance premium could reduce significantly if they employ a more sophisticated means of fraud prevention can persuade many SMEs to upgrade.

Sell on the basis of ‘spend money to save money’ and remember to mention that even encrypted memory sticks should be kept in a safe if they contain compromising information.

USP

october 2011

securing against internet fraud The importance for internet security systems has grown from a recommendation to a necessity in the last 10 years and there is now little option but to ensure that your company is protected against the plethora of viruses, Trojan horses, worms, phishing and other virtual security breaches that could infiltrate your business.

Keeping SMEs protected against internet security breaches is essential as there are a significant number of viruses out there coded specifically to target them as they often store extensive amounts of personal information on their customers and employees.

It is a common misconception that SMEs are only susceptible to internet fraud if they are involved in e-commerce – in fact any business that stores their information on a PC or Mac that connects to the internet can be affected. You can’t force SMEs to buy fraud protection software, but by letting them know the full range of potential threats that may await them, you are at least making them aware of the threat.

There are certain major precautions of which your customer must be aware that can be provided by anti-fraud software, such as the removal of signatures from documents before going online, and can also be used as a convincing argument for anti-fraud software. Anti-fraud measures such as these can be conducted manually but your client needs to know that the employment of anti-fraud software can be far safer, more consistent and will not take up as much of their employees’ time.

As a salesperson, you will have to balance specialist knowledge with a convincing sales pitch, as that your client may well rely on you as the initial ‘expert’ when purchasing the product in the first place. This means that you will need to be at least competent with the services provided by the anti-fraud software you are selling, and know exactly how it could benefit the customer.

Fraud is likely to remain a threat as currently it still proves to be an easy game for criminals to play. Make sure your clients are aware of the dangers posed by ID fraud and you will be able to sell them the solutions.

Remind your client that there is only one weak spot required for ID fraud to occur – their anti-fraud measures should be thorough and routine

FACT BOX  Cybercrime is estimated to cost the UK £27bn each year  Almost half of UK organisations reported fraud in the last 12 months  Twenty-three per cent of UK web users have fallen foul of a phishing scam and one in five have been a victim of a scam email or website  Forty per cent of users have had virus attacks on their PC and 19% had been victim of online identity fraud  Last year almost 100,000 SMEs fell victim to identity fraud.

OFFICE TECHNOLOGY

Where do you dispose of your notes on current staff planning, documents with new product ideas or files where the retention period has expired? In the waste bin? From here they’ll easily land in the hands of others and the data will be wide open to misuse. Protect yourself from serious financial damage and losing your job, reputation and esteem with an HSM SECURIO document shredder.

The document shredder of the HSM SECURIO Professional Line provides data security everywhere in the office and gives you that good feeling of quality “Made in Germany”.

SA

AL

E

RN

N

ING

Y

PERCENT

GY

INT

90

R

MAN

ENE

HSM ER

HS M

HS M

V

A DE I

N

M

Available from the following distributors: JGBM & Black Dog.

G

HSM (UK) Ltd. · Staffordshire WS7 3GJ · Phone No.: 01543 272580 · sales@HSM.co.uk

The HSM SECURIO does its job so that you keep yours.

AT I O

www.hsm.eu

Great Products, Great People.

HSM-10-282 AZ-UK_GB_210x148_08-08-11.indd 1 HS M

10.08.2011 16:23:27 Uhr

STAY SECURE Fellowes offers its stop ID fraud advice Identity fraud costs the UK economy more than £1bn every year.

Research conducted in 2010 by Fellowes worryingly showed that 94% of people in Britain consider themselves to be at risk from ID fraud and 82% of people who worked in an office environment admit that the identities of employees and/or customers of their company could be at risk of being acquired by ID fraudsters.

Companies and individuals deal with vast amounts of information every day including customer and employee contact details, confidential reports, financial details, bills and credit card statements. If this information gets into the wrong hands it can have a devastating effect: companies can lose thousands of pounds, their reputation and also put their employees and customers at risk.

The best way to dispose of confidential paper or sensitive information is by shredding onsite with a cross-cut shredder to ensure they are disposed of securely. Many companies still use strip-cut machines, which do not offer adequate protection and often CDs or DVDs are overlooked and thrown away when no longer needed so ideally companies should invest in cross-cut shredders with the capacity to destroy CDs too. For highly sensitive information, Fellowes’s Microshred range of shredders ensures the highest level of safety by cutting the paper into even smaller particles.

QuestiOns tO identifY YOur custOMer’s sHredding needs 1. Customers with strip-cut shredders need to upgrade to high-security crosscut shredders, which are recommended by the Home Office, police and many regulative bodies.

2. Do you have customers who have a large number of staff working from home? Do they have a personal shredder?

3. Recommend that senior management or departments such as HR and finance need a desk-side shredder to ensure sensitive data is destroyed immediately.

4. Off-site shredding also gives the opportunity to offer a free Fellowes shredder audit to identify whether the organisation could save money and improve its data protection procedures by replacing off-site shredding completely or introducing shredders in certain areas.

5. Target customers who purchase high levels of CDs. The amount of sensitive information being held on CDs is much greater than on paper. CDs are often not correctly labelled or are mislaid.

6. Do you have a policy in place to protect your clients’ and employees’ data? for more information about fellowes range of shredders contact 00800 1810 1810 or visit www.fellowes.com for more information on how to protect yourself against identity theft visit www.stop-idfraud.co.uk

IDENTITY FRAUD STAMP IT OUT! ID PROTECTION STAMP CREATING ORIGINALS

The NEW environmentally friendly way to stamp out ID fraud Simply stamp over your personal or confidential details with the ‘scrambled’ impression - effectively hiding the text underneath. The Trodat ID Protection stamp brings you peace of mind when you dispose of or recycle your documents - a simple and effective alternative to shredding that is always close to hand!

• • • •

Environmentally friendly Replacement ink pads are available Simple to use and requires no electricity Climate neutral. Made from up to 65% post-consumer recycled plastic.

•

SIMPLE, COMPACT AND EFFECTIVE

See the ID Protection Stamp in action at: *www.environment.trodat.net

www.trodat.co.uk

In the UK alone more than 275 innocent victims fall victim to ID Fraud everyday**

**www.cifas.org.uk (2010)

MORE FOR THE OFFICE Introducing new laminator models from Fellowes Fellowes is proud of its track record of constant consumer based product development, and this year it launches 15 new laminator models.

Fellowes first major innovation was the development of their 100% Jam Free system, giving consumers the confidence to use laminating creatively without the worry of jamming.

HOME OR HOME OFFICE The new Lunar A4 and Lunar A3 is ideal for home users and offers the 100% Jam Free* promise, at a very attractive price.

The new Cosmic2 machines are the latest version of Fellowes award winning home range. There are a host of great features including HeatGuard, Fellowes revolutionary patented heat protection system that reduced surface temperature.

MORE FOR THE OFFICE USERS, LARGE AND SMALL The new Saturn 2 offers all the features of the Saturn, plus push button controls for cold, 75, 100 and 125 micron settings. Used in combination with Fellowes high quality pouches, the Saturn 2 offers stunning results.

There is also a new two roller laminator, the Callisto, available in A4 and A3, which offers the benefits of the Saturn with the added feature of Hotswap, allowing users to swap between 75 to 125 micron in seconds.

For more frequent users, the Vega2 A3 and Neptune2 A3 bring a new level of performance in a compact design. The four roller machines offer speed and quality, plus an auto reverse feature that stops creased or misfed laminates from going too far into the machine, ensuring the rollers are not damaged and maintaining Jam Free* performance.

MACHINES FOR THE MOST DEMANDING ENVIRONMENTS Fellowes has also launched a range topping model called Proteus A3, designed with large office and copy centres in mind. This six roller model is ultra-tough, ultra flexible, offering a wide range of heat and speed settings. *100% Jam Free when used with Fellowes brand pouches For more information about the new laminators from Fellowes please contact your Account Representative or call 01302 836835

marKetpLace corporate gifts 09

What’s the value to small businesses of corporate gifts? Does sipping egg-nog from a branded mug still promote customer loyalty, or has the penny-pinching of the last few years killed the market? Bryony Taylor finds out

SELLING A CORPORATE CHRISTMAS It’s always nice to receive a Christmas gift. Particularly if Santa Claus thought you were good this year and didn’t deliver a lump of coal. It’s even nicer to get a gift from your clients or one of your biggest suppliers, even if it is a branded pen in the post. It will still go into the pen pot and it will still be used. Everyone loves a freebie.

This must be why the corporate gift market has seen a resurgence in the last two years despite the economic downturn.

According to statistics from the UK Gift Card and Voucher Association (UKGCVA), sales of gift cards and gift vouchers to corporations for use as customer incentives, employee rewards and insurance replacement continues to be a significant revenue driver for the industry. In 2010, UKGCVA members reported sales of just over £2bn, which represented around 50% of the market share. Therefore the total estimated value of the UK market in 2010 was just over £4bn.

october 2011

USP

10 mARKETPLACE Corporate gifts

Although gift vouchers and cards are available throughout the year, up to 60% of sales take place around the Christmas period.

“UKGCVA members are confident of continued growth as we enter the lucrative latter end of the year,” says the Association’s recently issued report. “The number of gift card programmes is now likely to be over 200 with many new players entering the market.”

Two out of three high street retailers have launched SMS and e-vouchers and the association expects a small number of other retailers will follow suit before the end of the year. They also forecast Christmas 2012 to be a digitally-focused one – a notion dealers might want to take note of to capitalise on voucher profits.

According to Forbes.com this year, the average corporate gift price for small businesses is $740, up from $455 last year. Vouchers, obviously only represent a small portion of this gift market, with other portions taken up with stationery and food. “Currently, we feel a strong trend toward green products, such as pencils made from FSC wood or other environmentally friendly products,” says Antonia Kohlbrenner, marketing manager of Stabilo International. “Also European quality is a much appreciated and requested [criterion]. We furthermore have the impression that customers tend to prefer emotional products with a storytelling character.”

For companies, the corporate gift offers more than a one-off extra profit. Gifting them offers a dealer’s brand a continued, cheap, marketing campaign. Particularly smaller businesses can utilise the potential of corporate gifts or promotional gifts, such as calendars, mugs and pens during the holiday season, with customers even though they’re not buying anything from their stores. This gesture helps these small businesses to build a reputation among regular and new customers.

Just because you’re giving a gift, doesn’t mean it has to be large. Perhaps the simplest and most effective way of creating brand awareness is with the unique corporate Christmas card.

The funniest ones always stay on the table

USP

october 2011

longer and they are a cheap and easy way of accessing valuable demographics or specific market areas, particularly if the inside displays the signature of the company CEO or a personal message written by hand. Or you could choose a gift with meaning; corporate social responsibility gifting offers unique and thoughtful gifts that give back, while demonstrating a social consciousness that will set your company apart from competitors.

According to the Greeting Card Association, the UK greeting card industry is worth £1.47bn annually (2010 figures), making it the most successful greeting card market in the world. Christmas cards accounted for 45% of the market volume with 678.9 million card sold and 18% of the value at £267.2m (2008 figures). It’s a staturated industry, but one that is booming and finding a niche in it with personalised corporate Christmas cards for businesses without an in-house graphics department and offers potential for dealers looking for a festive boost.

As the markets get tougher, utilising corporate gifts to instill loyalty in customers is key for resellers. Corporate gifts are an excellent way of showing appreciation to customers, particularly those long-time ones with large order books. Advertising on these products remains in the target groups’ hands all day long, making sure that the brand is permanently present in the customers’ minds via a product of trusted quality.

“Brand products help to increase margins because of trusted quality, positive image and outstanding product features,” continues Kohlbrenner. “There are no price wars because of each product’s uniqueness,” she adds.

A wide range of products are available for dealers to both give and sell as corporate gifts.

Additional sales in the market can be achieved by using existing customer contracts and by showing a high level of service in regular business, as well as establishing key contacts in any promotional business departments, explains Kohlbrenner. Of course if you’re stuck for a gift to give, a hamper of champagne and caviar has never gone down badly…

Christmas 2012 is forecast to be a ‘digital’ Christmas” – a notion dealers might want to take note of to capitalise on voucher profits

STAEDTLER LAUNCHES CHRISTMAS PROMOTIONS STAEDTLER has announced a range of exciting promotions to boost sales of key products in the pre-Christmas period.

A brand new double-sided display unit, featuring FIMO products on one side and STAEDTLER triplus boxes on the other is being offered at a significant discount until 31 December. As a further incentive, customers ordering the unit filled with the recommended product selection will also qualify for one of six fantastic Christmas hampers, depending on the overall order value. The FIMO recommended display features a selection of designs from the popular ‘Kits for Kids’ range and includes the two brand new additions – Princess and Space – for Christmas 2011. Ideal for stocking fillers, the range now has ten collectible designs, all containing four half blocks of FIMO and detailed step-by-step instructions to make the item featured on the front of the pack.

The triplus selection contains an assortment of the popular products including the two new ‘girlie’ sets of pastel-coloured fineliners.

STAEDTLER is also giving its new digital pen a promotional boost in the run up to Christmas, offering the consumer a free 2GB USB branded memory stick with each pen purchased.

A full range of supporting promotional material highlighting both the offer and the features of this innovative pen is available including flyers, presenters, web banners, a standard word document that can be personalised by the dealer and an HTML e-shot.

 The FIMO display

features a selection from the ‘Kits for Kids’ range, ideal for stocking fillers

For further information, please contact your local STAEDTLER representative or call STAEDTLER on 0845 600 5930.

12 high rollers interview

marK Keevil

Bright young thing Having started Global Office Supplies just two years ago with its MD from his bedroom, 25-year-old sales manager Mark Keevil is nearing the top of his game, with a promotion on the cards for the new year. Nina Rosandic quizzes him on what it takes to make it in the crazy world of OP sales

How did you get into sales?

of little dances round the room. When we get an account,

I first started in a stationery company when I was 18 – it

we put on a bit of James Brown’s ‘I feel good’ and all have

was one of my first jobs. There were four of us that went

a dance around. We try and make it a bit more fun.

for the job and I got it. They just sat me down with the book that you cold-call from and a telephone and

So back to your role, it can’t be all singing and dancing?

basically told me to get on with it. They didn’t give me any

Obviously it’s all good getting the orders, but I’ve got to

training or anything like that, and to be honest I

send them at the end of the day. I’ve got to do the delivery

absolutely hated it and I left after three days. I thought:

notes for my driver with the back office system, make sure

“Sales is not for me, I’m never doing that again!” I did a

invoices go out, and I’ve recently been working on the

few other jobs, not sales-based, and then went traveling

new website, so it’s quite a varied job role. My main

for a couple of years. When I came back, my now-

responsibility is being a good manager.

colleague was working for another stationery company and he said: “Look, come in; it won’t be like last time, I’ll

Do you enjoy it?

train you up. I’m not just gonna sit you down with a

I absolutely love it. You know with some jobs, you wake

book.” So I went, they trained me up and I’ve been doing

up in the morning and you think: “Oh, I do not want go

it ever since. That was about four years ago.

in,” but for me every day is a new challenge. It’s a really rewarding job as well, seeing your team succeed makes

So, you’ve worked up the ranks to sales manager, was

you feel good. I like seeing other people succeed.

that tough?

Well, I was there for a while, then my colleague and I

What’s your biggest career achievement to date?

decided to start our own business. To begin with, it was

I think looking at how far we’ve come, since starting off

just the two of us, however we’ve grown considerably over

back in my bedroom in 2009. Two years down the line we

the last two years and there are 10 of us now. My

employ 10 people. We have our own office; we used to

colleague is my MD, he went to the bank and sorted out

have the one room here but someone’s just moved out and

the money side of it, and I’ve been working my way up

now we’ve got the whole top floor – we’re expanding all

– I’m sales manager at the moment but by the end of the

the time.

year I’m going to be the sales director, and I’ll have shares in the company.

And that success, I suppose, is based on your ability to acquire new customers?

Describe your role as sales manager.

Well, yes, we have so many competitors that if we don’t

I run a team of three staff, and I’ve trained them all up

get on the phone and bring in new business, it doesn’t

from scratch. I haven’t really given them a sales pitch as

come to us, basically. You’ve got to go out and win the

such, but I’ve made sure they’ve got the basics. It’s my job

business; you can’t be lazy in this job, I’m afraid.

to get them motivated in the mornings; I’m in there encouraging them like: “Come on guys, we’re going to do

What makes a great salesperson?

really well today.”

Someone who is self-motivated, and doesn’t have to be told to get on the phone – someone who wants to do it for

USP

october 2011

Do you put on the motivational music?

themselves. Also, a person who doesn’t just care about the

Yep, we do! We’ve got loads of motivational songs, one of

first sale. Some people get the first sale and that’s it, they

our favourites is ‘Eye of the tiger’. It’s really silly, we do lots

forget about it and forget about the customer. With us, it’s

high rollers interview 13

all about building up a rapport with your clients. All my clients are my friends; when they call up, we have a chat: “How was you weekend – blah, blah, blah.” There are so many stationery companies in the country, so if I didn’t have the rapport with them and someone else rang them up and offered them cheaper prices, chances are they’d probably bite their hand off and go elsewhere. But if they

“When w e get an account, we put on a bit of James Brow n’s ‘ I Feel G ood’ and all have a dance around”

know they can ring me up and say: “So and so has offered me this price,” then I can try and match the offer rather than lose them altogether. So I think that makes a good salesman: someone who actually cares about their customers. In our game it’s all about repeat business at the end of the day.

Do you get time to see your customers face to face?

Yes I do, however because my job is target-based, I do need to be in the office on the phone meeting those targets. But if I get a new customer, I’ll go and see them, seal the deal, maybe take them out for a bit of lunch. I’ll probably go and see them once every six months. One of my biggest customers is just down the road from me and I pop in and see them every couple of weeks with some chocolates, just to say hello and check everything’s going alright. It’s the little personal touches that count.

What has been your biggest challenge to date?

Starting a business smack bang in the middle of a recession and making it successful has probably been the biggest challenge. Going back to the point that there are so many stationery companies, we’ve got to be different, so we do lots of clever marketing, just to stay ahead of the competition. The thing is though, going through the recession, nine times out of 10, if you ring people up saying: “We can save you money on your stationery,” they tend to say: “Oh go on then.” However, it was difficult for everyone in many ways and a gamble at the time. But now we’re going from strength to strength – we’re about to knock a wall through to expand our office, we’ve just finished the website and we’re looking to employ a couple of great salespeople in the near future.

october 2011

USP

14 SALES ACADEMY BREAK TIME

Breaktime WIN A BLUETOOTH SOUND-BOX

It’s a green, more cute than mean, sound machine, and it could be yours. This wireless Bluetooth Robot Sound Box from mobilefun.co.uk allows you to stream music wirelessly, and with integrated microphone, lets you handle calls hands-free. The small but powerful speakers pack a surprising punch, and the robot’s head acts as a control for your phone, letting you change tracks with a twist or pause with a push. It includes a built-in battery for use on the go, and comes with a USB cable for easy charging via a PC or USB mains adaptor.

PUBQUIZ 1 - What was Mickey Mouse’s original name?

2 - Who is the last English born manager to coach an FA Cup winning side?

3 - Which spirit is the base for a Black Russian cocktail?

4 - Name three James Bond films that have a one-word title.

5 - What is a baby seal called?

6 - In England, what is the common name for the Central Criminal Court?

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize is answer the simple question:

7 - Who changed his name from Gordon Sumner to top the charts?

8 - How is the number 14 written in Roman numerals?

In which film did Robin Williams star as a robot?

9 - What was the name of the Benedictine monk who legend has it invented Champagne?

A: Bicentennial Man B: i-Robot C: A.I Artificial Intelligence

10 - In which European country is the city of Salzburg?

Send your answer with the subject line ‘Robot’ to nina.rosandic@intelligentmedia.co.uk Closing date for entries is October 30. Winners will be chosen at random. Only successful candidates will be notified. Judges decision is final.

DO YOUR NUMBERS Fancy taking a break from the sales calls, client meetings and proposal writing? Put your feet up and switch your brain on to our break time puzzle.

No prizes, just the satisfaction in beating the grid.

HARD

1 3 1 1 4 8 7 9 3 7 2 5 2 USP

9 8 3 5 7 8 3 5 1 4 7 6 4 1 4 6

OCTOBER 2011

6 4 8 6 2

9

4

7 7 5 8

4

8 2

1 3 7 6 4 5 8 4 6 1 9 2 8 7 5 4 1 3

9

2 6 5

4

ANSWERS 11: Mortimer Mouse, 2: Joe Royle (1995 Everton 1 Man Utd 0), 3: Vodka, 4: Goldfinger/Thunderball/ Moonraker/Octopussy/Goldeneye, 5: a pup, 6: The Old Bailey, 7: Sting, 8: XIV, 9:Dom Perignon 10: Austria

EASY

If you SAW the germS you’d See the potentIAl

The average office keyboard harbours more germs than the average toilet seat.

ADVERTORIAL

IT’S A WRAP! SCOTCH TAPE PASS THE PARCEL GAME SCOOPS TOP AWARDS Reinventing the classic children’s party game ‘Pass The Parcel’ and turning it into a fun and innovative viral game has led to 3M receiving top accolades at the 2011 National Institute of Promotional Marketing Awards.

Capturing the excitement of unwrapping gifts, the game, which formed part of the on-going ‘Say it with Scotch’ marketing campaign, was played by more than 450,000 consumers.

The game was used to promote Scotch Pop-up Tape by encouraging consumers to unwrap a virtual parcel in the hope of winning a range of prizes, Scotch brand products or money off coupons.

Naturally, the parcel was wrapped with Scotch Pop-up Tape and the game featured an animated demonstration of this. Designed for hassle-free gift wrapping Scotch Pop-up Tape comes with an ingenious hand-band dispenser and pre-cut strips to leave both hands free to fold, dispense, stick and wrap.

The workplace is awash with germs which can lead to serious illness and costly absenteeism.

The average keyboard alone harbours 60 times more germs than the average toilet seat.*

New packaging launches at PaperWorld, Frankfurt January 2012

So there’s never been a better time to start selling AF’s high margin cleaning products.

As regular cleaning is the only way to ensure a bug free office, we’re investing in a new end-user campaign to raise awareness and deliver even more sales to you.

With strong sales support, marketing collateral, training, blitz days and joint initiatives, nobody works harder than AF to help you clean up.

Call now or email for details and help us spread the word not the germs.

+44 (0)1530 419 680

dealerpartnerships@hkw.co.uk

www.af-net.com

twitter.com/afinternational facebook.com/afinternational

help uS SpreAd the Word, not the germS *Source: University of Arizona

Claim up to £70 cash back on selected Ricoh Printers!

03894 AF Trade Ad 148-5x105.indd 1

HOTER

SUMM CASH BACK

Colour Laser Printer & MFP

up to

SP C231SF - £35 cash back

£70

SP C232SF - £40 cash back SP C320DN - £60 cash back SP C430DN - £50 cash back SP C820DN - £70 cash back

Mono Laser Printer & MFP up to

£20

SP 3400N - £20 cash back

GelSprinter

Valid from 1st July – 31st September 2011

up to

£20

Terms and Conditions apply. To find out more visit

GX e3350n - £20 cash back

www.ricoh-cashback.com/uk IT Services

Office Solutions

Production Printing

Managed Document Services

04/10/20

16 sales academy sales evolution

Sales evolution In part 2 of Sean McPheat’s mini-series, he proves there is a viable alternative to cold calling and traditional prospecting and selling methods Research shows that cold calling is slowly dying.

Here are the facts: “73% of decision makers won’t accept an inbound cold call” Market Transformations It’s becoming a lot harder to get through to those decision makers. On average a decision maker has over 57 hours worth of outstanding work on their desk or on their to-do list. The last thing they need is your call … asking for money!

visit, the sales discussion and then ultimately the decision being made, has now been replaced with the prospect conducting their own research into possible solutions, which leads to their own internal discussions, a decision being made on the short list and then they engage with you.

“90% of buying decisions are based on internet research” Gartner I do it, you do it and 90% of all buying decisions are based on internet research. Whether this be through the search engines, blogs, review sites or through our social media networks, we can now lay our hands on all types of information about the products and services that we are interested in.

The Opportunity: your buyers are looking for thought leaders This leaves you with an opportunity to influence your prospect’s buying decisions while they’re carrying out their research.

Your content should be all over the internet in the places where your prospects and clients search for information. I call this leaving your “Internet Footprint”, which includes blogs, article directories, review sites, LinkedIn groups and Facebook. You can start to make a name for yourself in these places and enhance your personal brand and positioning within your industry.

We know that your prospects and clients are online researching solutions and enhancing their education so if your name can keep surfacing every time they turn a corner and if you can engage with them during the Needs Identification and Research phase than you can start to influence them early on in the sales cycle and you will be positioned as the “go to” person in your industry for whatever you sell.

So what does all of this mean?

Well it means that the process of selling has changed. Or more importantly, how your buyers make their purchasing decisions has changed.

The traditional way of setting up an appointment via the telephone, through to the

The Tale Of Two SalesPeople Creating an internet footprint is all about creating a trail of content, education, information, comments, articles and the like, which are attributed to yourself all over the internet.

Imagine there are two salespeople selling photo

“Customers prefer to make informed purchase decisions. They don’t want to be sold to” Gartner We all like to be in total control of how we purchase and we hate to be convinced or put under pressure as to what we should buy.

USP

october 2011

I do it, you do it and 90% of all buying decisions are based on internet research

Sales academy sales evolution 17

author bio Sean McPheat is a bestselling author, sales authority and international speaker. He heads up a team of 20 trainers at MTD Sales Training www.mtdsalestraining.com.

For more information on his book, eselling, visit www.e-selling.com

copying equipment. Salesperson number one just turns up and demonstrates his wares in a typical appointment set–meeting–negotiation– decision process.

Salesperson number two comes up in Google over 5,500 times. Picture and video searches also show him repeatedly – he’s everywhere! He’s offering advice, sharing thoughts and visions and can be seen engaging the community through the activities and local events he supports.When you Google him, you get a clear sense of the energy he brings to the table and the types of subjects in which he’s clearly an expert. He comments on videos, is an active reviewer of businesses in his local city and is even a guest author on other popular blogs. You want to find out a lot of information about a particular product and he provides whitepapers, videos and audios for free to help you.

Now, here’s a question: Who are you going to shortlist? The expert of course.

Listening For Leads People are talking... They’re talking on blogs, on forums, on LinkedIn, on Twitter, on Facebook – you name it. They’re talking about what you sell. The question is this; are you listening to the conversation?You still need to keep your ears and eyes open and look for business opportunities.

You can “Listen For Leads” by:  Loading up your Google Alerts system with key phrases that people would use when talking about your products and services  Search the LinkedIn groups for threads and discussions  Look for clues in blogs and forums

 Search Twitter for keywords, trends and conversations  Search Facebook for fan pages and discussions.

Here are a few ways to do this: Set Up Google Alerts You can enter a keyword or phrase using Google Alerts and any time that a page is indexed with that keyword or phrase, Google will ping you an email and will let you know. For example you could enter “I am looking for a new printer” or “Does anyone know a good all in one printer?”

If someone mentions those phrases then you will be alerted and you can then go to that page, blog post or forum and “enter the conversation.”

Listen In To Twitter Conversations You can use free software to enter your key phrases and anytime someone mentions your key phrases you will be alerted to the fact.

I recently spoke at an IT conference and wanted to show the 400 professionals there how to do this so I set up a campaign for the keyword “motherboard”. Within a couple of hours I had several potential hot leads of people mentioning on Twitter that they needed a new motherboard.

The world of prospecting is changing. Noone wants to “beg for business” through cold calls. Sure, there is a place for calling prospects but you should have formed some relationship first. There’s got to be an easier way and there is.

Dell have just trained 13,000 staff on social media. IBM have trained thousands themselves.

The winds of change are amongst us and it’s not going to go away.

october 2011

USP

18

live it

The best way to spend your free time and money

Film

BIT OF BANTER

Anonymous Speculation over the authenticity of William Shakespeare’s works has been debated since the middle of the nineteenth century and is given new life with the release of the film Anonymous.

Anonymous comes from the creative mind of an individual one would least likely associate with the bard, but director and producer Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla) manages to keep the fantastical exposé of Shakespeare thoroughly watchable, and on occasion, rather enthralling.

This strain of the Shakespearian authorship theory sees the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Evans) forced to recruit a drunken actor (Rafe Spall) to take credit for his work after being refused by fellow playwright, Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto).

The film also contains elements of relevant and accurate political history as Oxford uses some of the Bard’s most prominent plays to incite support of the Essex rebellion during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave).

The film is a solid effort to try and breathe life into a sensitive subject and a thoroughly oversubscribed period of Hollywood-history, remaining sufficiently engaging throughout – a great genre-debut effort for a director who has little experience in the field.

Released 28 October

music

drink

Metallica and Lou Reed

Old Thumper – Ringwood Brewery

Metallica and Lou Reed join forces with the release of the little-known but long-anticipated album, Lulu.

With experience spanning over half a century and both artists having managed to acquire a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, expectations are certainly high, with fans poised on the brink of outrage in case anything goes awry.

For those who have already heard a peep of the album, the advice is to give this one a listen as soon as possible, though there’s probably not much point in cleaning out your ears before you do.

Released 31 October

With the summer finally over, it is high time to alter your drinking habits from the crisp and the clear, to the stodgy, autumnal and bitterly opaque.

Awarded Champion Beer of Britain by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) in 1988, Old Thumper is a fine, strong English ale that delivers a spicy, warm flavour with a hint of apples and peppery overtones.

USP

october 2011

What a poker face

good Donkey Marko the donkey has been chosen by the Society for New Bulgaria political party to run as their candidate for mayor at the upcoming elections in Varna, Bulgaria on 23 October.

Angel Dyankov, heading the campaign for the party, said: “Unlike the other candidates, the donkey has a strong character, doesn’t steal, doesn’t lie, and gets work done.”

The party hopes that he will replace the current mayor of Varna, who they believe to be a complete ass. (Sorry.)

Einstein The debate concerning the speed of light continues to rage following the announcement from physicists at the CERN lab near Geneva that they recorded neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light.

The speed of light, the key component of special relativity, is the standard under which modern physics is established and a fundamental principle which Einstein considered to be necessarily unsurpassable. What an idiot.

bad

d n a t s o t t n Wa in the crowd? out W o n p u n g i s

USP To clAim yoUr free sUbscriPTion cAll: 0207 288 6833 emAil: sUbscriPTions@inTelligenTmediA.co.Uk web: www.UsPmAgAzine.com/sUbscribe/

EvEry good salEspErson knows that knowlEdgE is powEr And ThAT’s where UsP comes in.

Every month, this industry focused-magazine brings you everything you need to know about the latest products and key trends in the office supplies market, as well as quality advice from leading experts on how to become a better salesperson and brush up on those sales techniques.

There are also inspirational interviews with leading figures from the world of business, television, sport and film and our Live It lifestyle bible, showcasing the latest gadgets on which to spend your commission. Also, USP will be giving away some top prizes every month – for FREE.

TERMS & CONDITIONS *USP magazine is free to those who qualify: sales managers and executives, sales staff, marketing and purchasing employees in dealers, wholesalers and distributors supplying office products. For those who do not qualify, annual fee is £68.

Subscribe today for your free monthly update - it’s very easy and won’t take a minute. Why not invite all your sales colleagues to sign up as well? That way everyone in the team is up to speed!