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Red Inc launches Business Gifts and Promotional Department

Blogger — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:56:29 +0000

Red Inc ltd is already moving forward in 2012 with the launch of their Business Gifts and Promotions department. Following this launch Red Inc can now source and supply tens of thousands of promotional branded products from across the globe and offer them for sale at the most competitive prices.

To aid this new venture Jemma Hookham has been appointed as Sales Manager to Promotional Merchandise. Jemma brings a reputation for outstanding customer service, along with a wealth of experience and expertise within the industry that will hopefully see Red Inc become one of the leading distributers within the promotional gifts market. Adam Huttly, managing director of Red Inc Ltd said “Jemma will form a significant part of the sales team and will be dealing with existing customers as well as developing new accounts, and working alongside our marketing team on a variety of new projects. It is an exciting time for Red Inc and we are delighted to welcome Jemma to the team.”

Red Inc are acknowledged specialists in the cost reduction, streamlining and consolidation of Office Supplies, Printing and associated products. They now launch the business gifts and promotional department as a reaction to high client demand in an attempt to offer a sustainable long term complete supply solution for all your business needs.

To celebrate the launch Red Inc are giving away £50 worth of high street gift vouchers to every new client (placing an order value of £350 or more). This offer will run throughout January.
For more information please contact Red Incorporated Ltd by telephone on 0845 180 0005, email jemma@red-inc.com or visit their website www.red-inc.com.

5 Tips to Winning More NEW Business Clients

Blogger — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:01:02 +0000

Whether you are cold calling or using client contacts to find new customers, you need to be able to change a contact into a client. It is important to handle yourself in a way that will make a client trust you and makes it easier to build a good rapport with him. The key to doing this is to build a good connection with him as soon as you meet him.

1: See Your Client as an Equal

The first step is seeing your client as your equal. You will not win any clients by treating them in a condescending manner. Additionally, it does not work when you consider your client who is above you. This can cause you to come across as groveling. If you approach your client as a peer with a product that can help him or his business, he is much more likely to respond positively. If you struggle with this, be sure to come across as being confident without being overbearing. Meeting your client’s eye, and shaking his hand is just the first step in doing this.

2: Be Prepared

Understanding your client’s needs and what his company does will help you make a strong connection when you go into your first sales meeting with him. It does not take long to do your homework on a client, find out what his business does, and what his possible business needs are. It is also important to understand his competition so that you can offer products or services that will help his business do better. Just like when you interview for a job, and you need to demonstrate an understanding of the company you are applying to work at, you should have that same basic understanding for a client you are trying to win over.

3: Keep It Short and Simple

It is important to remember that every client is busy, and you are one item in a long list he needs to get through during the day. This means you need to make your presentations short and sweet. Rambling conversations that do not focus on your product can be frustrating and a turn off to your client. It can also be frustrating to hear overlong explanations of the products you are selling. Although you do want to build a good working relationship, which means getting to know your client, you do need to keep it professional, which means not taking up too much of his time.

4: Understand Your Client

All the research you do on a company may not prepare you to understand your client’s current needs. Take the time to ask him open-ended questions about the services he needs to make his business succeed. It may be that your initial thought or product you want to offer him isn’t as important as another one that your company provides. Understanding his needs, listening to his priorities and looking for solutions to his current problems can land you a client that will keep coming back to you.

5 Be Honest

When you are trying to impress a client, you may be afraid to state your true opinion about a product or service, or try to promise something your company can’t deliver. Telling the truth or asking him about a point you disagree with can help you gain the respect of your potential client. This helps him see you as an equal instead of someone who is lower than him. This is a fine line and while candor is important, you should do it in a respectful way.

Using these strategies will help you turn your contacts into steady clients. It takes effort, and practice to win over new customers. You should work on building your people and presentation skills throughout your career. What have you done to successfully turn a contact into a client?

What are your tips to winning more business? What strategies do you use to get a potential customer to say YES!?

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Thanks so much and I’ll speak with you soon..

Internet expert, Dad and founder of various money saving blogs.

Annoying Sales People – Are You One of Them?

Blogger — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:53:16 +0000

As a sales person it is important that you have a good working relationship with each of your clients, and your contacts. You never want to be the person people run and hide from when you show up to the office. There are strategies you can employ to prevent yourself from becoming too overbearing and alienating the people who help to provide your livelihood. Even when you are making business to business sales, it is important to employ good selling techniques. Here are some behaviours that you should avoid, so people do not avoid you!

No Means No

It is a sales person’s job to be persistent and get the customer to place an order, but it can damage your long-term relationship if you become too pushy, and ignore the customer’s original answer. The customer may not need new supplies or may be under a tight budget, and it can be frustrating to have you persist, after they have told you it simply will not work right now.

You Don’t Have to Be Right All of the Time

Do you know someone that has to be right no matter what? Do you have those tendencies? This can be a major turn off in a sales relationship. There is a reason that the statement the customer is always right has such a lasting impact on others. If you feel the need to correct your customers at every turn, and can be rude when you are doing so, you need to fight that urge. Since your customer knows what he needs for his business, and has likely used the product more than you have, you should acknowledge that his experience may make his opinion more valid than yours.

Letting Your Mind Wander

Have you ever been in a conversation and realized halfway into it that you have no idea what the other person is talking about? Customers can tell when you aren’t listening, and it makes them feel like they are not important or valued. You want your customers to feel that they are important to you and one of the easiest ways to do this is through listening to them. You can let people know you are listening by repeating back a portion of what they said and include it in your response to them.

Avoid Those Interjections

It can be frustrating to have someone who constantly interrupts you in the middle of a sentence or a story. If you find yourself interrupting someone in the middle of conversations you should stop. It gives people the impression that you are not listening to them and that you do not really care about what they are trying to stay. It can interrupt their train of thought. It is disrespectful and can be a real turn off in a conversation. Some customers may choose to use a different vendor to place the orders for their business.

Overt Sales Pitches

Sales people are often trained to ask leading questions to help influence a customer to agree to buy a product. However, this sale technique can backfire, and end up alienating customers. Try to ask questions that are more opened, and let the customers decide what they want and when they want to purchase it.

In order to make sales and build a loyal clientele, it is important to take the focus off of yourself, and put it on your customer and his needs. It is not difficult to do this, and you will find your sales increasing and possibly receive referrals from your most loyal customers.

What is the worst sales experience you have ever had? What strategies do you use to stop yourself from making these mistakes?

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Internet expert, Dad and founder of various money saving blogs.

Managed Document Storage: Safer, Cheaper and More Efficient for your Business

Blogger — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:20:16 +0000

Many companies still use self-access storage because they are convinced that it is cheaper and quicker than using managed storage. But in reality, managed storage – the process of outsourcing your document storage to a dedicated company – can save you time, money and even stress!

Safety
In many ways, managed storage is more secure than any self-access solution. Managed storage is accessible only to security-cleared employees of the storage company, in contrast to self-access where space is often shared with other companies and their employees. This means you can rest assured that everyone who has access to your records is security checked, and you don’t have to worry about and health safety issues for your staff entering storage facilities.
Managed storage also features more advanced security measures than the vast majority of on-site solutions, including super-sensitive early warning smoke detectors and 24 hour CCTV surveillance. This represents a much greater level of protection for your documents than standard self-access storage facilities, which often have basic sprinkler systems in place, which can be just as hazardous to your records as any fire!

Cost
In terms of costs, managed storage providers are generally able to charge only for the actual space that your documents are taking up. This is a really important distinction, as self-access storage usually involves paying for a set amount of space regardless of whether or not you are filling it. This can mean a saving of around 25% when you use managed storage instead of self-access. Together with the time (and therefore money) you save by not sending your own employees to retrieve documents. This can produce some significant savings.

Efficiency
Managed storage can also increase efficiency by providing you with access to your records 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Highly trained staff can access, pickup and deliver your documents quickly and safely. This means that you don’t have to interrupt your employees’ regular work in order to send them to retrieve documents in self-access storage. It also eliminates the risk of employees accidentally misfiling documents and being unable to locate them in future.
Many managed storage providers also offer real-time online access to documents, and some can offer access to your documents as quickly as two hours after receiving your request, so it can often be quicker than sending employees to an off-site self-access facility.

All these factors combine to make managed document storage a sensible, efficient and cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.

With thanks to PHS records management http://www.recordsmanagement.co.uk for the article. Why not ask them for a quote? You might find they can offer your business a more efficient managed document storage solution!

What are your thoughts about “Managed document storage”? Please leave a comment or share this article with your friends and followers by using the social buttons down below!
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Internet expert, Dad and founder of various money saving blogs.

Replacing your printer cartridges doesn’t need to be a financial headache

Blogger — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:20:54 +0000

Fed up with constantly having to order cartridges for your printer? Struggling to stretch budgets to meet the costs of printing? With the Pound struggling against the Euro, prices for toners and ink cartridges have gone through the roof. Here’s a few suggestions to help you keep your spend under control.

Firstly, let’s get the obvious one out of the way – print less! We all know that a 100% paperless environment is nigh on impossible for the majority of businesses but focusing on creating a “less paper environment” can have significant impacts on both ink and paper usage. Double-sided printing is a simple solution. Also consider educating staff to only print the pages they need from a document or email. Willy-nilly use of the Print button will inevitably churn out pages of documents destined straight for the bin (or hopefully the recycling bin!).

Take a look at the technology you’re using. Have your printers got a Toner Save button? Clicking this on whilst printing out internal documents that don’t need to be high quality will drastically reduce the amount of toner used. And whilst you’re at it, ask yourself whether you need to print in colour when black and white will be perfectly adequate.

So that’s the more obvious out of the way, how about the not so obvious? Did you know that a large number of both inkjet cartridges and laser toners have what are known as high capacity versions? No? Well they do and they’ll save you a small fortune! For example, certain HP high capacity inkjet cartridges will give you double the page life (number of pages you can print from one cartridge) for only a third more expenditure over the standard capacity.

Why not ask your supplier if they’ll offer a discount for bulk buy or payment on delivery. Most dealers will state that margins on printer supplies are very tight but will still be in a position to offer extra discount for larger orders and they’re never going to say no to super prompt payment!

And finally… some still shudder at the thought of them but the current breed of compatibles are taking the market by storm and shrugging off the tag of unreliable machine breakers. Take for example the Perfect Green range, the manufacturers provide a three year performance warranty and will repair or replace your machine if their cartridge causes a breakdown. Couple that with at least 25% savings over genuine product and you’re onto a winner!

Replacing your printer cartridges doesn’t need to be a financial headache. Take control of your ink and toner costs and you’ll soon see the savings!

With thanks to http://www.comstatofficesupplies.co.uk for the article. Why not ask them for a quote the next time you need to order some ink or toner for your printer?

What are your thoughts about “Replacing your printer cartridges”? Please leave a comment or share this article with your friends and followers by using the social buttons down below!

Thanks so much and I’ll speak with you soon..

Internet expert, Dad and founder of various money saving blogs.

Office Stationery – Are you paying more than you need to just for a FREE gift!

Blogger — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:20:02 +0000

Most large organisations that spend in excess of £30 -£100k on office products will generally have dedicated procurement or facilities managers. These personnel are trained not only in negotiating the best possible deals but many are trained in finance too. However, a company that doesn’t spend too much on stationery can often miss out on savings, even if small. This can be because they’ve passed the job role of purchasing to someone like an office junior because no one else can be bothered to do it! The savings they could be missing out on could be as high as 50% of their annual spend.
Office supplies savings still seem to be unimportant to many small business owners which is odd considering we’re in such a tuff economic climate where every penny saved should count.

This is great news for office supplies companies that want to make high margins from these types of accounts. The sales person can normally offer high discounts on core items then offer very poor discount on non core products. Sometimes they only have to offer a few FREE gifts to win the business!

A Free gifts for junior buyer can be a deal breaker! It could even make them buy supplies they don’t even need just to get the gift. After all, some inexperienced buyers will say it’s not their money they’re spending anyway. This is where the trained and non trained buyer role comes in to play. Also where the sales and sales professional role comes in too!

Office products don’t have a fixed price so it is very difficult for novice buyers to spot if they’re paying over the odds for stationery items or not. This could be why so many salesman target the smaller spend accounts as they can be quick, easy to win and profitable.

If you have a small spend on office supplies and you get free gifts with every order then you could well be paying well over the odds for your supplies.

Read the “How much money can your business save on office supplies?” or search our FREE business directory and get a supplier from HERE to give you a quote.

Please leave a comment or share this article with your friends and followers by using the social buttons down below!

Thanks so much and I’ll speak with you soon..

Internet expert, Dad and founder of various money saving blogs.