USP Magazine July 12

JULY 2012USP

SPOTYA 2012Heatons turns up the heat

HITTING THE BOOKSThe state of traditional presentation products

LIVE ITHow to spend itTh

ink tw

ice ab

out o

utsou

rcing

COLD CALLING

THE EDITOR’S LETTER

Welcome to the July edition of USP magazine. We hope this issue finds you in as good

of spirits as a drizzly summer will allow. With a summer of sport upon us, this is your

chance to sell like a champion and get Britain buying British and using their friendly

local office supplies dealer to do so.

In this issue, we go back to basics. First, we take a look at the market for quality

books and pads (p5) to find out where the opportunities exist for dealers. Also, don’t

forget to check out page 10 where we discuss the down-side to outsourcing those

necessary cold calls.

As the world begins to descend on London for the 2012 Olympics, the editorial

team at USP wishes you all an exciting and safe July. And as always, please get in

touch with any news stories or updates on [email protected].

JULIA DENNISON

Managing editor

USP magazine is published by...Intelligent Media Solutions | Suite 223 | Business Design Centre | 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QHtel: 0207 288 6833 | fax: 0207 288 6834 | email: [email protected] | web: www.uspmagazine.com

Follow USP on Twitter at Twitter.com/uspmagazinePrinted in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk

MANAGING EDITORJULIA DENNISON | [email protected]

EDITORBILLY TAYLOR | [email protected]

REPORTERGEORGE CAREY | [email protected]

PUBLISHERVICKI BALOCH | [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER – MEDIA SOLUTIONSMATTHEW MOORE | [email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE – MEDIA SOLUTIONSKRYSTLE DAVIS | [email protected]

DESIGNERSARAH CHIVERS | [email protected]

DESIGNER ,PRODUCTIONPETER HOPE-PARRY | [email protected]

CIRCULATIONS MANAGERNATALIA JOHNSTON | [email protected]

USP

CONTENTS

NEWS03 PITCH INVADERSThe latest news and products to help you deliver that perfect sales pitch

MARKETPLACE 05 BOOKS. PADS, AND ACCOUNTING The current market on quality books and pads

HIGH ROLLERS08 SPOTYA 2012Heatons turn up the heat

SALES ACADEMY10 COLD CALLINGThe downside to outsourcing

LIVE IT12 HOW TO SPEND ITThe latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on

12

PITCH INVADERSAll the products and developments you need to deliver the perfect sales pitch

PRODUCT Media Sciences a brand of Katun Corp, is offering free

samples plus sales incentives to all UK dealers as part of the launch

of the new HP colour compatible toners range. “Dealers are holding

promo days offering the ‘try before you buy’ free samples of our new

range of HP colour compatible toners and some dealers have got over

20 customers, many of

them national companies,

testing our new products,”

says Katun’s Richard

Betts. With no reduction

in product quality or

performance and

providing high dealer

margins. Call Katun’s

Richard Betts on 07738

642507 or Mark Brown

on 07780 833190 to find

out more and benefit

from this free

programme today.

NEWS Two new Sennheiser headsets in its wired Circle Series are

compliant with key collaboration solutions from Avaya, a global provider of

business collaboration systems, software and services. The company says

the headsets are designed to improvie efficiency and creating comfortable

working environments.

“Membership in the Avaya DevConnect program provides a unique

opportunity to offer our joint customers a rich communications

experience based on a tested and compatible solution,” says Lars Riis

Rasmussen, strategic alliance manager for Sennheiser Communications.

“Being a central element in a voice communications solution, the

Sennheiser Communications

headsets provide leadership in

sound quality, comfort and hearing

protection for contact centres,

offices and unified communications

professionals.”

Sennheiser is a technology

partner in the Avaya DevConnect

program — an initiative to develop,

market and sell third-party products

that interoperate with Avaya

technology and extend the value of a

company’s investment in its network.

SENNHEISER HEADSETS RATED ‘AVAYA COMPLIANT’

DEALERS DAZZLE ON PROMO DAYS WITH MEDIA SCIENCES FREE SAMPLE CAMPAIGN

PROTECT YOUR DATA WITH 256 BIT ENCRYPTION

PRODUCT Olympus claims its digital dictation is now even more secure

with 256 bit encryption available for professional dictation products.

Digital dictation allows you to secure your voice files via technology

such as 4-digit PIN and encryption to prevent unauthorised access, vital in

professional environments where confidential data must be kept secure.

To date, 256 bit encryption is the highest level of security compliant

with the Advanced Encryption Standard.

Developed for use within professional environments such as medical

and legal audiences, Olympus says its professional dictation range

encompasses features to support workflow, cost savings and efficiency.

Features such as a bar code scanner to support medical dictation

and biometric fingerprint scanner (DS-5000 ID model) to ensure

dictations don’t fall into the wrong hands, help to provide necessary

support for these heavy dictation environments.

Following the launch of the DS-7000, Olympus has developed a

firmware update to enable professional dictation models to be

compatible with the highest 256 bit encryption security.

This means that existing and potential users are able to upgrade

their current DS-5000 and DS-5000iD devices to record in 256-bit

encryption due to backwards compatibility until an upgrade to the new

DS-7000 can be made. The latest version of DSS Player Pro is required

to cater for the new encryption standard. The new DS-7000 and

DS-3500 are 256 bit encryption ready out of the box.

10 IPHONE PRIZES UP FOR GRABS TO SUPPORT EUROPA SALES

COMPETITION ExaClair Limited has launched a prize draw campaign to support dealers and retailers and to further stimulate sales of the Europa books, pads and filing products. End-users can win one of 10 iPhone 4S handsets with every purchase from the Europa range.

James Mead, sales and marketing director, says ExaClair hopes to repeat the success of its 2011 campaign: “Last year’s prize draw prompted almost 8,000 entries and drove up sales for dealers, and this year we hope to build on that strong foundation of consumer awareness around the Europa brand.”

The competition closes 31 October 2012

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET 12 MONTHS FREEDon’t risk missing out on the latest industry news, business advice and dealer interviews by making sure you register for your free subscription to Dealer Support today. Already subscribed? Contact us to renew your subscription in good time

*TERMS & CONDITIONSIn order to qualify for a free subscription, the recipient must be a director, manager, proprietor and/or buyer in dealers, wholesalers and distributors supplying office products, individuals manufacturing office products, and other individuals with purchasing authority in the UK or Ireland. For those who do not qualify there is a £68 annual fee. For details or to subscribe, contact Natalia Johnston on [email protected], +44 (0)20 7288 6833 or visit www.dealersupport.com/subscribe/

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND RECEIVE...

:: INDUSTRY NEWS THE LATEST NEWS, TRENDS AND GOINGS ON IN OFFICE PRODUCTS

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:: MANAGEMENT ADVICE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS

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June 2011 Issue 192

INS

PIR

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BU

SIN

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S S

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S FO

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BRAND POWERAre brands best?SPICE OF LIFEAlan Ball opens up

CREAM OF THE CROPIDS winners revealed

July 2011 Issue 193

INS

PIR

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BU

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S S

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S FO

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EA

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HEAD IN THE CLOUD

Low-down on cloud computing

HOME MADE

UK manufacturing in the spotlight

IDS LEAGUE 2011

Analysis: part one

01_DS_July11.indd 1

12/07/2011 11:33

DS_Generic Subs_ad.indd 2 02/03/2012 11:52

USP

MARKETPLACE PRODUCT UPDATE 05

JULY 2012

A TURN UP FOR THE BOOKS

Organisation remains a huge challenge for

many professionals, whose time is constantly

at a premium. While some have adopted

electronic devices to govern their schedules,

there are still many who favour traditional

solutions. The ease of use of flicking through

a page and quickly adding or erasing an

appointment is still a huge driving factor for

diary sales. In addition to this, traditional

paper products are still used en masse for

accounting purposes, particularly for SMEs,

and quality pads are a constant need for any

office-based business.

PUT IT IN THE DIARYOne of the key areas for diary and planner

sales is the academic year, with students

keen to get ahead of their busy workloads

and plan their assignments. There is

traditionally a seasonal peak in academic

planner sales, with highs in late July and

August as students and parents prepare their

back-to-school investments.

Different customers will be looking for

varying content from their diaries. Students

may look for products that include key dates

highlighted, important phone numbers,

personal information pages, or more specific

information, such as a scientific periodic

table for reference. Business people might

be keen on a diary that includes information

such as international dialling codes or world

time differences.

Given the personal nature of a diary

or planner, it allows consumers the

opportunity for some individuality. While

a senior executive of a company may want

a plain, simple diary, a young student will

most likely be swayed more towards a

colourful and vibrant product, one that

reflects their personality or even a planner

that they can personalise. Younger pupils

may want products that are designed

around the latest craze in music or film.

Unit costs of diaries and planners may

be relatively low, but there are some easy

There is still a healthy market and decent margins for quality books and pads.

GEORGE CAREY looks at the opportunities these products represent for dealers

MARKETPLACE PRODUCT UPDATE

USP JULY 2012

06

A standard account book can be expected to retail for much more than notebooks and deliver an excellent margin for a dealer

cross-selling opportunities for dealers to

consider. Given that organisation is the

key to sales in this area, there may be

scope to sell divider labels for easy access

to pages, or colour-coding stickers that

can be used to differentiate the various

appointment topics, such as client meetings,

personal appointments or key dates. Also

there is scope to offer customers pens for

writing in or colour-coding their planners.

Conversations about diaries could lead nicely

into a discussion about products, such as

wall or desktop calendars and planners, to

complete customers’ organisational demands,

and, of course, the beauty of all these

products is the need for annual renewal,

meaning on-going sales opportunities.

PADDING IT OUTPukka Pads does a lot of work with schools

and has recently launched a new range of

pads with activities for children as young

as three. It’s a new area for the company

and one that it used a consultative

approach to create, working with children

from a local school. Pukka Pads’s MD and

owner, Chris Stott, said: “Working with the

children from Hamworthy Middle School

has been invaluable. Their imagination

and creativity has allowed us to produce a

new brand that has vibrant pages, loveable

characters and a variety of activities that

will keep children interested, motivated

and aid them in their learning.”

HOLDING TO ACCOUNTAccounting books are still a profitable

area of sales for dealers, as Kevin

Wharton, marketing manager for office

products at ExaClair points out: “Whilst

it cannot be denied that the growing use

of electronic accounting software has had

an inevitable impact on the book market

within the accounting sector and volumes

are not as high as they once were, there is

still a higher perceived value in account

books than in many other products and

justifiably so.” He continues: “A standard

account book with three or four cash

columns on each page can be expected to

retail for much more than notebooks and

deliver an excellent margin for a dealer.”

Another advantage for dealers is the

strong brand loyalty often displayed by

customers when purchasing accounting

products. Many users choose to purchase

the same products that they have always

used and continue to invest in familiar,

high quality brands. Wharton comments:

“An established and well-respected

brand such as Guildhall, which has been

producing a comprehensive selection

of account books with various rulings

available on ledger quality paper since the

1800s, will continue to attract and impress

customers and earn their loyalty.”

There is always a strong demand for

well-designed high quality notebooks and

pads for general use. Many customers feel

that the right notepad can complete their

look for an important client meeting and

wouldn’t dream of walking into such a

meeting with a scrappy looking notepad.

There is a huge range of products to

consider in the market and a range of

uses that they still perform for customers.

It is important for dealers to offer an

ever-changing range to reflect customers

evolving taste and requirements, whether

it be a an activity book for three-year-olds

or a an accounting book for a

small business.

USP

MARKETPLACE PRODUCT UPDATE 07

JULY 2012

HIGH ROLLERS SPOTYA

USP JULY 2012

08

SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012USP’s Salesperson of the Year Award returns. The third nominee for 2012’s SPOTYA competition comes from Fellowes in the shape of Danny Young, commercial manager at Heatons Office Solutions.

SPONSOR: FELLOWESFellowes offers an extensive range of products to equip the workspace, including paper shredders, binders, laminators, desktop accessories and record storage solutions. Founded in 1917 by Harry Fellowes and headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, Fellowes employs more than 1,200 people throughout the world and has operations in 15 countries.

NOMINATION: DANNY YOUNG Danny Youngs is the commercial manager at Heatons Complete Office Solutions with sales account responsibility for a number of its major customers. He has demonstrated a real drive and determination to grow his sales and margins, and has used Fellowes marketing and promotional tools to make it happen. Not just focused on one product category, Young has worked with Fellowes on its Professor Ergo campaign, embracing the concept of using workstation assessments to develop new sales opportunities, as well as various marketing campaigns.

This months USP’s Salesperson of the Year Award nominee is sponsored by:

S POTYA

USP

HIGH ROLLERS SPOTYA

JULY 2012

09

Tell us about your background.

During my A-levels, I took a part-time job in

retail that quickly spiralled into a management

role and gave me the experience to move on

to a position within the Criminal Records

Bureau as an executive officer. Four years and

a promotion later I took a job in Heatons as an

account manager and progressed through the

ranks into the role I have today.

Can you describe your role?

I manage a sales team consisting of internal

and external staff along with my own portfolio

of company accounts, turning over upwards of

£700K per annum. I also look after all of the

company marketing and am working towards

creating a more impressive corporate image.

Why are you in sales?

It was a role I fell into due to an ambiguous

“account manager” job title, but since then

I’ve never looked back. The role is very diverse

making no two days the same and the buzz of

opening a new account or getting that big order

really adds to the job satisfaction.

What’s your best achievement in this job?

I think it would be setting up our print and

workwear departments a few years back. They

have added close to two million in turnover

and have really added to the overall service

that we offer to our customers.

What’s your best piece of sales advice?

Try not to come across like a salesperson.

The second people feel like they are being

sold to, they put up barriers that are

sometimes hard to break down. If you just

be yourself, you are more likely to earn their

trust and make it easier for them to deal

with you going forward.

Describe how you feel about the nomination.

It has genuinely come as a nice surprise. I’ve

never been nominated for anything like this

before so I feel quite honoured to have been

chosen and hopefully this means I’m moving

in the right direction.

Why do you believe you should win

this award?

This is probably the hardest question to

answer. I honestly believe that I put 100%

into everything I do which in turn has bred

success on a professional level. I always try

to set a good example for my colleagues

and winning something like this would be

testament to that.

SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012

“Danny’s professional and friendly approach makes sure that his customers know that he will respond to any enquiry and help to find a solution to any request.”

VITAL STATS

NAME: Danny Young

TITLE: Commercial manager

COMPANY: Heatons Office Solutions

Richard Monk, national account manager, Fellowes

S POTYA

USP JULY 2012

10 COLD CALLINGSALES ACADEMY

Leading sales expert Andy

Preston explains the problems of outsourcing your cold calling, and what to watch

out for if you’re determined to

outsource

THINKING OF OUTSOURCING

YOUR COLD CALLING?

READ THIS FIRST!

USP

11

JULY 2012

COLD CALLINGSALES ACADEMY

1. THEY DON’T WANT TO DO IT

THEMSELVES

Not a great reason, but because they

have to do it themselves, they’re

looking to avoid it.

2. THEY DON’T HAVE COLD CALLING

EXPERTISE WITHIN THEIR TEAM

They’re thinking of outsourcing because

they’re concerned that they’ll have to

get one of their team to do it who isn’t

a natural salesperson, and isn’t looking

forward to the prospect of doing it

either. This isn’t a great reason to do it.

3. THEY THINK BY OUTSOURCING IT

OR GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT,

IT GETS RID OF THE PROBLEM

There may well be one, or a

combination of two, of the above

reasons here. Either way, at the moment

the sales call issue (or lack of them) has

become a problem in the business and

by outsourcing it, they think they’re

getting rid of the problem. This isn’t a

great reason either.

Recently I’ve been asked by a number of small and micro business owners how best they should outsource their cold calling. Their thinking behind doing this is normally one of three reasons:

1 – Consider where they’re going to work from.

Is the person you’re outsourcing your calling to

going to work from a business premises? Their

home? Your business premises? Your home?

How are you going to handle call costs?

2 – How do their calls fit into your sales process?

In other words, what is the outcome of the

call? Is it a meeting? A conference call? A web

demonstration? How is it moving the sales

process forward? What is the next step after

that – you don’t want lots of pointless meetings.

3 – How are you going to pay them?

Percentage of sale basis? Payment per hour?

These methods have their benefits and pitfalls

and will affect the type of outsourcer you

should go for. A typical example I see often is a

small business owner tries to convince someone

to do their calls for them and expects the person

to do it for just a percentage if the business

owner makes a sale from that appointment. That

rarely works, if ever.

4 – How are you going to manage them?

Even if you’re outsourcing your calls to

a company, you still need to manage the

organisation and the person making the calls. In

addition to that, what do you consider under-

performance? Do the outsourced organisation

and/or the individual have the same

perceptions? What are your expectations of

success on this project? Have they been clearly

communicated to all parties involved?

5 – How well do you know the person?

Are they someone you’ve known for a while?

Or just someone employed by a telemarketing

organisation you’re talking to? What’s this

person’s reputation? Their experience? Their

knowledge of your market sector and the

people they’ll be calling? How much do they

know about you and your company? What do

other people say about them and their work?

6 – What training are you giving them?

What training are you giving the person? If

they’re from an outsourced company, they may

well have had some sales training in-house – but

it will only be delivered by their manager (not an

experienced trainer) and if they’re an individual

they probably haven’t done any for ages – not a

good sign! What training are you planning to give

them on your products and services?

7 – Who are they going to be calling?

In other words, where are they going to get their

prospects from? Do you have a list of prospects

on your CRM system or database that you want

them to contact? Are you going to purchase

some data to give them some leads to work on?

Are they using their own data? Have you got

unlimited rights to contact the data in future?

8 – How long do you want them to

work for?

If you can only cope with a certain number

of additional appointments per week, it might

not make sense to employ someone on a full-

time basis. If they’re starting to make more

appointments for you than you can cope with

then perhaps it’s time to spend more time on

sales, or hire a full-time salesperson to make the

calls and do the appointments for you?

9 – How well do you understand the process?

You still need to be responsible for this process

and as an old manager said to me many

years ago you can’t manage what you don’t

understand. What’s your experience with

making sales calls and cold calls? Is it enough

to support and direct an outsourcer that’s not

delivering the results you want? Or are you just

going to blame that company for not delivering

and kiss goodbye to your investment in them?

Follow the tips above and you’ll avoid most

of the problems involved with outsourcing

your calls.

If you are going to outsource the calls, here are some things to think about:

Many small business owners are far too

quick to outsource their cold calling or

sales calls just to get rid of the problem

of making the calls themselves, or

giving them to a colleague who doesn’t

really want to do them. Just because

it’s easy to outsource the calls, doesn’t

necessarily mean it’s the right decision.

FACTYou can outsource

the activity, but you

can’t outsource the

responsibility

USP

LIVE IT The best way to spend your free time and money

12

JULY 2012

PENSIONERS The world’s oldest triathlete has just completed another one, at the age of 91. Arthur Gilbert, from Burnham-on-Sea, goes to the gym three times a week, swims 50 lengths every day and cycles 25 miles each Sunday. He has been crowned British duathlon champion seven times for his age group and also carried the Olympic torch in May this year. As if that wasn’t enough, he has been awarded an MBE for his contributions to charity.

GOOD

BAD

TOTAL RECALLThis month sees the re-release of an Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, no, that’s not an oxymoron. Total Recall has everything you could want from an Arnie film: guns; a ludicrous plot; aliens; guns; incredible feats of strength; atrocious acting; and guns. Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) fantasizes of travelling to Mars and visits Rekall, a company that can implant memories of a virtual holiday. When the memory implant goes awry, Quaid’s whole life is bought into question and he’s pulled into a world of espionage, mutant rebels and martian hijinks. Pre-CGI special effects, including the excruciating removal of a tracking chip and weird and wonderful prosthetics, add to the enjoyment and make you yearn for simpler times. They say that sci-fi films reflect the time they were made in more than the one they depict, and this is dripping in glorious early 90s tackiness. Will he find the girl from his dreams and save Mars? You’d better get down to the cinema to find out.

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

FILM

MUSIC

PUB QUIZ FUN

BIT OF BANTER

New Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem release their third studio album this month: Handwritten. Having received critical acclaim this album has been highly anticipated, and doesn’t disappoint. Frontman Brian Fallon has described the songs on the album as “pretty personal and pretty aggressive”. The album was recorded in Nashville and is coated in southern-fried goodness, evoking memories of the town’s legendary rock and roll past. They can be seen this summer at Reading and Leeds Festivals and supporting Soundgarden on their European tour.Released 24 July

Q1. What colour does acid turn Litmus paper?

Q2. What’s the largest Scandinavian country?

Q3. What was the name of the Benedictine monk who legend has it invented Champagne?

Q4. Who holds the record as being Britain’s youngest ever Formula 1 Driver?

Q5. Which land did Puff The Magic Dragon live in?

Q6. In the USA what name was given to a seller of illegal alcohol?

Q7. In mythology what was minerva the Goddess of?

Q8. In the movies who plays the role of Harry Potter?

HEY, CHECK IT OUT:

I HAVE THE CHICKEN POX!

Released 6 July

CARTHIEVES A Chinese car thief has been arrested after giving a policeman a ride on his bonnet. He received a 12-month sentence after refusing to stop for two policemen at a checkpoint in Xuancheng City, east China. Undeterred by one policeman’s presence blocking his path, he hit the accelerator, taking the unlucky officer with him. His time on the run finished when a passing SUV blocked the highway. The driver had removed the car’s license plates to avoid being identified but ironically it was the plate’s absence that drew the officer’s attention.

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2. S

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Jen

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A5.

Hon

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A6.

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iffe

SAVE THE DATE!

Pioneer Challenge

17-28 September 2012

The challengeCycle one or more of the stages from Aberdeen to Brighton (each stage is around 85 miles) The charityBreakthrough 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 enterPlease go to www.dealersupport.co.uk to find out more about the challenge, dates, cycle routes, setting up a donation page, logistics and cycle support, then email [email protected] with your choice of date/s.

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 Pioneer 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 Pioneer 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.

ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?

FLIP H

ERE FOR Y

OUR USUAL

COPY OF

USP Magazine July 12

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Transcript of USP Magazine July 12