Are you missing key opportunities to win more business?

Considering how tight cash is these days, I continue to be amazed at how sloppy many businesses are when it comes to winning business. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Last year, when we were looking for someone to carpet our house, we put the opportunity to two local businessmen. Both visited the house. One supplied a quote instantly. The other procrastinated... and procrastinated... finally supplying his price after the job has been done and dusted! 

My second example is a company that we subcontract to from time to time. It's taken no less than four phone calls to place an order and I'm still chasing them up to get the order moving so that our client receives their goods on time! It's infuriating me and it goes without saying, we won't be using them again.

So, are you doing everything possible to win your share of the business out there?

Here are my 5 top tips on those fundamental things that you should be doing in your business to up your chances.

Answer your phone in a professional manner.
How your business number is answered forms the first impression that a potential client will have of your company. Sloppy answering means sloppy company as far as I'm concerned! It should be clear to the caller that they've reached the correct company and who they're speaking to. On this topic, if you can't always answer the phone, be sure to have an answer machine with a professional, recorded message and it is good practice to respond within 4 hours. Better still, use a remote PA service (I can put you in touch with a few).

Build a database.
How many times have you called a business to ask for a price but not been asked for any contact details? Building a database of enquiries and clients is crucial to business growth and frankly, if you're not going to take details, you might as well chuck your marketing budget in the bin! Without contact details you can't follow up, you can't market ongoing and you can't build a relationship with your client base. There are plenty of excellent CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems out there but even Excel will do the job on a smaller scale.

Provide a price promptly.
I'm a big believer that the way you do business before you've won the order is a good indication of how you'll handle the contract once you've won the order. Be prompt and efficient and above all, don't wait to be chased up! I'm aware that there's a school of thought that advocates appearing not to need the work in order to add more value to what you do but I personally think that this is a risky approach to take. I think that sloppiness at this stage just demonstrates that you're disorganised and will likely carry through to the entire order process. That's just my opinion but also my experience.

Follow up.
You wouldn't believe how much work we win because we bother to follow up our enquiries. It's not always about price. Sometimes people just want to work with people who want their work and being keen to win the job demonstrates that you'll fulfil it to a high standard. Really, this is just the final stage of the standard sales process - closing. Asking for the order is the thing that many people struggle with but is most likely to secure the sale. What's more, following up allows you to handle any objections or concerns about moving forward. 

Deliver on your promises.
It sounds obvious but if you don't do what you say you will, when you say you'll do it by, you'll be unlikely to secure further work. Printing.com has a fantastic guarantee - it's on time or it's on us - and boy, does it keep our service sharp. What type of guarantees could you implement into your service delivery? And what processes do you need in place to ensure you stick to those guarantees? The key elements of my business are communication, project management and traceability of the order and from the feedback I receive, we don't let our clients down. This is all part of growing a trusted brand.


These things are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to growing your business but in my experience are some of the most crucial things.

Why not stand back from your business for a moment and assess whether you've got the basics in place? It could make all the difference.

We love to design... an elegant new brochure for a bridal accessories company

I think it's time I updated you with what we've been up to in the design studio this month!

We've recently completed a project for fabulous bridal accessories company, Crystal Bridal Accessories. Crystal is owned and run by the very driven and focused Amy Karim. 

Amy clearly has her finger on the pulse when it comes to ideas for accessorising your wedding outfit and I love the way that she's approached her business as a fashion advice resource. Often it can be difficult for people to visualise what should go together or how to create a particular look but Amy has made this easy for her customers, with lots of advice, imagery and a blog. I particularly love the vintage-style accessories and looks, evoking art deco imagery.

Amy was keen to bring a selection of her products and inspiration together into an elegant brochure which customers could purchase as a handy guide to creating their perfect wedding outfit. 

Amy was fantastic to work with, providing a clear vision of how she wanted her brochure to look but allowing us to have our creative input and responding to advice in a way that allowed us to add real value to the project.

Amy opted for a square format with silk inner pages and a matt laminated cover, which adds to the elegance and finesse of the finished brochure. We were given beautiful, professional photos to work with (half the battle won in a product brochure!) and Amy provided visuals of where we were heading. It was then up to us to realise her vision. Amy had this fantastic feedback for us:

"I am ecstatic with the results of the style guide brochure – it is professional, high quality and very well-designed. The design process itself was stress-free and I was impressed with the way all our ideas, thoughts, likes, dislikes were discussed so that the end product reflected our image perfectly! We were given detailed information about paper types, styles and finishes which helped us to make the right decision about the look of our final brochure. Thanks for an excellent service and a beautiful brochure. We will definitely be recommending you to all our colleagues in the industry."

Thank you Amy! It was great to work with you and we are equally pleased with the results!

Check out Amy's site (www.crystalbridalaccessories.co.uk) and tell your friends about her, especially if they're planning their wedding or have a special occasion coming up. And order your own Bridal Accessories Style Guide before they sell out!

Inspiration and direction

A simple cover using elegant typography

Clear instructions on how to order

Eye-catching headlines that categorise the range

Magazine style spreads that offer fashion advice

Individual styling for each page

Clear contact details to drive website traffic

 

Marketing advice for a fashion label

If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that I love Dragon's Den. I'm finding that it's a great source of inspiration for this blog and Sunday's episode was no exception.

There's always lots of discussion about the strength of a company's brand and this week, the focus was on cult fashion label Brat & Suzie.

The label is headed up by twins Polly & Charlotte Vickery, who braved Dragon's Den to pitch for investment to grow their business.

The twins are lovely - very cute, very quirky, very driven and pretty damn persuasive. There's no doubting that their clothes range is unique and I shall definitely be making (a few!) purchases.

But what was painfully missing was a visible identity and brand. 

Polly and Charlotte appeared in Dragon's Den with just a clothes rail and wearing items from their range.

There was no corporate identity, no marketing materials, nothing to remind you of their name. In fact, I missed their name at the beginning of their pitch and only found it out when they explained that the name came from their kittens when they were kids - quirky but befitting considering their range features animals.

They clearly have a unique product, especially judging from the amount of magazine coverage they've achieved. The problem is that the twins are the company and without a strong brand to carry their ethos, story and personality, I don't see how they can scale up their operation.

So, this would be my advice to Brat & Suzie: 

Invest in a unique logo.
It can be tough when you're working on a budget but I passionately believe that it's essential to invest in a unique identity that has been designed specifically for your company. No free fonts, no matter how great they are these days - anyone can use them and this doesn't bode well for differentiating your identity.

Create an eye-catching corporate identity.
The illustrations that Brat & Suzie use are so stunning and kitsch, I find it amazing that they didn't enter the Den with visuals that would demonstrate their identity. How about clothes labels, banners, postcards? They could have given each Dragon a little branded package of goodies which would really have emphasised their message. Unfortunately, even the clothes rail was pretty uninspiring in its presentation and did little to promote the fabulous range of designs.

Build a compelling brand.
There's a story behind Brat & Suzie and you warm to the girls instantly. However, there seems to be little out there about the girls and the website does little to draw attention to the story with just an 'about us' link at the bottom of the page which I missed several times. Girls! Let us in on who you are and what you're about so that we can buy into your vision, not just your clothes! 

As I'm writing this I'm wondering if I've missed the point - maybe it's cool to be so invisible, maybe that's what makes it 'cult' - but then why appear on Dragon's Den looking to expand?

That said, what better coverage can you get? Maybe this is just the start of their strategy for expansion and according to reports, their website crashed during the show so at least now they're getting the attention they deserve. Now I'm off to get me a Victorian Rabbit Top!