Posts Tagged ‘Promotional Gifts’
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Well, I hope you enjoyed the first part where we talked about squeezing the lemon. Of course, it’s rare that a sequal ever lives up to the original – but I’ll give it a go.
So this time we’re going to consider the pie; how to grow the pie, specifically. The first part talked about the lemon as your customer base, and the anology of squeezing the lemon was how to get the most juice (business) out of those lemons and not let the lemon shrivel up in the fridge.
So, squeezing the lemon was all about getting the most from your existing customers in a more direct and short term way, and growing the pie is about maximising profit and creating value for both customers and suppliers as part of a longer term strategy. This is done by;
- Differentiation – what makes you different/better than your customers? Look at; product, pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, selling, core competencies, competitive advantage, USP’s
- Added Value – what aspect of your product/service adds real value for the customer?
- Value Chain – monitor and feedback performance up stream and downstream to continually improve.
The key elements of growing the pie are;
- Constantly strive to deliver value for the customer by improving your overall proposition.
- Understand the supply and value chains and learn how to leverage key aspects to create added value and differentiation.
- Change the mindset of both your company and your customer base. This is more important than immediate short term gains.
So what does The Corporate Gifts Company do to grow it’s pie? Good question, and a challenging one too. Well, we talk to our customers constantly about how they find our service and product, what they liked and what they didn’t like; we encourage testimonials (good or bad) and we have used that feedback over the past 18 years to hone our service and quality levels so that we give our customers exactly what is most important to them; reliable service, consistent quality (we have the international quality standard ISO9000), appropriate and quality promotional branding, and responsible business practices (see our CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility – policy.
Thanks to The Cranfield School of Management’s BGP (Business Growth Development) programme for inspiration.
Tags: Business Gift Ideas, Business Gifts, Corporate Gift Awards, Corporate Gift Sales, Corporate Gifts Co, Corporate Message, corproate gifts or promotioanl gifts, Engraved Gifts, Engraving Messages, Promotional Gifts, Promotional Messages, Promotionaol Gifts, Sales Incentives
Posted in About The Corporate Gifts Company | No Comments »
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
At the world famous Cranfield School of Management’s Business Growth Development programme they spend a lot of time talking about a couple of tasty food analogies; “Squeezing the Lemon” and “Growing the Pie”. As part of the marketing part of the programme these two ideas are at the heart of the growth of any business. So what’s the story behind these culinary concepts for success? Let’s start with the lemon.
The lemon signifies your customer base, and who amongst us can put hand on heart say we get the most out of all our customers? Do we sell as much as we can, are there other products or services we can sell to them, do we sell to all divisions and departments of our customers’ businesses? No, well that’s actually the story for most companies and to add even more zest to the analogy think of your average customer like this; if we’re using a lemon at home more often than not we cut into it and squeeze out what we need and then stick it in the fridge – great, the poached salmon tastes great. The problem is when we go to use the lemon again (sometimes after weeks sitting lonely and forgotten next to the eggs) it’s wrinkled and dried and all that juice has been wasted.
And that’s what happens to new customers; we fail to squeeze the maximum amount of business out of them. After the initial order is won, we don’t pay them enough attention until eventually they go and find another supplier. And if you didn’t know already, it costs up to seven times more to aquire a new customer than look after an existing one. So the moral of the analogy is; get squeezing - before your lemons dry up or someone else does it for you.
Of course, in the light of the above blog, it would be remiss of me not to mention that The Corporate Gifts Company supply a comprehensive selection of promotional items and advdertising merchandise that are perfect for communicating with your customers in a tangible and cost effective way. Whether you want to reinforce your brand values with items such as business card cases or clocks, or say thank you to key customers with an appropriate promotional desk item or personal accessory, The Corporate Gifts Company can help you squeeze your lemons.
Look out for “Growing The Pie” next week!
Tags: brand name, Business Gifts, Business ideas, Corporate Gifts Co, Corporate Message, Cost Effective, Engraved Gifts, Exexcutive Clocks, Growing your business, promotional business card case, Promotional Clock, promotional gift ideas, Promotional Gifts, promotional incentives, Promotional Messages, Promotional Sourcing
Posted in Corporate Gift Range | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
With the huge rivalry between companies online, it is hard to differentiate yourself from the throng. An area internet marketing people fail to utilise fully is with business giftware.
Corporate gifts are products that are branded with your company logo, URL, contact information or a different message you want to relay.
Normally the 1st item that comes to mind is branded pens or T-Shirts but in actuality there are thousands of a different items you can use all you need is a bit of creativity to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
Promotional product giving points:
1. Promote Your Website
• This is the one of the first things that comes to most people’s minds once they think of how they should use business giftware. Every product you choose to promote your business you should include your URL on it.
2. Niche Promotional Gifts
• You can find products that compliment your type of business items.
An example is, if you sell handbags, it would-be be a great idea to include a handbag hook for table that has your brand on it.
3. Motivate the consumer to purchase more – the upsell!
• You can use promotional gifts to incite your customers to buy more products than they would normally, this is called up selling. This can be easily achieved online by bundling multiple products on with a promotional item.
4. Affiliate rewarding
• Thanking your best affiliates by giving them a business gift. it shows that you appreciate that they promote your company. You could send gifts to your partners once they reach a pre-determined goal, or you can simply surprise them with a present. In doing this you are building a stronger relationship. And they will be more likely to promote your business more and make you more money in the long run.
5. Thank Your Customers
• Just like saying thank you to your affiliates, it is always worth considering thanking your clientele. The most effective way to do this is with a tiered giving approach. Give your top clients a high perceived value products and then decrease the value of the products for the preceding tiers. You can have as many tiers as you want.
6. Get a competitive benefit
• Because of tough online competition, it’s harder than ever to compete for business online. But promotional gifts can give you an advantage. If your competition aren’t utilising this essential marketing technique then steal a march on them!
Tags: business gift, corporate gift, corporate gifts, promotion, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts, promotional item
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help, Corporate Gifts Business Opportunities | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Promotional giftware is a simple, low-cost, pleasurable, and successful promotional technique. Nevertheless, clichéd gifts like stress toys & Frisbees aren’t as effectual as they once used to be. When you come to choosing be sure to pick a gift that you think people will use frequently and that will remind them of you when they use it. The correct gift creates the correct reaction… Every action has an equal and opposite reaction! So picking your promotional giftware shrewdly is an imperative stride to getting the best return on your investment.
Business Gifts Tip 1 – Factor in what you know about your target audience are.
Be carful when choosing what events to use your corporate gifts at. If you pick an event whose target audience is not compatible with your own, you will be throwing your money away. So, think about who your target audience is and where they would likely be.
Business Gifts Tip 2 – The time of cheep and nasty promotional gifts is long gone.
Happy c**p has had its moment on the business giftware pedestal, but those style of products are not going to be able to speak much about your company. You should choose a gift that has attributes that are comparable to your company’s. If your business is adaptable, then give away a Swiss army knife). This gift communicates your company’s characteristic and can be regularly used.
Business Gifts Tip 3 – Creativity is the way forward.
Being scared to move outside the standard arena of business gifts is boring! Humans remember the extraordinary and we want them to remember you so be extraordinary!
Tags: business gift, Business Gifts, corporate gift, corporate gifts, promotion, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts, promotional products
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help, Corporate Gifts Business Opportunities | 2 Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
It should be the vision of all businesses to achieve new heights and expansion. In order to attempt this business owners work really hard and are ready to do almost anything. The promotional product marketing of your business is one of the most important business techniques at your disposal and could be considered vital for any type of business imaginable. If your business is marketed well then there is really no reason that its growth could stop. Advertising & marketing are the main strategies of businesses to promote themselves.
A good marketing strategy increases not only the profit margin but also the brand recognition of your business in the international marketplace. Corporate Giftware can be a big part of any business strategy. It has been shown that the distribution of business products and promotional giftware can help to create business as well as sales and hence profit. It not only develops the business but also can help you to develop longer lasting relationship with the clients and can be a key factor in getting that ongoing work.
If you want to grow your business then a promotional product strategy is a significant way to promote yourself. If you have a product launch then promotional products can be the best strategy to increase the products recognition among your client base. By utilising corporate gifts you can launch your business to new clientele. If you’d like specifically target a given group of customers then there can be no other marketing technique as effective as the distribution of promotional products.
Always put business giftware and promotional gifts at the top of your marketing strategy. It isa proven time and time again to work, contact us if you would like to discuss how we can help your promotional giftware strategy.
Tags: Advertising, business gift, business products, corporate gift, corporate gifts, promotion, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts, promotional products, The Brand
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help, Corporate Gifts Business Opportunities | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Maintaining and promoting you brand recognition is a huge issue that faces many companies that have been merged or acquired. The potential loss of identify can’t be detrimental.
These takeovers are driven by economic trends and can be unavoidable in today international marketplace. These consolidations mean that marketing departments must develop new promotional strategies to build up brand recognition and consequently loyalty & trust. They need to use an integrated strategy that markets their product or service with the consumer or client on a 1 2 1 basis through every available marketing and promotional system.
Understanding who your customers really are is the 1st step towards eventual success. Promoters will need to know and consequently fully understand their products or services nuances, and also how their own particular industry operates.
An increase in targeting promotions and marketing is imperative. How promoters use marketing techniques to promote their product or brand, as well as use the information that these techniques provide, will be a key feature in shaping their success.
An obvious promotional technique would be with the use of promotional giftware to reinforce the brands identity. We can help with choosing the right product for you, contact us for help.
Tags: Business Gifts, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts company owners, promoting, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help, Corporate Gifts Business Card Holders, Corporate Gifts Business Opportunities | No Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
The total value of unpaid after-hours work across the UK hit a record £26.9bn in 2008, the Trade Union Congress claimed. In its study of unpublished data from the National Statistics Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the TUC calculated that 5.24 million people across the UK worked unpaid overtime in 2008.
Londoners faced the biggest hike in unpaid overtime, with an extra 79,000 workers going beyond the call of duty in 2008. The number of people working unpaid overtime fell by 26,000 elsewhere in the south east of England, and by 11,000 in Scotland.
A TUC general secretary said that the numbers doing unpaid overtime has increased for the second year in a row. While some of this is due to the long-hours culture that still dogs too many British workplaces, the recession will now be making many people scared of losing their job in the year ahead and joining the ever-growing dole-queue.
Inevitably people will be putting in extra hours if they think it can help protect against redundancy or keep their employer in business.
He also acknowledged that some people are happy to volunteer extra time, but should not be abused. We don’t’ want to turn into a nation of clock watchers – most people enjoy their jobs and don’t mind putting in extra effort when there is a rush or an emergency – but that easily turns into the long hours culture of extra hours every week. In smart workplaces, people work fewer hours.
So give a corporate gift is a great idea to express recognition and gratitude towards your employees and colleagues.
The Corporate Gifts Company has a huge range of promotional gifts ideal to help you:
• Madrid Aluminium Business Card Case
• Black Leather Desk Pad
• Sterling Silver Gifts Keyring
• Pop-Up Mini Pen
• Plaques
Call our efficient sales team today on: 0845 430 2902.
Tags: Corporate Black Leather Desk Pad, Corporate Business Card Case, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Pewter Circle Award, Corporate Plaques, Corporate Pop-Up Mini Pen, Corporate Sterling Silver Gifts Keyring, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Marketing can often be viewed as a nice-to-have extra rather than an essential part of a business strategy. Perhaps that is because it can be quite difficult to define marketing as a subject. There are so many different facets to it including identifying target markets, advertising, customer care and loyalty, sales and public relations.
However, those who do not take marketing seriously may find themselves at a disadvantage in the long-term. A good marketing strategy can help you decide which customers to target, how to reach them and what to do to keep them happy once they are hooked.
As well as telling you what you need to do, your strategy can also help ensure that you are not wasting your time and resources trying to appeal to the wrong people or even to too many potential clients – and consequently winning none of their business.
Here are some great tips that can help you to market your business:
1. Create a marketing strategy
The most efficient way to attract customers and keep them happy is through an effective marketing strategy. So what exactly does this strategy involve?
• Identify your potential customers – Essentially, your basic requirement is to identify groups of customers and find out what they need.
• Identify how you fulfil their need – Then, you need to work out how you can fulfil their need more effectively than your competitors. You therefore need to give serious thought to your unique selling point (USP). If you can’t identify a reason why someone should use your services above all others, what is to stop them going to another supplier?
• Communicate the benefits of your products and services – A large part of your marketing strategy will be based on how you can tell or show people why your products and services are the best for them to use. You will need to decide on which types of marketing activities you undertake – and, of course, you should make that decision based on how to get the best from your marketing budget.
• Keep customers happy in the long term – Your strategy may need to be flexible as your business matures and changes or your customers’ needs change. You should monitor your strategy to decide whether or not it is working. Start by asking each new customer where they heard about your business and why they chose you.
2. Write a marketing plan
A written marketing plan can act as a reference document you use to execute your marketing strategy. You can work out what your marketing plan is by using the four headings above. Your plan should be a written explanation of how you intend to build long-term, profitable relationships with customers from your chosen market.
3. Identify your potential customers
Among the most important starting point for your marketing strategy are questions such as “who are my potential customers?” Clearly, you are looking for groups of people and businesses (or perhaps existing customers) to whom you are most likely to be able to sell the greatest amount of your product or service. You need to attract the customers who are the most valuable to you – make sure you can keep them – and then find others with similar profiles.
You might want to ask yourself:
• Which types of company would want my products?
• Why do they need them?
• Which existing customers currently spend the most with me – or with my competitors?
• Why do they do that?
You could also carry out market research to find out what people want and identify a market niche. It may be worth looking at people of a certain age, gender, occupation or a group with a particular interest or hobby. It may also help to profile your target customers. If you understand what they need, you can concentrate on providing it in the most cost-effective way.
4. Profile your customers
Make a list of your target market or best customers.
• Work out what they do and any special interests
• Understand their size and location
• Find out the name of the main buyer
• Start to think about the best sales channels to them
Customers are such a valuable commodity it can be useful to collect data about them. You can then use that information to identify other opportunities for your business. However, if you intend to store data it may be necessary to check you are complying with the data protection act.
5. Research your competitors
As well as understanding who your customers are, it’s worth knowing more about your competitors. A detailed knowledge of their products and services can help you differentiate your own and gain more share of the overall market.
Ask yourself:
• How are their products or services different to yours?
• How do their prices compare to yours?
• What is the quality of their goods like?
• Who are their customers?
• How do they promote their products?
The Corporate Gifts Co has a great range of promotional gifts perfect to express your recognition towards your customers.
Here are some great cost-effective items which can help you to maintain good relationship with your clients.
• Concetta Business Card Case
• Sterling Silver Letter Opener
• Silver Plated New Yorker Business Card Holder
• Silver Plated Cushion Keyring
• Aluminium Oval Compact Mirror
• Chrome Rocket Rollerball
Call our sales team today on: 0845 430 2902 to see The Corporate Gifts Co’s great range of business gifts.
Tags: business gift, Business Gifts, Corporate Aluminium Oval Compact Mirror, Corporate Chrome Rocket Rollerball, Corporate Concetta Business Card Case, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Silver Plated Cushion Keyring, Corporate Silver PLated New Yorker Business Card Holder, Corporate Sterling Silver Letter Opener, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
The best managed companies and organisations will keep staff morale high during the economic downturn by capturing hearts and minds. There are seven core actions that will help companies achieve this motivation nirvana:
• Communicate Direction – provide clarity of strategy – use good communication to make sure your staff know where they’re going and give them the confidence that the leadership in the company are in place.
• Instil trust and confidence in your most committed and focused employees – who will also provide confidence for other employees.
• Address core concerns – communicate to each individual what’s expected of them, how they should behave and what they need to achieve.
• Put staff in positions suited to their particular skills and ambitions – give them time and support to succeed.
• Act quickly – inactivity creates a vacuum, leaving your staff worried and unfortunately free to draw their own (often incorrect) conclusions.
• Keep investing in R&D – innovation is even more important now in the credit crunch than ever before.
• Reward positive behaviour – it’s important that when staff perform and are adding value to the organisation that this is recognised and communicated throughout the company. This will reinforce good practice and motivate other staff.
Introduce a reward or motivation scheme, or recognise staff with individual awards.
The Corporate Gifts Co can supply single engraved items, awards and plaques for recognition or general promotional gifts for schemes or programmes.
Call our sales team today on: 0845 430 2902
Tags: Corporate Awards, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Plaques, Corporate Single Engraved Items, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | No Comments »
Monday, June 15th, 2009
As your business grows and the quality of your marketing becomes increasingly important to your continued expansion, you will inevitably ask yourself how best to organise your marketing functions. Given that marketing spend is often the second largest variable expense after suppliers, the importance of this question cannot be overestimated. When buying a promotional gift, the first thing to consider is what your business’s major challenge is: Distinguishing yourself from the competition? Extending your brand into other markets? Increasing customers’ lifetime value? Lowering the cost of customer acquisition?
Picking a Promotional Gifts Co out of the Yellow Pages is not advisable.
What should you look for when choosing a company to supply your corporate gifts. Well, much the same considerations as when we choose any company to supply your organisation with goods and services. But here are a few tips to help you make the right decision!
• Make Contact – new business is the lifeblood of any company, and if the speed of response is poor, imagine what it will be like once you’ve placed your order.
• Client List and Testimonials – check the website for testimonials; if there aren’t any it doesn’t mean you won’t get good service, but if they are present it should give you a degree of confidence. The Corporate Gifts Co has lots of testimonials which can be found at the bottom of each website page.
• Track Record – The Corporate Gifts Co has 18 years of experience in supplying promotional products and business gifts.
• Stock – is it held on site? In the UK? If not it could mean problems down the line. The Corporate Gifts Co holds stock on site.
• Branding – Is it done on site or subcontracted? Again sub-contracting such an integral part of the service means the company is not in total control. The Corporate Gifts Co has a dedicated branding department so we control the whole process.
• Accreditation: The Corporate Gifts Co is ISO9001 accredited, has been awarded Investors in People, and are members of BAGDA, Promota, and the Giftware Association. Also check out our CSR policy.
When you use Corporate Gifts to communicate with your customers your brand reputation is on the line. Choose The Corporate Gifts Co to make sure your promotion runs smoothly, on the time and in budget.
Tags: business gift, Business Gifts, corporate gift, corporate gifts, promotional gift, Promotional Gifts, promotional products
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | No Comments »
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