USP Magazine August 12

AUGUST 2012

USP

DISEASE CONTROL

Get ready to tip over those keyboards...

FIRST PICK

Seven secrets to creating a stellar sales team

CHAIR THE BOARD

Kitting out a killer boardroom

HOW TO SPEND IT

The latest film, music and technology goodies

THE EDITOR’S LETTER CONTENTS

Welcome to the August edition of USP magazine. If ‘back to school’ was the theme of last month’s issue, you could call this month’s ‘back to work’, as we bring you helpful articles on what you can do to help your client have the best office in town.

On pg4 we focus on the presentation market, with advice on what to look for in the perfect boardroom – from projectors to flat-screen TVs, with the economy being what it is, businesses are reliant on making that great first impression and can’t afford to be let down by inadequate AV products. Then on pg6 we look at how to protect them from unsavoury bugs and viruses by alerting them to good computer cleaning techniques and the products needed.

After our Marketplace section, we look inwardly to find out what OP dealerships can be doing to make sure their teams are in the best condition. On p12 we give you seven secrets to recruiting the best sales team.

So if that’s not enough to get you going, I don’t know what is. Here’s to the end of summer and, as always, please get in touch with any news stories or updates on editor@dealersupport.co.uk. Bye for now!

04 NEWS 03 PITCH INVADERS The latest news and products to help you deliver that perfect sales pitch

MARKETPLACE 04 CHAIRING THE BOARD How to kit out a killer board room

06 DISEASE CONTROL Get ready to clean those computer keyboards

SALES ACADEMY 08 CHOOSING YOUR TEAM Seven secrets to stellar salespeople

LIVE IT 10 HOW TO SPEND IT

Managing editor

The latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on

USP MANAGING EDITOR JULIA DENNISON | julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk REPORTER GEORGE CAREY | george.carey@intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER 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 DESIGNER ,PRODUCTION PETER HOPE-PARRY | peter.hope-parry@intelligentmedia.co.uk CIRCULATIONS MANAGER NATALIA JOHNSTON | natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk

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

PITCH INVADERS

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

DUPLO LAUNCHES FASTBACK THERMAL BINDERS

MITSUBISHI PENCIL THE TALK OF THE PLAYGROUND

PRODUCT Duplo International has become the official UK distributor for the Fastback range of desktop binding machines. The simple table-top machines bind loose sheets into presentable documents using thermally activated binding strips. The technology is 3.5 times faster than a conventional punch and bind system, documents lay completely flat, are suitable for posting and at the end of their useful life the bound documents are fully recyclable.

Duplo will be stocking a comprehensive range of binding strips made of different materials and 16 eye-catching colours. In addition, customers can order strips branded with their own graphics, images and logos to make their documents really stand out.

For clients looking to add durability and real prestige to their documents, the Fastback machines can even produce paperback books.

With a small further investment it is even possible to create library-style hardcover books with a unique cover of your own choosing. This is ideal for corporate business proposals or quotations.

Angela Osborne, sales manager at Duplo, commented: “The major advantage of this technology is versatility – with a Fastback machine you can produce all your internal and external documents and present them in an appropriate way. People are amazed when they see everything the machine can do and are even more stunned that it takes less than 30 seconds to bind, even with documents running into hundreds of pages.”

Duplo will be showing the Fastback range at the Office* Show on 12-13 September at Olympia in London.

NEWS Mitsubishi Pencil Co. is to champion the written word with a little help from BBC Outnumbered star Daniel Roche.

The leading stationery brand has enlisted the help of the charismatic youngster as it enters the back-to-school selling period with a range of new products.

The campaign will promote the benefits of the new uni-ball Insight; a smooth writing rollerball that’s available in six colours and sold both loose and in a variety of pack formats. It will require children to provide a handwritten insight into their school life with one overall winner rewarded with a bundle of technological treats including a HD camcorder and compact camera.

Clare Gibbard, marketing manager for Mitsubishi Pencil Co., said: “We hope to prove to school children that despite the classroom break it’s important to keep the art of handwriting alive. It’s a vital skill that can reinforce achievement and brings so many benefits to youngsters.

“We hope to receive high profile support for the campaign and will fully utilise our social media channels to target and engage with children from across the UK.” Other back-to-school products available from Mitsubishi Pencil Co. include erasable rollerballs such as the new uni-ball Magik Girl and uni-ball fanthom alongside all round favourites like the Jetstream, Vision Elite and Signo 207.

For more information, contact Marc Legge, dealer marketing manager, Duplo UK on 01932 263 905 or marc.legge@duplouk.com

To find out more about Mitsubishi Pencil Co., visituniball.co.uk, follow twitter.com/uniball_uk or like facebook.com/uniballfanpage

NEC PRODUCT TRAINING AVAILABLE FOR CHANNEL PARTNERS PRODUCT NEC Display Solutions has launched the NEC Training Academy aimed at sales and technical staff of NEC’s specialist partner network including system integrators, VARs and distributors. Attendees will gain an increased level of product and technical knowledge helping them to meet the more advanced needs and demands of their customers and increase the general effectiveness and performance of channel sales and technical support functions. The Training Academy will help these partners become experts and ambassadors of NEC hardware and software solutions, building the industry knowledge and expertise which is required in today’s increasingly complex display industry.

Call NEC on 08701 201160

PROTECT YOUR DATA WITH 256 BIT ENCRYPTION PRODUCT Olympus digital dictation is now more secure with 256-bit encryption available for professional dictation products.

Following the launch of the DS-7000, Olympus has developed a firmware update that allows you to secure your voice files using features like a four-digit pin or encryption to prevent unauthorised access, important in professional environments where confidential data must be kept secure.

Basic digital recorders and analogue (tape) machines are difficult to protect, leaving your data at high risk of getting into the wrong hands.

Having 256-bit encryption is the highest level of security available to date, compliant with the Advanced Encryption Standard.

Developed for use within professional environments, such as medical and legal audiences, Olympus’s professional dictation range encompasses features to support workflow, cost savings and efficiency.

Features such as bar code scanner to support medical dictation and biometric fingerprint scanner (DS-5000 ID model) to ensure your dictations don’t fall into the wrong hands help to provide necessary support for these dictation-heavy environments.

044 MARKETPLACE AUDIO VISUAL

VISUALISING SUCCESS Audio visual technology is achieving impressive things in the boardroom and can lend an extra sheen to sales pitches.

GEORGE CAREY looks at the state of the AV-for-business market and the technology that your customers want

At the start of the economic crisis, sales of AV equipment suffered because many businesses saw the technology as a luxury item, rather than something integral to their business, but it seems that the market is on its way back up. Graeme Davidson, business manager, visual imaging for Epson UK, explains: “Since the economic downturn, the total projector market has seen a slowdown, but we are now seeing strong growth in the business market, both in ultra-short-throw projection and higher brightness meeting room solutions. In 2011, according to Futuresource, the market saw a volume increase of 19.8% in year-on-year sales of 3,000+ lumen projectors, which is typically what businesses will be using in their meeting rooms.”

Another reason the market has picked up is the multi-purpose nature of many AV products, which can lead to big savings.

Daniel Gibson, regional sales director for InFocus, explains: “In the past people bought a projector because they needed one and then [they bought] an LCD TV separately and a Smartboard because they wanted the interactivity. Now they’re looking for something that does all three of those things because the market is able to offer products that will cover that in one solution.” He continues: “It’s allowing different, smaller companies to engage in the AV market, whereas before they were probably priced out of it. Now it’s much easier for them to integrate that into their organisation.”

Martine Dodwell-Bennett, sales and marketing director at Steljes, thinks the change in fortunes is down to new business practices: “The number one priority for directors is organisational efficiency and this is helping the AV market boom. As organisations are working harder to reduce their costs and transform business operations, collaboration technologies are now becoming part of a unified communications strategy and business process remodelling.”

ADDING VALUE When talking to your customers about these products, it’s important to emphasise how they can add value to their business. Neale Williams, business development manager, digital media and cinema products, NEC

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AUGUST 2012

MARKETPLACE AUDIO VISUAL 05

Display Solutions, comments: “Businesses can create larger and brighter images for presentations, helping to impress and keep the attention of audiences. Advanced features, such as edge blending and stacking, further help to create bigger, panoramic images with very high brightness levels. Future-proof connectivity and high reliability backed by good warranty and service levels will appeal to buyers.”

As well as impressing clients, the latest technology can be used to save that most precious of commodities: time. As Gibson explains: “It’s improving the productivity of the staffing, and the change in terms of product types improves the return on investment Not just from a product return but also the savings they’re gaining in terms of travel, changing the way that they make their meeting arrangements. Productivity is improving and that is the value added to their business. They’re not wasting time and they can use that time to provide more value to their own business and their customers.”

SHOPPING LIST So do your customers need to keep up with the Joneses? Austin Freshwater, Canon UK channel manager, professional imaging group, thinks that all this new technology can sometimes overshadow more traditional, but equally important, elements of an AV set-up: “What many dealers often forget is that a projector’s performance is only as good as its lens. Quality lenses are designed to ensure minimal reduction in brightness, even over long-throw distances. They also ensure that blurring, distortion, and chromatic aberration (a type of distortion in which the lens fails to focus all colours to the same convergence point) are virtually eliminated.”

Eithne Keenan, senior corporate marketing executive for Optoma Europe, focuses on newer technology: “People are turning to lamp-free LED+ technology, which combines the benefits of both higher efficiency and higher brightness.

Also, ultra-short-throw interactive projectors, which can be used to transform a flat wall or tabletop into a 3D interactive surface without the need for a screen or electronic whiteboard.”

Williams thinks customers will focus more on the opportunities to get clients involved: “Techniques such as augmented reality and the use of QR codes is helping to bring interactivity

into the meeting space via smartphone technology. Interactivity is a good way to keep your audience engaged, for instance, participants can scan the QR code to discover the answer to a question.”

Darren Lewitt, AV director for Midwich, considers travelling without moving a big priority for businesses: “Video conferencing is gaining in popularity and can really open up communication channels. It allows businesses to increase communication with clients and remote workers while reducing the time and costs associated with travel. The technology has evolved to not just allow one-to-one communication but to allow meetings between many to take place, on multiple locations too.”

UPSKILLING It’s important to keep up-to-date with the technology and understand how it fits into existing set-ups. Davidson says: “Epson focuses on developing this knowledge by offering dealers the opportunity for training and it’s those dealers that invest time in training that will benefit in the long-term.”

Brian Grogan, sales manager EMEA at Vivitek, agrees that there are tangible benefits to technical knowledge: “It definitely helps, although it will depend on the size of the installation. The skills required for a single projector installation are a world away from those required for a fully integrated meeting room, for example. One advantage dealers have is their close working relationships with their customers. Using this for business advantage and possibly outsourcing skills that aren’t available in house may be the best approach for those new to AV.” It looks as though the future is bright for AV sales, and those with the right skill set and product offering can continue to grow their sales. As Gibson puts it: “The market’s had some difficulties in the last year and we’re not out of it totally but the signs are that consumers are willing to spend some money Video conferencing is again, albeit more sensibly, gaining in popularity and which is no bad thing. can really open up There’s positivity behind communication channels the channel and the integration of technology into workplaces that’s now starting to pick up again and that’s important for everybody.”

AUGUST 2012

USP

06 MARKETPLACE COMPUTER HYGIENE

PRISTINE PCs Dirty IT equipment can cause an unpleasant working environment and spread some positively nasty bugs. GEORGE CAREY finds out the problems involved and the solutions available SOLUTIONS Despite the challenges that computer cleaning can throw up (and the risk of throwing up yourself), there are plenty of products on the market to deal with those hard-to-reach places and delicate surfaces.

Dawes says: “Managing cleanliness on electronics has special NANO NASTIES considerations of course but nowadays, there are products that As people spend an ever-increasing amount of time at work and most of overcome pretty much all of those challenges; from specialty that time tied to their desks, the potential for poor hygiene is greater keyboard cleaning kits with a unique tool for getting between the than ever. Nathan Dawes, Vasanta Group hardware product manager, has keys, to air dusters that can be inverted to reach almost any area.” suffered for his art when pointing out the problems involved to the As Harrison points out, cleaning products are changing all the unenlightened: “With more and more office workers eating at their desk, time to deal with the challenges that new equipment can cause: “The I ask people to upturn their keyboard and tap it, they are always amazed product range changes with technology, so as we change from a at what comes out: crumbs, mucus, hair and worse.” laptop over to a tablet, for example, the cleaners available also Apart from the aesthetic issues involved there can be health risks change. It’s important that people clean their equipment with the associated with such an unsightly work station. Karen Harrison, group right product. As you know the keyboard has often been linked with marketing manager of AF International, points out the dangers involved: the cleanliness of a toilet seat, the toilet seat being far cleaner. We all “The way we work has changed significantly in clean the toilet with the right product – why not recent years. Many companies have open-plan We all clean the toilet with the keyboard?” offices with the shared use of desks and the right product – why not With a clean and germ-free working equipment.” She continues: “As a result, office environment comes a healthy and happy the keyboard? environments are much more polluted with workforce, and therefore a more productive bacteria, viruses, dust, dirt and germs than previously. Various micro- business. The advantages for your customers are there for all to see, organisms can be found in offices: bacteria such as staphylococcus and the wide range of specialist computer cleaning products, means aureus and escherichia coli; moulds like aspergillus niger; and all sorts of there’s no end of choice for you to offer them. So get out there and yeasts and fungi.” clean up this dirty world; do it for Mary.

As many worried parents have opined in recent years: the internet is filthy. Mary Whitehouse would be spinning in her grave. Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that, but you can at least ensure that you access the great sin emporium on a nice clean computer.

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AUGUST 2012

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08 SALES ACADEMY TOP TIPS

HOW TO RECRUIT THE BEST SALES TEAM EVER Recruitment expert STEVE SUGGS shares his seven secrets and five actions to take Your success as a salesperson is in direct proportion to your ability to get enough referrals. A similar principal of success is true for sales managers: The quality of the team you recruit will determine your success as a coach.

Mastering the foundational principals of successful recruiters will determine the number of championships you will win and, overall, the quality of your life. These seven secrets will get you moving toward becoming a great recruiter.

SEVEN SECRETS TO SUCCESS The best recruiters have calculated the cost of making a bad hire. The pain of lost revenue is the biggest motivator to improve and change. Lost revenue from bad hiring decisions ranges from £30,000 to £300,000.

The best recruiters know the answers to these three important questions: • Where can I find more quality people to interview?

• What are the tops traits and skills of the best salespeople?

• How do I look for these top traits and skills, and what tools do I use?

The best recruiters understand that with the right knowledge, they can bring greatness to the people they lead. Using our gut (emotions) to make hiring decisions is the alternative approach to putting forth the hard effort to learn a best practice system.

The best recruiters stop looking for an easier path to success. They realise that if they do not master recruiting and coaching skills in their current job, they will just drag the same bad habits into a new job and get frustrated there, too.

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AUGUST 2012

Great recruiters understand what the perfect salesperson looks like, and they measure everyone in their pool of candidates against perfection. The pick of the litter is not always the best performer. When we measure everyone in our pool of candidates against the perfect salesperson, we may realise that we need more candidates in our pool.

Great recruiters use a ‘best practice’ recruiting system with processes, tools and skills.

This begins with knowing the top five dimensions of a best salesperson: attitude; motivation; character traits; personality traits and sales competencies. The best recruiters know how to use interview questionnaires and assessments that are tied to these five dimensions to measure each candidate against the best candidate.

The best recruiters realise that learning anything new is hard.

Hard is what allows strong sales teams to rise to the top. If it were easy, it wouldn’t pay much. Easy diet and exercise programs don’t work, and neither do quick and easy solutions to fixing the complex problem of recruiting.

SALES ACADEMY TOP TIPS

FIVE THINGS TO DO NOW

Here are five immediate actions you can take to begin to recruit salespeople with potential.

Build a recruiting referral network.

Just as Bill Cates, ‘the referral coach’, teaches salespeople to build a network of people who send you sales referrals, you can build the same type of network with people who send you salesperson candidates. Start with the leaders of service organisations. Get to know leaders of networking groups. Sales trainers always have stacks of CVs. Contact the volunteer at churches. Get to know the director of sales and salespeople at the local chamber of commerce.

All of these people know many salespeople who are looking for a change. Post on all social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

Email your current customers alerting them to the fact that you are recruiting salespeople.

Learn the five dimensions of the best salesperson profile. The best salespeople have a balance of these five dimensions: First, attitude – they have a positive image of themselves as a salesperson, and they have a passion for solving customer problems using the product they sell. Secondly, motivations – they are highly motivated to change their short-term and long-term situation. They want to use the money they earn from sales to make these changes. Thirdly, they have the character traits of honesty, concern for others, strong work ethic, and responsibility for their actions. Fourth, they have the personality traits of high social drive, high social confidence, high goal orientation and high need for control. And fifthly, they use the first four dimensions to master the sales skills of prospecting/networking, setting/holding discovery appointments, making presentations, handling objections/concerns, gaining the sale, and getting referrals.

Listen 80% and talk 20% during the interview. While interviewing salespeople candidates, we must remove our sales hat and put on our selection hat. Selecting is listening rather than presenting the career. When interviewing candidates, ask prepared questions tied to the five dimensions of the best salesperson profile. Read the question without paraphrasing. When candidates respond to questions, avoid adding personal information like: “That happened to me once.” “I know what you mean. I would have done the same thing.”

The more we let candidates talk about themselves, without responses from us, the more they like our company and us.

The more we talk about ourselves and tell our biography to the candidates, the more we get emotionally connected to the candidates leading to an emotional rather than a logical hiring decision.

Use the science of a personality assessment to measure personality traits. Personality is genetic and changes very little over time.

Salespeople who work in a high activity/high rejection sales environment are wired with high scores in these four areas: social drive, social confidence, goal orientation, and need for control.

Use a score card to score candidates on the five dimensions of the best salesperson profile.

Scoring candidates helps us make a logical hiring decision rather than an emotional/gut decision.

Take action today, and these seven secrets and five actions will help you recruit salespeople at a whole new level. Sales will rise, stress will lower, and you will become a great coach. Now go and recruit the best.

Steve Suggs is the author of new book Can They Sell – Learn to Recruit the Best Salespeople available on Amazon

AUGUST 2012

USP

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10

LIVE IT

The best way to spend your free time and money

FILM

BIT OF BANTER

TED Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane hits the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice of the eponymous Ted. The film tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish...and has refused to leave his side ever since. Don’t be mislead by the title and the cute appearance of our furry hero, Paddington Bear this is not. Fans of Family Guy will be familiar with McFarlane’s close-to-the-bone humour and it’s on display here, in all its glory.

The beer swilling, bong smoking pair’s friendship is put under pressure by John’s girlfriend (Mila Kunis), who demands that Ted moves out. The best-friend-versus-girlfriend plot line isn’t exactly new but the script delivers bad-taste laughs in spades and frankly the obscenities just sound funnier coming out of a teddy bear’s mouth. In cinemas now

WHAT DID THE DOCTOR SAY?

IT’S NOT GOOD MATE!

GOOD Just over a thousand Chinese volunteers helped to set a new Guinness world record after they managed to complete the biggest ever human-mattress domino chain. The 1,001 record-setters lined up in an empty shopping centre in Shanghai. Around 10 minutes elapsed from the first mattress-clad volunteer tumbling to the last.

MUSIC

GADGET

LIANNE LA HAVAS

SOUNDWAVE

The British music scene has been crying out for a successful female artist not called Adele for some time now and Lianne La Havas has staked her claim to be the next big thing with her debut album: Is your love big enough? It’s packed full of hits in waiting, from the unexpectedly affecting duet with Willy Mason in ‘Lost & Found’, to the gloriously guttural low notes on the title track. The whole thing has a haunting air of detachment and her soul searching lyrics belie her 22 years. Add in acclaimed live performances and she’s on her way to the big time.

This little speaker packs a big punch. It’s Bluetooth, so allows you to pick up calls or listen to music wirelessly and is available in black or white. The rechargeable battery is ready to go in about two hours and will last for 12 hours talk time or three hours of music. It’s easy to set up and the volume is controlled through your phone. It’s gone down a storm here at USP Towers and is available at a good price.

MobileFun. co.uk

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AUGUST 2012

The sign writers have been at it again. A pedestrian crossing in Swindon telling people to ‘look left’ but accompanied by an arrow pointing right, has been left unchanged for the past three years. The erroneous effort from Swindon’s finest hasn’t caused any accidents yet but has presumably left a fairly crimsoncheeked road painter in its wake.

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hallenge Pioneer C mber 2012 te 17-30 Sep

ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? With the buzz and excitement surrounding the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place, 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 30 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.

The challenge Cycle one or more of the stages from Aberdeen to Brighton (each stage is around 85 miles)

The charity Breakthrough 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 enter Please 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 matthew.moore@intelligentmedia.co.uk with your choice of date/s.