Budget 2012 Selling Opportunities for Solution Selling Rapport Building Questions

Budget 2012 – How will it affect your Clients?  ASK THEM!

Word cloud of the 2012 Budget from the DirectGov Website Budget 2012 from which you can download the chancellor's speech and detailed docments from HM Treasury website. A visual representation of the Chancellor's 2012 Budget speech. The size of each word reflects how often it was used

Sometimes Delegates tell me they can find it hard to just talk with clients as a Trusted adviser or on a financial/general business level rather than the comfort zone of their technical solutions of their products and services.

The period  of a few days after the Budget give us opportunities to learn more about client's business in general by asking what their views, opinions, attitudes, feelings, needs , wants and disappointments the announcements of the budget. and give our clients a really good listening to! 

Here are four areas from which you could draw out one or two questions to get talking at a business level with Clients on Budget 2012.

1. Personal 
2. Business 
3. Duties
4. Funding

Personal

e.g. Take an area of possible relevance to your client 

 “Tell Me  what effect will  PPPPPPPP  have on you/your staff/ your business/your clients/distributors/agents  ?”

•      Personal Allowance raised from £8,105 to £9,205 (i.e. £1,100 at 20% or £220 per annum)

•      Child benefit tapered off when someone earns over £50,000 gone by £60,000.

•      Age allowances to be brought into line with above over time. (i.e. pensioners get less advantages – it’s simplified!)

•      Top rate reduced to 45%.

•      General anti-avoidance rule to be introduced. (Could catch out clever avoidance schemes)

•      Pension age to keep pace with life expectancy.

•      Single tier pension for all future pensioners set at around £140 based on contributions.

•      Housing stamp duty to be 7% on houses over £2M and 15% if bought through a company.

Business

e.g. So long as you deem it appropriate take an area of possible relevance to your client

  “Tell Me  what effect will  BBBBBBBBB have on you/your staff/ your business/your clients/distributors/agents  ?”

•      UK Growth forecasts up from 0.7% to 0.8%

•      Eurozone growth forecasts reduced from 0.5% to -0.3%

•      UK inflation forecast to drop from 2.8% this year to 1.9% next year.

•      Extra funding for construction companies to build new homes.

•      Corporation tax down from 25% to 24% with a target of 22% by 2014.

o   (Note Ireland is 15% and a number of large companies have relocated their HQs there to pay their rates taking huge revenue out of the UK economy.  Some have started to drift back recently.)

o   NB Bank levy increased so that they do not benefit from above.

•      Enhanced depreciation (capital allowances) for new enterprise zones in Scotland and Wales.

•      Consultation on simplified system for taxing companies with revenues below £77k.

•      Tax relief for video games, animation and top end TV production sectors.

•      Considering enterprise loans to help young people start business (on top of their Uni Loans!)

•      Sunday trading laws relaxed for 8 weeks over Olympics starting  July 22^nd

•      Tax changes to boost oil and gas extraction in North Sea and West of Shetland.

Duties

e.g. Take an area of possible relevance to your client  

“Tell Me  what effect will  DDDDDDDD  have on you/your staff/ your business/your clients/distributors/agents  ?”

•      Alcohol unchanged but tobacco products up by 5% over inflation.

•      New duty on gaming machines at 20% but low 5% rate on low prize machines.

•      Vehicle tax to rise by inflation but frozen for Hauliers.

•      Fuel duty plans unchanged – above inflation rises will return if oil price falls below $70 per barrel.

Funding for

e.g. Take an area of possible relevance to your client

 “Tell Me  what effect will  FFFFFFFF have on you/your staff/ your business/your clients/distributors/agents  ?”

•      Rail links around Manchester area.

•      High Broadband speeds in top 10 cities.

•      London and South East Air links (Report to be published this summer.

Related Links

Financial training for Sales Professionals

Financial training for non Financial Managers

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