Fruits of Success

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

Looking behind what the brand is selling - Oxfam’s latest social mediaselling change campaign

The details of the route to market used to be of concern only to the supplier in whom the customer and investor put their trust.

Selling a brand today goes far beyond selling a product and packaging it. Customers are increasingly concerned about what is behind the brand.

The supply chain which food companies operate has come under scrutiny particularly from the terrible publicity that the mis labelling scandal of beef processed foods from the DNA analysis which revealed horse flesh and other contamination across Europe.

Now Oxfam have launched a selling campaign scrutinising the supply chains of the 10 largest global food firms.

Their campaign is aimed at concerned consumers in 12 countries to look behind the brand and use social media to express their concern via social media.

http://blogs.oxfam.org/en/blogs/13-02-26-go-behind-brands-you-buy

Over 18 months of research, Oxfam assessed publicly available information on the policies and commitments of the 'Big 10' food companies towards the sourcing of agricultural commodities from developing countries.

The Scorecard looks at seven themes, weighing each theme equally.

The index tackles some cutting edge issues that will require rigorous debate and dialogue between companies, civil society and industry experts.

Oxfam reckon consumers have the right to know how their food has been produced and the impact this has on the world's poorest people who are growing the ingredients.

Similarly that companies have a responsibility to treat local producers, communities and environments with respect.

Since the hundreds of brands which line supermarket shelves are predominantly owned by just 10 giant companies which have combined revenues of more than $ 1 billion a day I would imagine both consumers and investors will be taking notice of the campaign.

Oxfam’s appeal to the consumers in social media land

You’re more powerful than any of the Big Ten food companies. Without you, they won’t stay big for long. Use Facebook and Twitter to nudge your favourite brands. Contact the CEO personally and tell them what needs to change. We’ll be constantly updating the scorecard so you can see the impact you’re having.

Trust in brands over corporate social responsibility issues is becoming increasing significant to the Companies' marketing mix

No doubt the PR agents will be combing Twitter, Facebook, Google+ Pinterest and emails

(Food for thought - As I bite into my favourite Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate ( the new shaped bar) maybe I should look behind and beyond the simple reassurance of that Fairtrade symbol :-))

Let's facebook it, 'I like' 'sharing' selling - using your smart phone

Sharing is a fundamental part of human interaction, and is responsible for strengthening both social ties and ensuring a person’s well-being.

Time was when the fabric of friendship was woven with the threads of ordinary conversation where thoughts, feelings and opinions could be shared . With smart phones we are as likely to share photos and ‘content’ with our friends.

Capture news cuttings from magazines, newspapers etc
and use them for "Saw this thought of you " sharing

When was the last time you cut out an article, photo or cartoon from a newspaper or magazine and sent it to a business colleague, a client or a prospect?

For those in selling weaned on social media probably never!

Back in the day you would keep your eyes peeled when reading trade magazines and newspapers and if you spotted something of interest to a clients you would cut it out and post it to them stapled to a compliment slip with a short note on the lines ‘saw this thought of you…”.

The report also showed how the sharing traffic
is distributed over the week.

It was a way of keeping in touch, developing a relationship and differentiating yourself from the competition who as likely as not only showed interest in a buyer when there was an immediate smell of blood.

Sharing today is less of a sacrifice and bother using a smart phone. Researcher Brainjuicer was commissioned by 3g have brought out a report called ‘Mobile sharing’ which shows how users have really taken to this kind of near effortless sharing. It was reported by Ross McGuiness of the London Metro 25th Feb 2013.

They survey 2000 British smart phone users about their sharing habits.

This report was focused on consumer habits. However with the blurring of distinction of home, social and work life there are some useful trends which could be transferred from social friends to business ‘friends’. Developing business relationships are not so different to social ones. So here are some of the headline figures.

Creating content and sharing content has become a new way to communicate. 12 million adults now share or receive content via smart phones every week.

A total of 63 million pieces of content are shared in the week comprising of 31% of personal photos, 11% self generated pictures of pets. 1 in 3 shots of animals are shared !

51% share content with ‘ everyone’ whether they are Facebook friends or twitter followers. 63% of people share their content with their partners.

So far as from where they do this sharing 85% of smart phone users do it from home. 30 % say they do it from the pub and 51% say they do it from work on their mobiles.

The channel for such sharing divided as follows

42% Facebook

10% on twitter

17% email

19% by sms or mms.

When asked why they share 75% said the purpose was to make the recipient smile or to surprise them, 18% admitted that they shared to attract attention to themselves and 10% to spark off a discussion or debate.

Of course the old ways still work as well.

The 2013 Oscars ceremony still used sealed envelopes which provide drama and curious excitement.

Why not sift through a trade magazine, newspaper or the distinctive pink paper - Financial Times.

Look for either articles on the client's company or articles about their industry cut out a clipping attach it to a compliment slip with short 'sharing' note on the lines of :-

" Hi George,

You've probably seen this article already but when I came across it today it made me think of you.

Hope all is well at X ltd.

Yours

Hugh at fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/ "

You would be surprised how often it leads to a new business conversation. It works !

Good Selling

Related links:

Brainjuicer

Facebook for business 10 tips

Ross McGuiness of Focus news Lonson Metro - What do we share on line and why
Nice set of infographics by Sophie Harwin with Ross' article

Monday, 25 February 2013

Selling in a Aa1 economy - Changes in Selling Style - Changes in Sales Incentive Plans

"For this is the end

I've drowned and dreamt this moment

So overdue I owe them

Swept away, I'm stolen" *

Our debt junkie status as a country has caught up with us. The words above come from Adele's Oscar winning hit won yesterday. They have an ironically apt resonance to last Friday's announcement.

Moody's ,the credit rating firm, said weak prospects for British economic growth, which have thrown the government's deficit reduction strategy off course, lay behind its decision to cut the rating by one level , from Aaa to Aa1.

Sterling has slipped down but the stock markets seem to have already factored in their response.

UK Exports will be helped by this but things will be tighter at home.

Adele gets the Oscar for the *Skyfall song

What could this mean for Selling in the long term ?

The economic slump brought with it some far reaching long-term challenges for UK businesses and resulting in the sales role becoming more complex as well.

We now have new ways of working with customers, longer sales cycles and a need to shift mind sets from products to solutions.

Organisations are keen to find new ways of ensuring the millions spent each year on rewarding sales teams and ensure they are delivering the best returns for the business.

The Aon Hewitt Sales Compensation Survey delivers a comprehensive source of information on sales policies and pay practises across 44 organisations, 14 industry sectors and 71 unique sales compensation plans in the UK.

Only half of the companies thought their Sales incentive plans (SIP) arrangements were effective.

Over 70% plan to make further changes to their SIP in the next 6-18 months.

100% have a sales recognition programme for top performers up from 60% in 2009 – the most popular awards are free trips , followed by cash.

Fixed Pay now makes up 70% of the remuneration for account managers and sales managers. 30% from commission or bonuses.

Among sales executives, the ratio has risen from 50:50 to 60:40 as a result of an increase in fixed pay.

Duncan Brown of AON stated

“Companies want to grow their sales in a flat economy, which is why in most sectors the incentives are to sell more."

With the shift to more online and call-centre selling, companies now need sales professionals who can develop relationships.

This type of relationship selling needs a different type of professional and it also means they need to pay them more fixed pay, with less reliance on variable pay or commission.

We are going to get more of a career focused rather than a commission focused team if you offer them a higher base salary and more training, development and career structures and that is what AON are seeing.

More organisations are looking for graduates in sales roles.

They also have clearer career and pay structures and the move away from monthly commission to annual bonuses which are more like management bonus programmes with sales as one objective but also customer service another key requirement.

"The trouble in the past is that top salespeople also tend to get the most complaints."

… The best sales incentive plans reflect a clear set of principles and link to the business strategy and structure, while being supported by world class governance and management”

So as Adele inspires us:

"This is the end

Hold your breath and count to ten

Feel the earth move and then

Hear my heart burst again

For this is the end

I've drowned and dreamt this moment

So overdue I owe them

Swept away, I'm stolen

Let the sky fall

When it crumbles

We will stand tall

Face it all together

Good selling to all in Aa1 UK ! :-)

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Selling TRUST is easy but losing it makes it very hard to regain. Salespeople’s PR role

Part of the role of many professional salespeople is to be public face of their company. In some sense they are a local PR spokesperson for their company.

For those for whom this is so, I think you will find the results of the Edelman Trust Barometer 2013 very interesting reading and useful in the parts of your presentations and pitches about your companies.

Edelman surveyed more than 31,000 respondents in 26 markets around the world and measured their trust in institutions, industries and leaders. Edelman are PR specialists.

Here is their headline figure:-

"Only 14% of the global population trust business a great deal."

That’s just slightly over one in 7 people.

This should be of concern to every consumer product marketer and salesperson .

Manufacture and market consumer goods top the table financial services are at the lower end of the table.

Consumer electronics 70 %,

Automotive sector 66 %,

Food and beverage 62 %,

CPG 60 % ( Consumer Packaged Goods)

Telecom 60 %

Those respondents familiar with Banking / financial services scandals over the past year describe the poor story of Trust in 2013 starkly due to te follwoing

20% Lack of regulation

23% Corporate culture driven by compensation / bonuses

25% Corporate Corruption

11% Conflicts of Interest

6% Changes in the economy

13% Banks are too large

Well with Horsemeat scandal now in our news TRUST yet again is op of the Leadership agenda.

Brand trust for consumer goods depends in product quality and innovation. Although these two attributes remain paramount Edelman suggest 5 clusters in their model

Operational excellence remains important, but it is what is expected of suppliers and not what will differentiate or build trust.

In order to build trust, suppliers must meet expectations on engagement and integrity.

Maximising trustworthiness needs to be achieved in credible sources through inclusive management, based in grounded leadership

Edelman go on to three key Trust developing areas

Share Your Values

Most companies equate positive employee experience with business performance and invest significant resources in their employees’ well-being.

However too few companies share this commitment outside their organization. Salespeople have a role to play here in communicating the right messages

Consumers want to know who’s making their products and how they are treated by employers (engagement).

The smart companies will oblige by making access to information about employment practices transparent and accessible through owned and social media channels.

Share Responsibility

Consumer goods manufacturers have correctly assessed and genuinely addressed their environmental stewardship policy, but according to a World Economic Forum report too few consumers believe companies’ sustainability claims and too many people find it too difficult to make the environmentally responsible and informed choices about products.

Companies need to be transparent in their environmental claims and help consumers understand how their own behaviours impact climate change.

Embrace Shared Influence

Traditionally influence has cascaded from business leaders, academics and other experts.

Today, this hierarchy of authority is mirrored by a pyramid of community, where social activists, action consumers and employees have equal influence on the general population.

Companies serious about building trust will embrace these new communities of influence by giving them unprecedented access and voice.

Jennifer Cohan is global practice chair at Edelman on Consumer Marketing finishes her report with

”The consumer products and services industry is the most creative and innovative in the world.

It has led other industries in re-examining business process and customer engagement.

It’s time to lead in the rebuilding of consumer trust”

Monday, 18 February 2013

16 Selling techniques for beating recession and 5 common denials of salespeople

"...sales methods that have proved successful over a period of some 20 years will have to be discarded because new developments give rise to the need for new working methods."

When do you reckon were those words written ?

They could have been written yesterday but weren't.

I have received an email from a Sales Training company only this week talking of 'paradigm shifts in selling' and another email the week before where the subject box read " Death of the Salesman stereotype". The changes in selling were summarised as follows

· Cold calling is dead or on its last legs

· Permission marketing has come to the fore

· Old style closing is now seen as a manipulative embarrassment

· You need to add value at every turn

· There has been never been a greater time to be a great listener

But the quote was not from those recent emails to my in box.

I have a book on my bookshelf by Marc T Miller and Jason Sinkovitz called "Selling is dead" Copyright 2005 but the words above do not come from that book either

No, those words come from an earlier incarnation of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management magazine - Winning Edge -back then called Sales Management and Sales Engineering -The Journal of the Institute of Sales Management.

This issue concerned was for December 1980 - I was 27 years at the time and the UK was in recession.

I have been clearing out my home over the last couple of weeks and came across the magazine which for some reason I had kept.

It was from a very different era of course.

The readership and membership of the Institute back then was predominantly male. The selling profession was very much a car centred ministry of road warriors in those days.

These were days before the Internet and even mobile phones let alone smart ones.

Flicking through the yellowing pages of the magazine, I noticed an article within the old magazine that caught my eye " Sales Techniques for Beating the Recession".

It was interesting to see that much that challenges today's salespeople were pretty similar concerns back then.

16 areas were highlighted ( I have written the gist of each topic after each title)

1. Too Expensive - handling the Price objection

2. Negotiate with the boss - advice on selling as high up the customer's organisation ie 'C' suite / board level.

3. Don't think solely of your commission - selling profitably not just going for turnover sales.

4. Many salesmen just won't believe it... - various myths of selling * see the 5 boxes

5. Small orders are more of a liability for the customer ... -selling the benefits of larger orders / packages

6. Looking for new customers ? - New Business Development

7. 'I don't know your company' - presenting the benefits of your company beyond product benefits

8. Arithmetic problem - measuring your activity ratios before Salesforce.com you had to do it yourself !

9. Tips for status-conscious salesmen - body language, personal space and presence.

10. Good customers deserve less frequent visits - better preparation, planning and communication skills

11. Selling by telephone - choosing the best channel to do a task -back then you visited or phoned now we have many channels e.g. email , LinkedIn, webinar, skype, blogs , twitter, You tube, personal visit etc.....

12. Between visits - keeping in contact

13. Tactics of a doctor's salesman - although the tips were for pharmaceutical representatives they covered body language, personal space and demonstration skills

14. The biggest of orders is worthless if the company's margin is negligible - up selling higher price product, don't just confine the conversation to your favourite product cover the relevant range, strive for long term agreements, bulk contracts.

15. Organisational shortcomings - an unplanned day is only half a working day- and a source of irritation and nervousness which can be transmitted in your voice. Plan some leeway for time between appointments.

16. After sales service - the customer needs reliable suppliers much more than 'cheap' sources of supply.

I guess it shows we need to embrace our brave new world but not entirely disregard the lessons from the past even as far back as 1980 !

Thursday, 14 February 2013

Selling the sweet smell of success- Unilever being Sure, Balming Sore and re-making Dove

The new smaller Compressed Sure products
along side the conventional product.

The present Boots store in London’s Kensington high street stands on part of the historic site of the former store Pontings – “the house for value”.

As in 1893 when the Messrs Ponting Bros. bought the site customers look for value for money. As with ITV's "Mr Selfridge", Pontings had a "bargain basement".

So today 's customers still look for value and one of the ways they determine value is to compare prices of products by reading the labels and calculating what is good value.

This can be quite challenging when comparing different sized or shaped products. So the introduction of labels which priced products – particularly commodity products by comparative volume or weight e.g. £ per 100 g or £ per 100ml.

I noticed a strange anomaly in the price marking in the deodorant display at Boots , Kensington High Street which may well be repeated elsewhere. My challenge was this:-

Q. Which is the best value a 75 ml canister of branded deodorant (Dove) at £ 2.89 or a 150 ml canister of the same branded deodorant at £2.89.

A. They are both the same value

As someone who has always found mental arithmetic difficult I appreciate retailers labelling that prints under the unit price a separate price of £ x per 100 g or 100 ml. An approach handy for diet and calorie counting as well.

However that method becomes confusing when price per volume e.g. ( 100 ml) is not comparing like with like.

The 75 ml Dove product comes out at £3.85 per 100ml whilst the 150 ml product comes out as £ 1.93.

Both products were marked the same – Original 48 hour + Vitamin E and the same fragrance etc.

Such is the current issue with trusted brand leaders Unilever with Vaseline, Sure and Dove deodorants.

The apparent anomaly is due the fact that smaller 75 ml product is a new product – a compressed product whose performance is twice as good for the same volume with the added benefits of requiring less packaging and therefore more socially responsible and is a handier size for a hand bag or case.

There is of course the necessity that we trust the manufacturer that the product will last twice as long but Unilever work very hard to maintain the trust of brands like Dove, Sure and Vaseline.

As Jess Hodgson , brand manager at Unilever pointed out in an article in February 12^th London Metro size matters to today’s ethical consumer.

"Greater investment in research and development has allowed many businesses to meet the demand for greener packaging without compromising on the quality of their products."

To meet such consumer demand Unilever have concentrated their Sure, Dove and Vaseline products into much smaller cans. This is a huge change for an industry where can sizes have remained more or less unchanged since the 1960s (when Pontings was still trading !).

“This is a marriage between design and innovation to meet the demands of the ethical consumer” states Jess Hodgson.

It is also an intelligent strategic response by Unilever to grow their market in a stagnant economy and in a static sector which is viewed by many as a commodity product.

Those familiar with the Ansoff Grid will see this has been an example of the top right hand box of product development

It makes for a useful worked example of strategic growth through product development by Unilever

Monday, 11 February 2013

Mis selling Owen Paterson " Times is hard sir" for modern day Mrs Levetts and Mrs Mooneys

We like transparency in what we buy. Yet last week it appears that certain food brands did not pass the Ronseal test ( "It does exactly what it says on the tin")

DNA analysis was used to identify the Findus Beef Lasagne miss sold - some samples the meat content of the product proved to be 100% horse .

The Newspapers have had a field day on this mis selling story particularly because journalists know rather more about food mis selling than the technical details of mis selling financial services.

After all mis selling of food products after all it was in Fleet street where the infamous fictional barber Sweeney Todd supplied Mrs Lovett with unspecified meat for her 'meat pies'.

So the secretary of state for the Environment Owen Paterson held a summit with the heads of the meat industry both suppliers and buyers to discuss the horse meat scandal over the weekend
.
Tesco, Aldi and Findus have already withdrawn various products. One of the suppliers to these companies has been the French company Comigel.

Since Comigel also supplies the Benelux, Scandinavian and Eastern bloc supermarket chains this could be soon become a European wide problem. The paper trail has now tracked back down the supply chain to various agencies in Cyprus and the spotlight is currently on an abattoir in Roumania.

The fifty year old brand Findus took action to withdraw product from the shelves. Their official statement reads:-

"At Findus UK we are committed to our customers and the quality of our products. Following a thorough investigation, Findus UK can confirm that testing of its beef lasagne, produced by a 3rd Party supplier and not by Findus, has revealed some product containing horse meat. As a precautionary measure on Monday we coordinated full withdrawal of affected beef lasagne in the following sizes 320, 360 and 500g from all retailers. All other Findus products have been tested and all found not affected”

Ironically the body responsible for monitoring food for the country has the same letters as the regulator of the financial sector namely the FSA. Food standards Agency , Financial Services Agency soon to become the FCA

When a possible miss selling practise occurs in Food the action for decisions and Government is somewhat quicker to call the Companies to meet than in the Financial crisis.

Certainly the fear of customers radically changing their buying habits is of concern to the Meat industry especially the processed food sector.

One of the unintended consequences of Outsourcing to reduce costs is that as inspections and checks on safety are delegated to others the brand becomes that bit more fragile

The lyrics from the Sweeney Todd Musical have an uncomfortable contemporary resonance about the supply chain in processed foods containing meat perhaps!

"Times is hard" as the song ends

You Tube Clip of the full song from Sweeney Todd Demon Barber of Fleet street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT7n718iJzI

...These are probably the worst pies in London!

I know why nobody cares to take them,

I should know,

I make them,

But good? No!

The worst pies in London,

Even that's polite!

The worst pies in London,

If you doubt it, take a bite!

Is that just disgusting?

You have to concede it!

It's nothing but crusting!

Here, drink this, you'll need it!

The worst pies in London...

And no wonder with the price of meat

What it is

When you get it

Never

Thought I'd live to see the day

Men'd think it was a treat

Findin' poor

Animals

Wot are dyin' in the street!

Mrs. Mooney has a pie shop!

Does a business but I notice something weird.

Lately all her neighbors' cats have disappeared!

Have to hand it to her --

Wot I calls

Enterprise

Poppin' pussies into pies!

Wouldn't do in my shop!.....

...Times is hard sir, Times is hard

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