Do Business Well

Companies can increase profit either by cost reduction or by margin improvements. Margin improvement or improvement in the gross profit can be achieved either by increasing unit selling prices or by increasing sales volume (this includes the possibility of reducing unit selling prices in order to be more competitive and increase sales volume).

Selling prices are affected by supply, demand and cost conditions. All companies need to ensure that their pricing policy gives the best opportunity for maximising sales and profits.

1. Keep pace with inflation

The inflation rate is the percentage rate per period that prices are increasing and should provide a guideline to the level of price increases generally. Continue Reading »

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Types of Media

1. Direct mail. Direct mail can be very effective, though you’ll be fighting hard for attention in a medium that is saturated with highly sophisticated competition. What follows are some general rules for reaching a list of known customers, whether business to business or consumer:

A. Start with the envelope. Print something intriguing on the outside that will make your target curious about the contents. One mass mailer who sends our company at least two or three mailings per week puts “personal and confidential” on the envelope. It’s amazing, but folks are actually more likely to open that envelope first. Continue Reading »

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To create an image for my wholesale business, we constructed a four-hundred-square-foot bike shop on the floor of the show. It was complete with a brick facade exterior, shingle roof, display windows, and fully outfitted interior.

To draw attention in a show where the booths and product were becoming increasingly high-tech, we went against the trend. We built a four-booth island display to look like a circus. The product was displayed on a carousel. We had clowns handing out balloons with our name and phone number on them. Continue Reading »

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Research shows that four out of five prospects don’t sign up until they are asked to take a starter file or some initial action. Yet many networkers fail to do this. So nothing happens. You should always bear in mind the ABC of selling: Always Be Closing! Try to persuade the prospect to take action.

Strangely enough, many networkers are hesitant to close. It is as if the prospect has done them a special favour by seeing them. But this is not the case. If the prospect wants to see you, it is because she wants to know more. There is a mutual give and take of questions and information between the prospect and networker, which should naturally lead to the prospect joining up. Continue Reading »

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A route map to success

As with the birth of a child, the first few months are extremely important to a new business. To ensure your business is a thundering success, you need to work at it in a disciplined way. And you need results early on to keep you motivated.

A number of different ’starter’ programmes of various lengths are suggested by network marketing companies. The programme below covers the first four weeks only. In each week we suggest that you do 10 things. Of course you can do more, but don’t do less!

What follows is just a guide to the sort of things you should map out for yourself. The key ingredients have already been mentioned but are so important that they are repeated here. They are:

• Use products you sell yourself.
• Study your starter kit and video.
• Plan your success with your sponsor.
• Learn as much as you can about your products. III Look for prospects.
• Help people you introduce to be a success (sponsor).
• Attend training meetings/motivational sessions.
• Hold small group meetings.
• Keep your records up to date.
• Have fun.

Continue Reading »

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Open up distance networks

One of the wonderful things about network marketing is that you can open a network anywhere. For example, although you may live in Cape Town, a friend in Johannesburg could be interested in network marketing. When you next visit Johannesburg, talk to your friend, build up her enthusiasm and sign her up.

Network marketing companies supply goods to their distributors anywhere, so she would order directly from the parent company, but her sales would become part of your overall sales. Because you signed her up, she would fall into your network.

Get the biggest order possible

Here are four proven techniques that build sales turnover: Continue Reading »

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This subsection was kindly contributed by Glen Freeman, Brunel University. Background

The traditional high street retailer W. H. Smith plc has already established new channels to market through the Internet, digital television and WAP mobile phones. The company has a huge high street presence in the UK, with 1,500 stores nationwide. It also now has stores across the globe on major transport routes at airports and railway stations, and already has over 5 million members registered with its ‘club card‘ scheme. These are already loyal W. H. Smith customers who have experienced the company through its stores. Moving this confidence online will be far easier than trying to generate new business online. Continue Reading »

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Disadvantages

Retailers have been slow to take up e-Retailing. This is to some extent under standable in the light of the many disadvantages and problems. Retailers, for example, may lack the technical know-how, the substantial investment required or the order fulfilment capabilities. Set-up costs start from around £20,000 fo a small site, up to £500,000 for a large operation. And set-up costs are only th start: Datamonitor estimates that high street retailers are spending more o ongoing costs than on setting up new sites.

DISADVANTAGES OF E-RETAILING FOR RETAILERS

* May lack know-how and technology

• Substantial set-up, investment and ongoing costs

* Complex logistics of fulfilment

• e-Selling less powerful than face-to-face — uptake slow for goods selected by taste or smell

* Fewer impulse purchases

* Legal problems

Less role for traditional high street retail expertise

• Pressure on margins and prices in-store

* After-sales care difficulties

There can be legal problems. For example, if purchaser and supplier are ni_l
different countries, there may be conflict between the laws of the two countries.’
A further disadvantage is that e-Selling is less powerful than face-to-face selling

(it is easier to say ‘no’ to a computer). This viewpoint is linked to a concern of raditional high street retailers that e-Retailing offers a diminished role for their expertise. For example, there are obvious difficulties with products sold by `atmosphere’ — touch, feel, smell — and with impulse purchases. In addition, consumers have a perception of lower prices online. This puts pressure on margins for e-Retailing, and can lead to shoppers expecting consistent low prices in store. Finally, after-care can be difficult, especially if the shopper is overseas.

Continue Reading »

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`Place’ (Convenience in the 4- Cs) means the elements of the marketing mix that marketers use to enable customers to access the benefits of a product or service. Traditionally, this has meant ‘channels of distribution‘ through (e.g.) various wholesaler and retailer combinations. Viewing from the ‘convenience for the customer‘ (4-Cs) perspective gives a more customer-orientated focus. This is a vital decision area for the e-Business for three reasons. First, relatively small local companies can widen their market and even export (e.g. Botham (www.Botham.co.uk), to be described further in Chapter 9). Second, many e- Businesses aim to gain competitive advantage by using e-Systems to de-layer the distribution chain. For example, Dell (www.dell.co.uk) supplies customers directly, rather than through distributors, wholesalers or retailers. Third, distribution is an area where some e-Businesses have been severely criticized for failing to deliver customer service (see Chapter 9 for more details).

Place elements of the marketing mix have been changing rapidly over recent decades, and these changes impact in many ways on the marketing operations of the e-Business. First, the growth of retailer power has involved major retailers taking more control of their supply chains. The involvement of wholesalers has been reduced, tending to give way to contract logistics (under retailer control). At the same time, supply chains have become more efficient, with computer network links between suppliers and retailers — many still based on EDI. Predating the Internet, EDI is based on privately owned third-party computer networks. Stock levels have been reduced using techniques such as JIT and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Control of the physical distribution, ordering, invoicing and payment systems, particularly for major retailers, is often still carried out using EDI networks such as Tradanet (www.gegxs.com/gxs/ products/product/traser). Increasingly, though, retailers such as Tesco are allowing Internet access to their suppliers for real-time electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) data. Trusted supplier partners can thus respond more quickly to changes in customer demand. Continue Reading »

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