Have a really good Unique Sales Proposition
Anyone who has heard me talk before will have heard this message, and although the message may have lost some of its originality, it still retains all of its validity. Let me give you an example of a company that developed a powerful USP and used it to devastating effect. The company is Dyson, and they developed a vacuum cleaner that was “the only vacuum cleaner that maintains 100% suction all of the time”. They didn’t claim to have the highest suction, or to be the best, but by heavily using that strapline Dyson went from zero to the largest supplier in the US market in under 3 years. How did this happen? The answer is – they caught our imagination. We’ve all had problems with full bags when using our vacuum cleaners, and they can be very irritating when they happen. The Dyson vacuum cleaner promised to solve that problem at a stroke, and people rushed to buy it. We all think we give better service than our competitors, but that message rarely captures the imagination of our customers. What problems or uncertainties do customers have when they use services like ours? What could we do differently that would solve those problems? When we can answer these two questions, we are well on our way to creating a true USP.
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Business Interruption or Consequential Loss Insurance; getting the indemnity Period correct.7/1/2014 Business Interruption or Consequential Loss Insurance; getting the indemnity Period correct. Business Interruption Insurance can be what stands between the collapse and the survival of your business following major loss such as a fire, flood or storm. As important as getting the sum insured right is ensuring that you have the right indemnity period for your business. This article will help you understand the factors which should influence how long a Business Interruption Insurance indemnity period your business needs. Your first consideration is to decide upon which basis you will be arranging your Business Interruption Insurance (Loss of Gross Profit, Loss of Revenue, Increased Cost of Working, Additional Increased Cost of Working etc.?) your next key decision is then to select the correct length of Maximum Indemnity Period. The Business Interruption Insurance Indemnity Period is the period during which the business’ results are affected due to the loss or damage, beginning with the date of the loss or damage and ending not later than the Maximum Indemnity Period. The Maximum Indemnity Period is stated within your Policy Schedule. Common Maximum Indemnity Periods are 12 months, 18 months, 24 months and 36 months. When deciding upon the length of the period you need to work out how long it would take your business to recover back to today’s trading levels following a Fire, Theft or Flood. Factors that you need to consider include:
Business Interruption Insurance can be a complex area. You need to get the cover basis, the sum insured and the maximum indemnity period correct to help your business to survive a major loss. I hope you have found this article useful and it will help you when considering the length of the business interruption insurance maximum indemnity period most suited to your business. “Goodwill to All Men” is not just for Christmas. This blog could also be called Manners Matter because it’s really about how we treat others – customers, suppliers, and everybody we come into contact with while doing business – but particularly those that we communicated with electronically. At Christmas everyone is full of goodwill and good cheer, we want the best for people and we take the time to convey these wishes and acknowledge those received. We appear to be kinder, more polite and understanding in the way we deal with others. So why not extend this generosity and care throughout the year. Technology has made the world a much smaller place – it’s possible to contact and do business more or less with anyone, anywhere in the world - but ironically it’s also created a remoteness in the way that we do business. We don’t know and have never seen many of the people who contact us electronically so it’s easy to forget that at the end of an email, text, tweet etc., there is (usually) a human being. (I know that we all suffer from email spam and nuisance calls but there are ways of filtering these and it’s quite easy to spot the genuinely interested ones). We can appear detached, disengaged and less courteous or well-mannered when dealing with customers in this way. Think about all the emails / texts you send that are never acknowledge, let alone replied to; messages left on phones that are never returned; and people you feel you have to hound before you get a response. And the “being too busy” excuse (as used by all of us at some point) is just not good enough. We would never dream of ignoring customers / people that were stood in front of us or blankly refuse to acknowledge them. We would thank them for their interest and either make time there and then or arrange an appointment at a more convenient time. In some cases we don’t respond because we don’t like being the bearers of bad news but most people would truly prefer a straight “no, thank you” than no response at all. And the age old adage “Treat other people as you’d like them to treat you” is still as true today as it ever was. Whatever the medium. What we seem to have forgotten is that first impressions are crucial however they’re made - whether it’s face to face, over the phone, communicating via email or Social Media. If we’ve failed to respond or engage with someone who’s shown a genuine interest in us or our company then we’ve not only lost that opportunity but possibly many others as bad news travels much faster than good and we’ve all woken up to the power of bad reviews on Social Media. So the thing to remember is that Good Manners cost nothing but are worth everything. Do you want it singly or in a group? Sewing tuition that is!
As you all may know, a part of my Fashion Revived business is tuition in dressmaking, patchwork and rag-rugging? Of these disciplines rag-rugging is easily taught to quite large groups, it's a simple craft requiring little demonstration but lots of imagination, once a student has got to grips with the tools used and the main technique they are away and can rapidly move onto designing and making their own rag rugged creations. In fact this craft is one I offer both workshops and talks on and I find that large groups at a talk will often pick up the techniques and then stimulate creativity through their own discussions amongst themselves. Sewing, a discipline which encompasses dressmaking and patchwork as well as crafts like quilting and embroidery is a craft which requires rather more tuition, as there are many techniques to get to grips with before a student can begin let alone successfully complete an item for example a garment or a bedcover. I usually teach sewing to beginners as a 12 hour course covering 6 weekly lessons, this is very successful with student numbers up to about 4 or 5, I find that many student lack confidence in their abilities and my job as their sewing tutor is as much about persuading them that they can sew as it is about teaching them techniques. There are after all very many good books written about the techniques and craft of the different sewing disciplines but what most student lack is the vision to see that they are able to follow the instructions given in the good books. Teaching in a small group of say 4 student gives me the ability to spend a good proportion of the 2 hour lesson with each student, so they feel they've had good instruction, have learned something and importantly have got good value for their class fees. It also allows me to properly asses how each is doing so that I can ensure they all progress. In this way all my students so far have finished a course able to undertake basic dressmaking and patchwork tasks. Some students are very lacking in self confidence and these benefit for more intense tuition, this is afforded by smaller classes, say 2 students or even one to one tuition, some of my students who've had this individual tuition have improved in their dressmaking skills but also in their life skills as their increased confidence in sewing has meant they are happier and more confident in everyday life. I also take a great pride in helping these student to get on with their sewing and being happier people for it, a win, win situation all around. The other end of the spectrum is a sewing bee type class I'm hoping to start in the Spring, this will be an open class, available to all skill levels to attend when able, it should run fortnightly in Coleford when the weather improves, we'll see how it goes. In the meantime if you'd like to know more about my dressmaking, patchwork or rag-rugging tuition please contact me at carolinesfashionrevives@gmail.com or on 01594 861286 Line Repairs – New Rules Planned By Ofcom
Domestic line and broadband customers have been known to have to wait for repairs to faults on their telephone lines or the installation of a new line. Now Ofcom has stated that it is looking to introduce new rules to speed up the time that customers wait for such repairs or installations. The aim of the new rules is to set new minimum times for maintenance of network and installation by Open Reach (a part of BT) which it carries out on behalf of its competitors. The proposed time limits are for repairs to be carried out within two working days and an appointment for a new line installation within 12 working days. The proposal will also introduce a 12 month target period for Open Reach and if it fails to achieve the targets then it could face penalties which maybe in the way of fines. Beta Telecoms 01291 620189 http://www.betatelecoms.co.uk |
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