PRODUCT & SALES INFORMATION

All cultures from around the world use traditional foods and ingredients to maintain a healthy and balanced diet. Often though, as populations move and migrate, the foods they are familiar with become unavailable or too expensive to buy, so diets become mixed given new ideas and foods.

Ethnic groups often don’t realise that their new favourite foods are making their diets less healthy. This can lead to life threatening health problems, and could explain why minorities are prone to specific dietary related illnesses. For example 31% of Pakistani men have angina compared with 13% of men in the general population, and Bangladeshi women report high levels of stroke (12%) compared with 5% in the general population, The Health & Social Care Information Centre (2006).

To help tackle this trend, East Leeds Health For All (ELHFA) a charity based in Lincoln Green, Leeds, developed five ‘Multicultural Food Map Visual Teaching Aids’ (VTAs) which offer education on how to maintain a balanced diet.

As you may know from reading the rest of my blog, I am working alongside ELHFA in an effort to nationally distribute the VTAs through a joint venture, social enterprise business.

Our VTA products are bi-lingual and use cultural foods traditionally eaten by the 5 ethnic groups:

• Ethiopian
• Pakistani
• Sudanese
• Somalian
• Bangladeshi

The VTAs are A2 sized flip charts, which use a bespoke hardwearing folder design. They are easy to dismantle / store, presented in full colour and offer teacher notes on the reverse of each page. Take a look at some example pictures below:

VTA in flip chart position:


VTA folding design:


The teacher assistance on the reverse of each folding page offers guidance on how to deliver the material, and provide holistic diet information to the audience. There are plenty of interesting hints and tips which engage delegates and promote participation.

The VTAs are based around the Food Standards Agency ‘Eatwell Plate’ and cover:

• The 5 main food groups and suggested daily intake

• Types of vegetables & how to cook them

• Bread, rice, pasta types and how to cook them

• Types of meat, fish, beans & eggs and how to cook them

• Milk & dairy foods, intake information and children guidance

• Food types high in fat or sugar, intake guidelines

As these products are educational aids we are looking to sell them to local authorities, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), universities, community centres and immigration centres.

If you know anyone who works in these types of organisations, please forward them a link to my blog!

The VTA’s are built to last and comprise a unique design which is easy to transport and store, meaning they can be used anywhere. Given this unique design they are competitively priced at £99, although for multiple purchases a 15% discount is offered.

If you would like to purchase a VTA, or are interested in finding out more (without obligation) then please email me. Click the envelope (top left), or the link below:

Email me

For general enquiries you could always post a comment at the bottom of the page.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Rowan

Post 7: Professional Selling Process

Everyone knows that to do business and succeed it all about the sales and closing deals, but how do you turn yourself from being a novice to someone "that could sell ice to the eskimos"?

Some people are born salespeople, but there are some simple steps to follow to drastically improve the chances of closing deals if you are not one of the lucky few natural sellers.

During the first workshop it was discussed that start-up business should initially sell to people they know, and make use of effective networking to source further prospects. Steve explained that generating sales is much like a funnel whereby many initial sales calls must be made in order to close a far smaller number. This is best demonstrated in the picture below:


Steve also explained that there is a framework used when selling professionally which can be seen below:


Step 1 of the Professional Selling Process - Prospecting
The first step of the professional sales process is prospecting. This involves compiling a list of potential purchasers for your product or service who are most likely to be interested. As the VTAs I am looking to sell target a very specific niche market, a focus must be paid to the quality of records as opposed to the quantity, the main sources of prospecting data include:

• Telephone directories
• Trade listings
• Chamber of Commerce
• Purchased information from a market researchers
• Business reports

To get people thinking about where to find prospecting data the following table was provided by Steve and has been completed for my company, The Ethnic Diet Association:


Unsurprisingly the largest source of prospecting data comes from the internet given the various telephone directories and government information websites available on-line. From the workshop I also came to realise how easy it is to purchase data from places such as the Chamber of Commerce and local councils. Steve mentioned that these records can cost as little as 18p each, and are usually up to date and accurate.

Although the sources mentioned have provided many names and numbers, I think only a very small fraction of these will actually be fit for purpose. I’m sure I’ll find out when I give them a call!

Initial Sales Contact

To offer the best chance of a sale with each new prospect a number of key points were discussed during the first workshop, these include:

1) Getting noticed by being prepared – use referrals and name drop to build instant credibility with a new prospect, or gather as much useful information as possible about each prospect before making the call as this will help to build rapport.

2) Send a mailer out to prospects before the first conversation - to get your company lodged in their mind.

3) Send a second mailer to remind people of your product/service – obviously this must be different to the first.

4) Telephone the prospect – using a warm, friendly and professional tone.
Steve suggested that steps 2, 3, and 4 should all be completed within approximately 1 week so as the information is fresh within a prospects mind upon the first conversation.

Although a lot of time is spent researching using this approach ultimately reducing the number of sales calls, it means that each call is well researched and professional which should have a positive impact on the number of sales, and the impression prospects are left with after the conversation.

Creating a Mailer

American studies have found that on average people are exposed to over 3000 adverts per day, www.ucsusa.org/publications/guide.ch1.html.

In order to make a mailer stand out Steve discussed some key principles for the design:

Addressing the correspondence personally – as people are always more likely to read on.

Grab their attention – use a picture or statement to gain intrigue to promote further reading.

Provide useful information – show you understand their issues to gain credibility

Prove you are worth talking to – demonstrate in the mailer that you are able to assist their business.

Ask them to take action steps – such as looking at your website or sending an email of their requirements.

Based on the information and approach suggested in the workshop a mailer for The Ethnic Diet Association can be seen below:



Preparing a Calling Script

Based on the professional sales approach discussed earlier, having sent prospects a couple of sales letters it is now time to begin cold calling. It’s no secret that this is one of the jobs people dislike, but it is a highly cost effective way of generating business.

Steve touched on the fact that 80% of the response gained from people you are calling is based on how you come across, as opposed to what you say. A happy, positive and professional approach will always get a better response than one where the salesperson sounds bored, nervous and amateur. It was suggested that practicing using a Dictaphone is an excellent way of perfecting tone and pitch.

As salespeople will tell you, selling is a numbers game and every “no” is another step towards getting a “yes”. Remember that good sales people don't take negative responses personally and are thick skinned to rejection.

The following was suggested as a good general plan for sales calls:

• Introduce yourself and your business
• Provide some form of context
• Ask them an open question
• Talk through their issues
• Ask for an appointment
• Thank them and end the call

To implement this strategy for The Ethnic Diet Association, the following calling script has been prepared:


I know that some of you will be scared by the thought of 'cold calling', but if you follow these steps you can make yourself as prepared as possible. I suppose I'm lucky in that talking to strangers has never phased me, and I've had experience of cold calling like this before, but this workshop still allowed me to add structure and utilise the calls effectively to gain my objectives.

For people that are worried think about it this way, the worse that can happen is they say no, or are rude - it may get you down a bit at first but remember that you are only a voice to them and you may never have to speak to them again. Don't take it personally, they're the ones that are missing out on your fantastic product!

For people who are struggling with making cold calls it is suggested that they:

• Allocate time to make the calls, and stick to this allocation

• Ignore negative responses, unless they have a good point which could help improve the later calls.

• Prepare for each call thoroughly which should build confidence

• If negative responses are still prominent then improve the prospecting list and calling script.

Another common problem with cold calling is overcoming objections, discussed in my next post.

Recommended Links:

• Writing sales letters – www.justsell.com
• Direct Selling Association – www.dsa.org.uk
• Institute of Direct Marketing - www.theidm.co.uk

Post 4: My Company Proposition

The second exercise was to further define our business ideas and our company's ‘Proposition’.

As a start-up you need to clearly define your ‘offering’ (product), know your target audience and create Unique Selling Points (USPs). The main issues to review here are:

• What are you selling
• Who are you selling it to
• How are you positioning products
• What are your USPs

While defining the proposition for The Ethnic Diet Association results were as follows:



Steve explained that for many products breaking the proposition down into sub-propositions can make them easier to sell, so in the above example you notice different features of the VTAs have been highlighted as appealing to different areas of the target audience. Steve also suggested that understanding your company's proposition in relation to the competition is important in order to be create product differentiation, this is achieved by:

- Knowing who does the same thing

- Being aware of directly competing products

- Understanding what features competitors sell on, and therefore what we can
learn from them

- Analysing the market to spot potential niche opportunities

This understanding of your company's proposition and what you do better than competitors defines a company’s 'Core Competencies', Prahalad & Hamel (1990). If you are able to capitalise on these then 'Competitive Advantage', Porter (1980) can be achieved which in turn means a robust strategy for survival can be designed and implemented.


From defining The Ethnic Diet Associations proposition it has been identified that the product is unique from competitors given the bespoke folder/display stand design, bi-lingual format and use of traditional foods eaten by the ethnic target audiences. This exercise also shows that the target audience are in fact the organisations/individuals who educate ethnic populations as opposed to the actual end users.


It was explained that understanding your company's proposition is essential before embarking on the professional selling process, details of this can be found in my next post.

Speak soon, Rowan

Post 3: Defining My Company - Elevator Pitch

Hi there and welcome to my posting on the key information taken from the first workshop provided by Leeds Metropolitan University and presented by Steve from VFM business advisers. Today were going to look at defining my/your business and creating an 'Elevator Pitch'.


Approximately 15 delegates took part, and arrived to a fine spread provided by Nicola and Katie at the incubator (many thanks guys!). The group’s first exercise was to present a 15 second ‘Elevator Pitch’ used when networking and as a method of being able to maintain focus and direction by presenting our business ideas as concisely as possible.


There were various pitches going round the table from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) through to Recruitment Companies and even a mystery shopping consultancy specialising in restaurants and bars. Many found explaining their idea concisely was difficult, which was a telling sign of how developed different ideas were at this stage. It was noticeable that of the circa 15 companies present all but one were in business to business, and service industries.


In terms of my pitch I found it difficult to decide which of my many varied ideas I should present to the audience, I was still really unsure, and hoped that this session would give me some answers. Eventually I opted to use an idea for a firm supplying safety equipment to a niche market which I named ‘Glass Mountain’. My pitch went like this:




“At Glass Mountain we provide vertical access and safety equipment to the commercial sector. Unlike many competitors all products are produced in the UK and gold plate UK PPE traceability legislation through electronic tagging. Please take my card and drop me a line for more details on our product range or prices.”


Although I thought it explained what the company does quite well, feedback from the group suggested that the actual product of the business remained unclear. In a ‘lightbulb moment’ I realised that Glass Mountain wasn’t for me, it just didn’t get me excited like a new business should do.


Since the first workshop I have found direction in distributing a Visual Teaching Aid (VTA) which promotes healthy eating for ethnic communities – The Ethnic Diet Association. My revised Elevator Pitch is:



"The Ethnic Diet Association is a joint venture, social enterprise business which manufactures and distributes VTA products focussed on improving dietary education for the growing number of ethnic communities in the UK. We have unique bi-lingual products catering specifically for 5 ethnic groups which offer basic dietary advice evolving the information from the Food Standard Agencies’ Eatwell plate. Please take my card and drop me a line for more details on our product range or prices".


I would recommend writing an Elevator Pitch to anyone looking to open a business as this exercise ultimately helped me to realise I had the wrong idea, and then helped me to refine my new idea into something anyone can understand. Why not try writing one for yourself using the same format e.g. company name, context of offering, things that make you unique, and closing the pitch to gain action, good luck!

I'll post again soon, Rowan

Recommended Links:

• Public speaking – www.speechtips.com

• Elevator Pitches – www.businessknowhow.com

AND

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article556584.ece