Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 348

Thought for the week: "Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise." Anon

• Four tips for being first on your customers' minds
• Design-it-yourself dress shirts
• Hotel offers bed warming service
• Predictions for e-business in 2010
• Office relocation help for businesses
• Tips on re-engaging inactive subscribers
• Tender readiness checklist
• Win a Bluetooth mobile printer worth £199

Four tips for being first on your customers' minds

How can you make sure that when your customers need your product or service, they think of, call or visit you before any of your competitors?

You could bombard them with mailshots and, provided they've opted to receive them, telemarketing calls and e-mails - but then you run the risk of becoming more of a nuisance than the first port of call in a time of need.

There's a fine balance to strike between staying close to the top of your customers' minds and becoming over-familiar to them, so that you're more of a pest than a useful provider of a product or service.

Here are a few practical ideas for making sure you're top of the hit list for your customers.

1. Build the relationship in unusual ways. People are jaded with telesales calls and mailshots, so why not keep in touch with your customers in a more meaningful, personalised and memorable way? A Christmas or Easter card, or even an anniversary card for the date on which they bought from you last, are all impressive and little-used ways to communicate with customers.

2. Similarly, don't just stick with one marketing medium, such as a standard-template mailshot that you send out four times per year, or an e-mail campaign once a month. Vary the types of marketing materials you use, considering more visual, tactile options such as "handwritten"-style letters, brochures and postcards.

3. Make it easy to contact you. Stapling a business card to each invoice or receipt you issue means that diligent customers who keep records of previous transactions will know exactly where to look when they need your number again. Equally, a box of business cards by your till can encourage people to pick one up and stash it in their wallet, meaning it's close to hand when they need you next.

4. Don't be too afraid of letting customers know about other, or new, products and services that you offer. Remember that a customer who was satisfied when dealing with your business will usually be glad to hear from you, and try to use easy to visualise methods such as photographs and case studies to illustrate new offerings from your business.

The UK Small Business Marketing Bible contains hundreds more tips and tactics for boosting your sales using proven marketing strategies that work no matter what product or service you sell.

Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.

• Design-it-yourself dress shirts. There are dozens of design-it-yourself businesses aimed at women, and here's one for men. Blank Label is a US business idea that allows men to create and customise their own unique dress shirt using options provided on-screen.

• Hotel chain offers bed warming service. The Holiday Inn hotel chain has come up with a novel service for its guests - human bed warming. Employees are dressed in special suits and are then sent to warm the beds of their customers (before the customer goes to bed, obviously).

Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.

Do you know the difference between the meaning of the words 'discreet' and 'discrete'?

Which word means:

'careful not to offend or attract attention'

and which means:

'separate, distinct'?

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up?

1) From October 2010, pubs, clubs and bars must serve alcohol in smaller measures to consumers. From April this year, they are banned from offering which of the following to customers?

a) food that contains over 600 calories a portion
b) beer or ale with an alcohol content of 10% or more
c) all-you-can-drink promotions
d) sweets, crisps and nuts from vending machines

2) From 1 February 2010, retail businesses are required to provide take-back facilities to consumers if they sell which of the following products? 

a) mobile phones
b) batteries
c) glass bottles
d) kettles and toasters

3) The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has called on the Government to get rid of which of the following tax increases planned for 2011, which the BCC says could hamper efforts to steer the economy out of recession?

a) a 1% increase in employers' National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
b) an increase in small companies' corporation tax
c) a 50% income tax on higher earners
d) a further VAT increase

Answers at the end of the Bulletin.

Predictions for e-business in 2010

This article contains predictions for e-businesses in 2010, and identifies what the author thinks are emerging trends, technologies and ways of engaging consumers.

Office relocation help for businesses

This website provides advice for businesses on moving office, and has a budgeting tool and contact details for property agents and removal firms. There's also guidance on how long it takes to complete the different stages of moving office.

Tips on re-engaging inactive subscribers

If you send out e-mails or e-bulletins to customers or subscribers but have a poor sales or response rate, these top tips could help you to engage your subscribers again. The eight tips include asking customers what they want to see in their bulletin and sending tailored messages.

Tender readiness checklist

This checklist is an online set of questions that can help you identify any weaknesses in your tender before you submit it. There are six sections to complete, which ask you to look at technical capacity, insurance, finances, equal opportunities and health and safety.

You can get access to hundreds more online business tools, how-to articles, checklists, standard forms and business development resources by subscribing to the Better Business Adviser.

EnterQuest readers can also get a free copy of our sister publication, Better Business magazine. Simply send us your name and address to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com, putting 'EQ magazine offer' in the subject box.

Win a Bluetooth mobile printer worth £199

The PrintStik from mobile working solutions firm PlanOn is the world's smallest full-page printer that makes it possible for users to print documents anywhere, any time, while on the road.

PrintStik offers full-feature printing capabilities on a self-contained, 20-page roll of A4 paper. It is extremely user-friendly and syncs easily with a variety of devices including laptops, PDAs and smart phones, transferring images and documents clearly with no smudging or bleeding.

EnterQuest has teamed up with PlanOn to offer readers the chance to win this really useful device, worth £199.

To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, just answer the following question:

Q: What is the correct title of the regulations requiring businesses to provide take-back facilities for batteries?

a) Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009
b) Waste Batteries and Registration Regulations 2009

E-mail your answer, together with your name, address and daytime phone number, using 'PlanOn PrintStik competition' in the subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.

All entries must be received by 31 January. Full competition rules are available on request.

This book focuses on what the author calls four facets of entrepreneurial personality - The Dreamer, The Thinker, The Performer and The Leader, and is aimed at people who are thinking of setting up their own business but who are unsure of what to do next. Check out:

Awakening the Entrepreneur within: How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Companies, by Michael E. Gerber

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Good luck

The EnterQuest Team

This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate.