RESOURCE CENTRE

The changes to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), made under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, now make it illegal for you to cold call any business as well as any individual who has registered as not wanting to receive unsolicited calls.

So what do you think about that? The reason you're in business is to make money, and the way you do that is by selling. And when times are hard and sales are slow what do you do?

You get on the phone and start selling.

Now a lot of people are saying these latest regulations are unfair and going too far by stopping legitimate small business owners from plying their trade, especially when telesales is their most effective sales technique. Which is a fair comment.

But just stop and think for a minute.

Do you really want to waste time selling to someone who has no interest in you or your products or services in the first place? Of course not. And have you been on the end of these nuisance calls yourself? We get them all the time and they're not just a pain in the jacksie, they take up many hours every week of someone's time to ever so patiently and politely tell them to stop bothering us.

No, we're not interested in advertising in magazines we've never heard of. No, we don't want to hear about the latest in digital print technology, and no, we haven't got a spare couple of million to invest in the latest nanotech "best kept secret" whose share price is about to skyrocket. If we actually wanted to buy or invest in something we'd go out and buy it or enquire about it. Then we're the hottest lead on the planet. Do they just not get it?

The problem with all of this boils down to one single thing.

The quality of your list.

You must, absolutely must, ensure your list only contains names and addresses of people who are genuinely interested in your service and will appreciate a call or a sales letter about it. If you buy in a list, make sure you get one that's got confirmed opt-ins from people who want to get marketed to. If your list vendor can't guarantee this, then give them the widest possible berth.

Better still, start building your own list of prospects, enquiries and referrals from your existing satisfied customers, and whenever you write to them or call them, always give them the option to be removed from your list.

The new TPS regulations are, in our opinion, a good thing for both the people who don't want to receive your calls and for the genuine marketer. Like we said earlier, why waste your time trying to sell to a business that's not interested? And if they're registered on the TPS then that's also going to help you.

Get wise and check out the new regulations now.

The Information Commissioner has published a useful guide to the changes to the TPS, downloadable here:
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/cms/DocumentUploads/Corporate%20Registration%20on%20TPS.pdf

And here's one of our factsheets that provides comprehensive guidance to the law on direct marketing:
A Guide to the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003

Last week, we discussed how you can get your customers to do your marketing for you by asking them to provide testimonials about how good your products and services are.

But once you've got a sheaf of positive comments from happy customers, you need to decide where you can place these in your marketing material so that they achieve the maximum effect.

Here are a few ideas for things you can do with customer testimonials:

1. Put copies of the best testimonials together in a booklet that you can distribute to prospects and new customers. It doesn't have to break the bank - a simple printed pamphlet entitled 'What People Are Saying...' should do the trick, and might have the twofold effect of encouraging prospects to buy from you and impressing new customers into writing their own testimonials.
2. Use them on your website. You should pepper the web pages on your business's site with testimonials, wherever you make a bold claim about your product, start your sales pitch, or attempt to convince visitors to click on the 'buy' button. You could also create a border for the right- or left-hand side of your web pages and fill this with testimonials, to provide visitors with a constant reminder of how great you are.
3. Include them in direct mailshots. When you're planning a major mail drop, it's not too difficult or too pricy to print an extra page jam-packed with testimonials. But if the testimonials are convincing enough, it might just make the difference between your mailshot going in the bin, and it generating new custom for your business.
4. Hold a competition with a prize for customers who send in the names and addresses of three friends who they know would benefit from your products or services. Then use this testimonial in a mailshot to the friends.
5. Do a jointly endorsed mailing. Choose one of your business acquaintances or associates who has customers that you want for your own. Get your associate to send a mailshot including a testimonial to your business to all their existing customers, and you can then do the same for their business with your own customers.

For hundreds more tips and tactics for boosting your sales using proven marketing strategies that work no matter what product or service you sell, check out our UK Small Business Marketing Bible

Legal tip

Handling customer complaints and refunds

It can be a minor annoyance or a major headache: it's five o'clock on a Friday afternoon and there's a customer on the phone complaining that when his order arrived it was already damaged. Or that it didn't work when it was plugged in. Or even that it didn't arrive at all.

Not only that, but he wants his money back.

The 1979 Sale of Goods Act says that when the general public buys your goods, they can expect them to be as you described them. They should be in good condition, and they should work. If they were already broken when they were despatched, customers can ask for a full refund or replacement, as long as they do so in reasonable time.

Sending goods by post or courier complicates things a little. The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 come into play if you are selling to consumers, as opposed to businesses. Firstly, customers have a seven-day "cooling-off" period, during which they can return or cancel the order for any reason they want. Secondly, if the goods get broken in transit, or go missing altogether, you're not required to replace or repair them. In the interest of good customer relations, however, many businesses offer to refund returned goods if the customer hasn't opened or used them.

Finally, flexibility may be the best policy: offering a refund today, even if the customer seems to be in the wrong, might lead to any amount of repeat business tomorrow.

The DTI has a good series of guides explaining consumer law for traders, available online at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/saleandsupply.htm

For hundreds more scenarios, frequently asked questions and tips on complying with and understanding the laws that apply to small businesses, check out our new service, the Red Tape BUSTER

IT tip

Getting Google to work for you

Google is currently indexing four-and-a-quarter billion web pages. In among all that, it's usually quite easy to find what you're looking for, but it's useful to know one or two tricks the search engine can perform beyond plain, everyday searches.

Type in "3 kilometres in miles", for example, press search, and Google will tell you that 3 kilometres equals 1.86 miles. Or try searching using the define term, such as "define:viral marketing", for about fifty definitions of viral marketing or any word or expression that's got you stumped. And have you ever wondered who has a link to your website? Try searching for your site name using "link:www.your-website-name.com", and you might be surprised.

You can get British news from http://news.google.co.uk and search for UK-only stationery supplies or any other business by searching for "stationery supplies site:.co.uk". Moving further afield, Google will also give you a rough (and sometimes hilarious) translation of any web page you're interested in, if it's in French, German, Italian, or Spanish. Just click on "translate this page" next to the link.

Looking for information on chihuahuas but hate pekinese? Try searching using the terms "+chihuahua -pekinese" to get only the results you want. For an image, type in chihuahua and click on "images" above the search box. And if you're only finding pages about Wales when you're searching for New South Wales, trying putting your search terms into inverted commas - "New South Wales" - for better results.

There's a good explanation of how to make Google work for you online here:
http://tjshome.com/searchit.php

Or try searching under "+google +tips +hints" for more.

Do you know what the term 'eurozone' refers to?

a) the 25 member states of the European Union (EU)
b) the 12 European countries that have adopted the euro as their currency
c) the 10 new accession countries that joined the EU on 1 May
d) the national teams involved in UEFA'S Euro 2004 football championship

Answer at the end of Bulletin.

Because of a rise in complaints, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has launched a new website to help consumers who encounter problems with goods or services they have bought in another EU country. Despite the site's consumer bias, it's packed full of useful material for businesses too, from tips on buying goods from abroad or from Internet auction sites to a jargon buster. Information is even available in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.

To have a look at the site, go to:
http://www.euroconsumer.org.uk

Urgent security flaw

Microsoft: not all bad

Worth a visit

We've told you before that after an amendment to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 comes into force on 1 October this year, all businesses of all sizes will have to make sure their premises and websites are accessible to disabled users and employees. This might mean practicalities like altering the size of your doorways, installing lifts and ramps, and making sure your web content can be read using speech software. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has produced some top practical tips on how to make sure you're in compliance with the new law before the looming deadline date.

To get the tips, click on:
http://www.drc-gb.org/open4all/service/tips.asp

The pesky subject of European VAT and how it might apply to you if you sell or provide products or services, either directly or through an agent, to European Union (EU) member states is explained in layman's terms on this site. It might be worth checking out even if you're only considering supplying goods and services abroad, as businesses that fail to meet their obligations can face heavy fines.

Check out:
http://www.e-fs.net/vatreg.html

One of the highest paid salespeople in America lets you into his trade secrets in this book, which is a great inspiration for anyone who's nervous or unsure of their sales techniques. It provides step-by-step guidelines on how to develop and hone your sales style, spirit and technique, and has chapters covering how to conquer fear and the golden rules for closing a sale. Check out: