Why securing good value requires more than a bit of bargaining.

Has a customer ever asked you for a discount? And what was your reaction? What did it make you think?

In some sectors, this is a regular occurrence but, for most suppliers of goods or services, accurate pricing is a carefully considered part of their business strategy. And for a supplier faced with this request, what goes through their heads? Doesn’t the client value what we do? I’m already competitively priced and I don’t want to cut margins. What is the longer term impact on business with this client if we reduce prices now?

The daily demands of running a business can be all consuming. Often, long term goals become fuzzy. This is dangerous – there is a real risk of losing direction and then momentum. Keeping this in mind, business success depends, at least in part, on our making time to step back from the hurly-burly.
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To reach that point in the future, where delivery meets vision and mission, we need time to evaluate where we are now, how we’ve got here, and where we’re going. Making time is something that must be done consciously and deliberately. It needs to be a high quality, high value opportunity that helps keep the individual and the business on track.

Hands up if you’ve ever switched brands. I know I have. Often the reason is trivial. It might be price, it might be convenience, and it might be that there’s a better choice online.
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On the other hand, to which brands have you remained loyal? And – this is much more interesting – why? Understanding this, you can take action with your own business to build brand loyalty, maintaining and strengthening it to the point that it becomes so deeply embedded it is more like an animal instinct.

When times are tough it is tempting to fall back on old certainties. And there’s a lot of comfort to be found in good old common sense, as well as traditional values which seem true and absolute.
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Unsurprisingly, it’s never quite that simple.

… and treatments we can all apply now
 
Any trading business should be engaged in some form of marketing. And whatever the preferred strategy, to be effective, their actions should be planned, specific and well-targeted. Well, we would say this, wouldn’t we?!
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For many this will be familiar territory. Others may know what needs to be done but struggle to organise and execute. For some business owners, if truth be known, it’s all a bit hit and miss.

... and why video animation comes out on top.

We take video for granted. It’s everywhere, or so it seems. We only have to watch a child mesmerised by their favourite cartoon – or an adult transfixed by a video game or streamed movie - to recognise the power of the moving image. 

Does Covid-19 mean there’s no point in planning anymore?
 
An accountant, who’s a friend of a friend, was taken seriously ill at the start of the pandemic and has unfortunately spent months in intensive care.

That is sad enough for him and his family.  What is also upsetting for his grown-up children during this time is that his clients have been jumping up and down because their tax return and VAT deadlines are being missed.

Argos announced that it is stopping printing its catalogue. Over one billion have been produced since 1973, and it resides in more UK households than any book except the Bible.
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The comedian Bill Bailey called the Argos catalogue, “the laminated book of dreams,” laminated, he explained, to catch the tears of joy!