Tish Tash Toys celebrates it's first birthday July 2006 and it's quite a celebration after a challenging year getting the company started! The mail order and internet based business was set up by husband and wife team Sharon and Dan Pavey and is named after their first child Natasha. 'Tish Tash' is one of her nicknames and at four years old, she is already taking a keen interest in the family concern.
"Natasha was literally running the stall at the recent fete held at Bishopstone, Sussex where we exhibited our toys" Sharon adds "She's very ethical though and wouldn't even sell a toy costing one pound to fellow little person until she had sent them off to check with their parents that it was ok to spend their pocket money!".
Tishtashtoys.com is a fantastically easy to use website, beautifully designed by Dan Pavey. Although based in Sussex, UK, the Pavey's find that they are building up a worldwide customer base with several hotspots for sales such as the Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland and USA. Dan thinks that "some customers must not have access to a local toy shop or perhaps local shops do not have the lovely wooden toys we stock."
The next stage for Tish Tash Toys is a new catalogue and agents across the UK to distribute it to parents, playgroups, nurseries etc. Sharon explains "The plan is to have agents working on a commission basis either just circulating catalogues or holding toy parties. We currently hold toy parties in the evenings or coffee mornings with parents and playgroups across Sussex and find they are extremely successful.
Everyone tells us that they love our toys which we hand pick from companies such as Pintoy, Orange Tree Toys, Manhattan Toy and The Toy Workshop." Sharon adds "I think that our success so far is due to us having two children under five ourselves. We are in touch with their needs and they tell us what they enjoy and don't enjoy so much. Many stock decisions have been made depending on what our children think of the toys. They may not realise it yet but they are an integral part of our family business being a success!"
Tishtashtoys.com offers discounts to childminders and nurseries and is looking for agents to sell their toys across the UK. Contact Sharon at info@tishtashtoys.com


The Preamble
In sales, as in any other industry, we have a foundation to lay in order to perform the rest of the necessary tasks. The preamble is part of laying the foundation for the "10 Point Sales Sequence".
The preamble is vital, it is where "I close" the deal, I am selling me and if the potential client doesn't "buy" me, then more than likely they will not but my product. "How do you preamble"? You ask. This will depend a lot on which market that you are working in but a general way is to find out their interests and get them to do most of the talking while you do most of the listening.
Business people love to talk about their business, so ask some questions related to the business and what exactly it is that they do. Your major problem now is getting them to shut up, but you listen to every word and store the information as it is all very powerful ammunition for later.
Do listen to what they have to say it may not be important to you but, it is important to them, and you did ask. You may also find that it may be very helpful to you later on in your presentation as you recall things that are important to them.
Don't forget the body language as it is very important at this stage nice friendly smile, open and relaxed manner, but be careful not to slouch as this will make you appear disinterested.
Use your hands when you are speaking, palms upward, but don't wave your arms about, or point with your finger at the customer.
Please remember that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. So when you look the part of professional as well as acting the part, you will become the part!
To find out more on my 10 Point Sales Sequence you would need to attend one of my work shops but in the mean time click on to www.thehandsontrainingsystem.com. And get my FREE 5 part training program along with a FREE CD. If you follow this training on what not to do it will help you to be very successful
Yours in Success
Leslie Johnston
The Hands on Trainer


The preamble is vital, it is where "I close" the deal, I am selling me and if the potential client doesn't "buy" me, then more than likely they will not but my product. "How do you preamble"? You ask. This will depend a lot on which market that you are working in but a general way is to find out their interests and get them to do most of the talking while you do most of the listening.
Business people love to talk about their business, so ask some questions related to the business and what exactly it is that they do. Your major problem now is getting them to shut up, but you listen to every word and store the information as it is all very powerful ammunition for later.
Do listen to what they have to say it may not be important to you but, it is important to them, and you did ask. You may also find that it may be very helpful to you later on in your presentation as you recall things that are important to them.
Don't forget the body language as it is very important at this stage nice friendly smile, open and relaxed manner, but be careful not to slouch as this will make you appear disinterested.
Use your hands when you are speaking, palms upward, but don't wave your arms about, or point with your finger at the customer.
Please remember that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. So when you look the part of professional as well as acting the part, you will become the part!
To find out more on my 10 Point Sales Sequence you would need to attend one of my work shops but in the mean time click on to www.thehandsontrainingsystem.com. And get my FREE 5 part training program along with a FREE CD. If you follow this training on what not to do it will help you to be very successful
Yours in Success
Leslie Johnston
The Hands on Trainer


Brand Development, You Should Improve Your Branding
It might be almost blasphemous to talk about letting go of old brand equity and laying an old brand to rest, but there are times when change is needed. Reformulating and re-designing, or even overhauling an old brand can be a wise decision. If sales are flat and show no sign of growth, you'd better stop kidding yourself and hire a branding consultant.
Brands are an extremely vital element in your product and corporate value proposition. With communications so pervasive today, corporate branding and product branding are becoming fused as one. Corporate brands are increasingly powering product brands and product sales and that pose some substantial risk, as those sub brands can't be as easily re-positioned when they falter.
Brand Culture
As time passes, culture changes, new technologies and new competing brands appear and they change the perception of value that is available in a marketplace. Old sales propositions won't fly in the face of 20 or more other competitors offering the same benefits and features. With cultural, economic, technology changes, and corporate changes, your aging brand image and brand equity may end up doing more harm than good. Your former branding successes could leave your brand and company stuck in the past.
A good example of age related branding problem is in the realm of computer products. I recently bought a new laptop computer because my old one just couldn't keep up with my multitasking and other work needs. At the retail store, there were computers with Intel or AMD microprocessors to choose from. The key matter wasn't really microprocessor speed or capability. In the past, the Intel logo would have compelled me to buy only computers with their processors regardless of what other features were available in the computer. The Intel brand was clearly in a class by itself. Not this time. This AMD powered computer was low priced and had the memory I required along with other features such as a 100 Gb hard drive, high-resolution screen, numerous ports and adapters and a long lasting battery. It only weighs a couple of pounds and the AMD logo seemed to look better too. It says: AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology. 64 bits and mobile compatibility. Why doesn't Intel mention that on the computer they have their products in?
Laptops are hot and prices are falling. My 15-year-old nephew just bought his first laptop on eBay, since they are cheaper and more accessible. So the whole "culture" of shopping and purchasing computers has changed.
Everyone is buying high-resolution screens and I was eager to ease my eyestrain from long hours of viewing everyday. The huge hard drive was great and the laptop looks good too. The old Intel brand just didn't have the effect it once did, and their competitor, AMD, just sold one of their processors. The laptop is working great and now Intel processors don't dictate which computer I'll buy.
To me, the Intel logo and brand brings back memories of old Pentium computers. This is worsened by the fact that today's processors have changed and they are running at lower speeds. This confuses the speed benefit that Intel had its brand positioned around. The technology change in viewing screens, memory, and processor use in the computer has moved the market away from where Intel was positioned. The Intel corporate brand powers sales of their new processors, but they can call those new products anything they want and it won't effective my decision.
What Intel needs to do now, is to associate its processors with the features and benefits that consumers and B2B buyers make decisions upon. Computer branding is not all about the processors anymore and the old Intel brand image is deeply tied to old technology. Even the brand name Pentium is associated with the computer culture of the 90's.
Here's the issue: the old Intel brand was so successful in 90's that it's trapped Intel in a time warp. Intel needs new branding that ties it to the future, not the past. To get there, they are probably going to have to jettison the past.
Google is a good example of modern branding and a brand that is not tied solely to web search engines. The brand is now diversified strategically to associate it with everything people are doing on the web. Google is omnipresent, and its brand image is solely in its relevance to the current Internet culture. Google won't let its common search engine role diminish its branding power.
Hanging onto to Old Branding Concepts
There's a lot of reason why brand managers, CEO's, and marketing managers resist rethinking their branding and redeveloping their brands. Most often, they don't want to leave their comfort zone and risk a short-term blip in profit. Some don't want to make an investment in hiring a branding consultant to look at the options. Branding experts examine a brand to discover its current problems, the culture of the marketplace, and to determine if a new brand identity or brand positioning would be fruitful. Some old brands are doomed, but most are just stale and not in tune with the target market. A branding consultant can provide crucial insight into market perception, brand value building, brand loyalty development, and to discover the brand value proposition that could breathe new life into your brands.
From product branding, to corporate branding to extending brands on the Internet, Brand Identity Guru provides corporate clients with brand audits, brand design, brand web design, and search engine marketing services.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007