usp magazine may 12
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USP MagazineTRANSCRIPT
MAY 2012USP
SAY OMM…Bryan Revell from OMM Group moves from signs to supplies
LIVE ITThe latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on
PITCH INVADERS Products for the perfect sales pitch
CONTENTSTHE EDITOR’S LETTER
Welcome to the May edition of USP Magazine. Here’s hoping you’re having an inspiring
start to the new financial year, and, by the time you read this, the rain clouds have
cleared up and the hosepipe ban has found its solution (not likely on both counts).
In this issue, we speak to a salesperson who is not afraid to be outside his
comfort zone. In our High Rollers section, we interview Bryan Revell of OMM Group,
a dealer well known for its targeting of vertical markets. A year ago, this skilled
salesperson was in the business of selling signs – and pretty much signs only – but
thanks to Spicers’s new sales academy, he’s right up to speed with the office industry.
If he can learn that quickly about office supplies, the lot of you can learn a thing or
two about signs, I think.
Here’s wishing you a lovely month of May. Please get in touch with any news
stories or updates on [email protected]. Enjoy!
USP magazine is published by...Intelligent Media Solutions | Suite 223 | Business Design Centre | 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QHtel: 0207 288 6833 | fax: 0207 288 6834 | email: [email protected] | web: www.uspmagazine.com
Follow USP on Twitter at Twitter.com/uspmagazinePrinted in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk
JULIA DENNISON
MANAGING EDITORJULIA DENNISON | [email protected]
EDITORBILLY TAYLOR | [email protected]
REPORTERGEORGE CAREY | [email protected]
PUBLISHERVICKI BALOCH | [email protected]
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER – MEDIA SOLUTIONSMATTHEW MOORE | [email protected]
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE – MEDIA SOLUTIONSKRYSTLE DAVIS | [email protected]
DESIGNERSARAH CHIVERS | [email protected]
DESIGNER / PRODUCTIONPETER HOPE-PARRY | [email protected]
CIRCULATIONS MANAGERNATALIA JOHNSTON | [email protected]
USP
Editor
NEWS03 PITCH INVADERSThe latest news and products to help you deliver that perfect sales pitch
HIGH ROLLERS04 SAY OMM…Bryan Revell from OMM Group moves from signs to supplies
LIVE IT06 HOW TO SPEND ITThe latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on
04
PITCH INVADERSAll the products and developments you need to deliver the perfect sales pitch
COMPETITION ExaClair Limited has launched a major new campaign
offering end users the opportunity to win one of five Eurostar breaks, to
further assist dealers and retailers in marketing and selling the high
quality Exactive range of files, folders and cases from Exacompta.
“In a highly competitive market, we are committed to raising
awareness around our brands, differentiating our products and helping
dealers to achieve maximum sales,” says James Mead, Sales and
Marketing Director, ExaClair.
The closing date of the prize draw is 31 July 2012. Marketing
materials for dealers to use via mailer campaigns are available to
support the promotion.
EXACLAIR: EUROSTAR COMPETITION
STABILO WINS REDDOT DESIGN AWARD 2012
PRODUCT The New Stabilo SMARTball has been awarded the Reddot
design award for its superior design quality. A total of 4,515 products
were chasing the coveted Reddot – the quality seal for aesthetic designs
and sustainable trends. The SMARTball won over a panel of 30 judges to
receive the Reddot seal of approval.
Stabilo’s new SMARTball pen isn’t called ‘smart’ for nothing. Sleek
and sophisticated, the SMARTball is an ergonomic ballpoint pen with left
& right handed versions that has an integrated touch-screen stylus, for
touch-screen technology.
Perfect to type, write, slide, navigate, sketch and play, the SMARTball
stylus works on all devices with touch-
screen displays (including Smartphones,
iPhones and iPads).
Already proving successful in the retail
channel, the SMARTball is fast becoming
one of STABILO’s best sellers and rightly so.
With all these truly unique features, the
SMARTball is a real innovation in bridging
the gap between the analogue and digital
world.
NEWS Pentel (Stationery) Ltd is celebrating 20 years at the company’s
South Marston site, near Swindon, and a third of the company’s staff have
worked for Pentel for over 20 years.
Swindon was chosen as the ideal location, due to its proximity to
excellent transport networks and distribution hubs. Twenty years on Pentel
is still trading successfully from its South Marston home, which is the
company’s only site in the UK.
Some of Pentel’s most iconic products still remain world-beaters many
years after their initial introduction. The N50 permanent marker was the
world’s first fibre tip marker and is used in factories, warehouses and
offices around the globe. This year N50 celebrates its 50th anniversary and
is still one of the world’s favourite Pentel products for marking on many
surfaces, thanks to its strong, robust bonded fibre tip and aluminium barrel.
The green barrelled R50 Ball Pentel was the world’s first roller ball pen and
forty years on is still popular in offices, schools and homes.
New products that are making their mark include the EnerGel range,
which has ultra quick drying
liquid gel ink that writes
smoothly and evenly, without
leaving messy smudging on
hands.
As Pentel looks to the
future 2012 promises exciting
activity later in the year, with
plans to be unveiled soon.
PENTEL CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN SWINDON
DEALERS SALES RISE WITH NEW HP TONERS
PRODUCT Dealers are winning business and converting customers to
the new high margin range of remanufactured HP colour compatible
toners from Media Sciences by Katun®. Katun is so confident of their
quality they are offering free samples and a dealer cash incentive
scheme. “The sample program is a great tool. We have converted many
customers simply by sending them a free toner to try, I’d recommend
any dealer to utilise this.” Steve Symons, Director, Whitecrest & Hurleys.
If you are a dealer who has not signed up yet don’t miss out on earning
higher margins and incentivising your sales teams. Call Richard Betts
07738 642507 or Mark Brown 07780 833190
SALES ACADEMY INTERVIEW
USP MAY 2012
04
ROOKIE’S FORTUNEBRYAN REVELL, sales manager at the OMM Group, moved into office products with a bang, landing £6,500 for his first order. He outs it down to a solid train-ing from Spicers’s New Talent Academy. JULIA DENNISON speaks to him about his promising future
A recent Dealer Support news story spoke of
the success of New Talent Academy (NTA),
a Spicers/P1 Training and Development
collaboration, by citing one recent graduate’s
delight at landing £6,500 on his first OP order
days after finishing the course. This speedy
learner was none other than Bryan Revell, a
salesperson at the OMM Group who recently
moved from working in graphics and vinyl to
office supplies and was sent on the scheme in
a bid to get him clued up. Clued up he quickly
became.
SIGN OF THE TIMESRevell’s background is in signs. Prior to his
role at OMM, which is based in Stratford in
East London, he was working for a signage
company selling everything from reception,
safety and store-front signs to etching on
glass to obscure the view of a boardroom and
installing anti-graffiti film.
When that firm went bust a year and a
half ago, his good friend Jason Richardson,
a director at OMM, approached him. Revell
remembers the conversation: “He said to me:
‘Bryan, I know you’re a good salesman in
your industry, do you think that you could
bring your industry over to us and we’ll
financially support you selling your vinyl if
you can bring in clients.’” It was a deal and
Revell agreed to do his best at doing what he
did best – selling signs. So from January 2011,
he did just that – and he did it well.
The directors at OMM were so impressed
with Revell’s results that from January this
year, they convinced him to branch out and
sell the company’s core product – stationery.
In a bid to help him learn about the office
products industry, they put him on the NTA
course, which they hoped would bring him
swiftly up to speed. “It was a new challenge
and I was up for it,” he remembers.
GET WITH THE PROGRAMMEThe course was 12 weeks from start to
“If you go in with a hard-sell, they’ll just
think you’re in there to make a quick buck”
USP
SALES ACADEMY INTERVIEW 05
MAY 2012
ROOKIE’S FORTUNEgraduation day, with 16 classroom days
of tuition, which took place at Spicers’
headquarters in Sawston. “It was pretty
much a backwards and forwards exercise,”
comments Revell. “Go back to your company
one week, come back to training etc.” As part
of it, he went out cold-calling in Cambridge
town centre; toured the Spicers warehouse
and spoke to sales reps from major office
product manufacturers. “It was very hands-
on,” he recalls, speaking positively about his
experience as a whole. He puts much of the
programme’s success down to leader Gary
Naphtali: “I think that man is worth his weight
in gold for what he does,” says Revell. “When
I was told I was going to go on the course, I
was really not looking forward to it – I thought
it would be like going back to school. But
with the way Gary teaches and the hands-on
experience, he makes you so relaxed and you
learn without even realising you’re learning.”
This paid off when Revell secured his
first office product order for £6,500 with a
brand new account. “Since then, I’ve just been
opening up new account after new account,”
he adds. “Slowly, slowly – I’m not saying
I’m taking over the world. I’m getting new
accounts with little orders but if I can make
them blossom, then I’ll be doing fine.”
He continues to sell his signage products,
but he’s not pushing that side of things, as he
continues to concentrate on office products.
“The core of this business is stationery, so I
think they would like me to concentrate on
that,” he says. “The vinyl and graphics is a
bonus now.”
A FUTURE IN OFFICE PRODUCTSRevell continues to learn and continues to be
impressed by the breadth of products in office
supplies. “When people ask me what I do for
a living and I say I sell stationery, it sounds so
boring, but if they were to see what you do, it
is quite something else – [we sell everything]
from print management to the OEM side of
things; absolutely everything,” he comments.
“We even sell knives and forks if we have to
– and furniture, you can plan someone’s office
for them. It’s quite good. I really do enjoy it.”
Alongside going after new business,
his current project is to go through a list
of customers on OEM’s database that have
become inactive and get them to buy again.
He’s had some success with this, but admits it
has been a challenge. His plan is to stick with
it: “It’s about trying to get that friendly face
in,” he says, “because I really do believe that
if you get on with somebody and you make
that connection with them, then you have a lot
more chance of success.”
He feels it’s important to build that trust
with them first: “If you go in at a hard-sell,
they’ll just think you’re in there to make
a quick buck and leave,” he continues. “I
would rather go in there with a softly-softly
approach: ‘How are you? Here’s my catalogue.
This is who I am. I’m round the corner;
I’m going to be here forever. I’m here for
anything you ever need.’ Then, keep going
back in to remind them you’re still there.
Hopefully they take a bite of that cherry and
I make some success of it that way. That’s my
approach.” Time will tell, but judging from his
achievements in this early stage – including
securing housing development firm Barratt
Homes as a customer – it seems like a good
approach to have.
USP
LIVE IT The best way to spend your free time and money
06
MAY 2012
BROWN GOLDAn enterprising nine-year-old from LA has built himself a college education out of cardboard. Caine Monroy built an arcade entirely out of cardboard at the back of his dad’s auto parts shop, and charged $2 for entry. Unfortunately a dearth of foot traffic meant that no one came, until a local filmmaker stumbled across his creation. He encouraged all of his friends to come along and made a film about it. The film went viral and someone suggested that internet users could donate to a college fund for the mini entrepreneur. To date they’ve raised $168,000.
GOOD
BAD
THE DICTATORThis is arguably Sasha Baron Cohen’s most outrageous character to date and that’s really saying something. After lampooning the fashion world with Bruno; gangster rappers with Ali G; and, well, I suppose Kazakhstan with Borat, he’s now deriding the despots with The Dictator. The story follows an exiled dictator who is trying to save his country from the scourge of democracy. Although this film is far more staged than his earlier offerings, there is still spontaneity to be enjoyed as he takes to the streets of America with his camel-endowed entourage. Cohen delivers a wonderfully deranged performance in the movie that the poster claims is a romantic comedy based on the best-selling novel Zabibah and The King by Saddam Hussein. Released 16 May
RIZE OF THE PHOENIX
FILM
MUSIC
ONE CABLE GADGET
BIT OF BANTER
Comedy-rock-duo Tenacious D have returned after a six-year hiatus, and Jack Black and Kyle Gass are back on form after the band’s disappointing film debut in The Pick of Destiny. Once again Dave Grohl takes a seat at the drums and delivers as much raw-energy and joy on the skins as Black does with his vocals. There’s the usual mix of air guitar inducing rock-out tunes and comedy skits, as well as a song chronicling the pair’s time out since their last album: ‘The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage’. If you like your rock with a few laughs along the way, then look no further. Released 15 May
Designed to be the one cable that you will ever need, this handy device features an Apple, MiniUSB and MicroUSB connectors, which are designed to charge anything that uses any of these adapters. With more and more devices using MicroUSB charging adapters, the One Cable is also designed to be future proof so you won’t need to constantly buy new cables to keep pace with your burgeoning stock of gadgets. If Dealer Support readers enter the code ONECABLE in the rebate section at the checkout, delivery up to £2.99 is free.
DON’T BE YOURSELFResearch carried out by the University of Greenwich has found that being yourself at work could damage your career. The study of 533 people found that those who opened up to their partners at home were likely to be happier, but the same approach was found to be counterproductive in the work place. I’m not sure that research was necessary to realise that it’s not always a good idea for employees to tell their bosses what they think of them.
That doesn’tlook anything
like me
SAVE THE DATE!
Channel Challenge
17-28 September 2012
The challengeCycle one or more of the stages from Aberdeen to Brighton (each stage is around 85 miles) The charityBreakthrough Breast Cancer, dedicated to saving lives by finding the causes of breast cancer, improving de-tection, diagnosis, treatment and services
The dates 17-28 September
How to enterPlease go to www.dealersupport.co.uk/channelchal-lenge2012 to find out more about the challenge, dates, cycle routes, setting up a donation page, logistics and cycle support, then email [email protected] with your choice of date/s.
With the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games coming up this summer, this year is undeniably a year of sporting achievement. If you’re feeling left out of the fun, here’s your chance to do something good for yourself and others.
Dealer Support magazine is part-nering with Antalis McNaughton and Pioneer Paper to take on the Channel Challenge 2012, to get the office sup-plies industry on their bikes in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
Taking place from 17 to 28 Sep-tember, the goal of Channel Chal-lenge is to have 20 riders on each of the 10 stages of the relay. If every rider can raise around £100, with all the expected participants we will blow the £20,000 figure of last year.
ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?
FLIP H
ERE FOR Y
OUR USUAL
COPY OF