Prove Your Professionalism and Be Remembered

Show your clients you mean business, whatever your line of work with an impressive sales toolkit, which showcases your products and services.

With 70% of us believing that mail gives a better impression of a company than email, it’s time to trust traditional methods of communication.

Whatever you’re selling, sell it well. Whether you’re an SME whipping up gluten-free cakes for local villagers or a multi-national serving financial clients, demonstrate your products and services professionally and you’ll win more clients.

Often, customers aren’t turned off by your products, but the tired, predictable ways you present them. So give it to them straight. Highlight the real value of your offering with a sales toolkit that showcases exactly what you do including all of your USPs and all of your contact details.

Boom. Then it’s right there on your customer’s desk with no excuse not to get in touch. 

Consider every element of your business, and tailor packages towards your target market, focusing on what will be relevant to them. 

Ensure you include:

• Business Card
• Covering Letter
• Brochure with overview of company
• Product and sales/data sheet
• Call to action – what do they need to do next

Also think about how is it going to be delivered, personally – great; post – consider size weight costs!

We’re open to requests if you need to WOW with off-the-wall impact chat to us! At The New Fat, we can help create sharp, professional sales toolkits for businesses of all sizes across all industries.  

The benefits of a polished sales toolkit

Ensures your branding is communicated consistently throughout, building your brand and giving your sales team a focus with clear messaging.

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression but it’s not all about you. Even in the finest suit, if how you’re presenting your business is not up-to-scratch, how you present yourself is meaningless. Equip yourself with a sales toolkit from The New Fat and we’ll ensure your brand is represented in the most authentic, powerful way. 

Print isn’t dead - Embrace RIP (Really Interesting Print).

How many times have you ignored emails, simply because they sound like spam or didn’t suit your workload or even your mood on that day? Print isn’t dead; it just needs to be dynamic enough to stand out in a crowded space. It’s where The New Fat excel.

Leave your mark with something to be remembered by. With a tangible take-away, you can engage and generate response by:

• Creating brand unity and a unique brand story bespoke to your own business.

• Establish a connection by leaving your contact details. When someone’s telephone number or email address is right in front of you every day, there’s far more chance of getting in touch.

• Ensure longevity by giving them something real – in the digital age, a premium set of printed materials mean more than empty cyberspace comms. 

Read this months Case Study and find out about a Sales Toolkit we designed for Tilsatec.

Testimonials.
Don’t just take our word for it – here’s what a few of our impressed clients have to say about our work.

‘I know I can rely on swift service and honest and useful advice’ - Impact 108

‘Love your CAN DO attitude’ - The Rainforest Foundation UK

Save money on this months stationery offer, find out more here. Read this months Case Study and find out about a Sales Toolkit we designed for Tilsatec.

7 Factors to Consider When Designing Websites

Web design is not only creative, but includes much more – from copywriting and typography to layout and graphics, coming together to create an interface that not only looks good but, one that communicates to its audience and delivers a good user experience.

A successful website project is a big task. Everyone wants their project to be successful, but this doesn’t happen magically and needs a strong plan.

1. What are your goals?

First port of call before starting work on your web design is to have a clear understanding of your business goals, or your client’s goals. What are you trying to achieve with the new website or redesign? What is the main reason or purpose of the website? Speak to your client, your manager or ask yourself what they are.

What is the function of your website? Are you selling products or services, creating entertainment or delivering information? Ask why you want the redesign: are you looking to grow the number of registrations, decrease the bounce rate or maybe increase user participation like downloads? The function will predetermine your website design and platform. Goals are equally important if you are considering redesign. 

2. Identify your audience

Knowing your audience is fundamental in how your website will look, feel and function. There are several demographics to consider that will have some effect in the design of your website, e.g. age, gender and occupation. A gaming website for a younger audience requires a different design than that of an entrepreneur. Usability is extremely important for senior and less technical audiences where small detail factors like font size and navigation should be considered.

3. What is your brand image?

Many website designers get excited about using the latest trends without considering the image they should be conveying. Glossy buttons, gradients and reflective floors may work for some websites, but they may not be right for your brand.

A few basic things to consider are colour and how you want visitors to feel when they land on the website and what emotions you want to evoke. Your design should bring to life the personality and character of your brand. Your website will have a feel that makes an impression on your visitors. Think about what that impression should be.

4. Do you have the right team in place?

If your strategy and direction is clear and you have the right team on board for the project, then trust that they will deliver. Communication throughout the website design is important so check in regularly and give feedback, ask questions, but at the same time micromanaging them isn’t necessary if you have the trust. The team will take ownership in pride of the website too and will want it to be a success.

5. Don’t expect a lot for a little

Website budgets are like a seesaw with factors like function, technicalities and design needing careful balance along with the work effort to build a successful website. The application of a budget should be common sense, but all too commonly not. Best practice is to base the budget for the website design on the value you expect to create and budget accordingly.

6. Quality takes time

Give your team sufficient time in regards to budget and timeline of your website project so they are able to complete the job the way you want it. Rushing generally means important and small steps are skipped and the website may not be the best it can be. Rushing means things will be overlooked.

7. Measure

Once your website has been designed, created and deployed, it’s time to measure your success. This is very important because until you test how well your design performs, you won’t know how effective it is in fulfilling your goals e.g. if your aim is to increase the registration numbers to your service, keep tally and measure it and see if your changes are making the impact you wanted. If your goal is to increase subscribers to your blog, check your RSS stats. If it is better user participation take note of comments or forum posts, etc.

Another way to measure the success of your new website is to ask people for their feedback. They will delight in telling you what they think and it's a great way to check you are on the right path, however, be mindful of every suggestion made – they may not be practical or relevant. Look out for regular patterns and common issues – deal with those.

Measuring website analytics is a science unto itself and beyond the scope of this article, but the important thing is you have some method of measuring in place keeping you on track of your key objectives.

Successful website projects aren’t an accident and are a result of a strong process, clear direction, a great team and much grafting and hard work.

Make the most of our latest offer and save £100 on e-shot design. Click here to view our website portfolio or e-shot portfolio.

My Useful Guide: Corporate Guidelines

When you are unsure how to use something, you normally refer to the user manual to help get better clarity. It’s no different with your branding and corporate identity. Corporate guidelines are your user manual to help set consistent communication across your business and to your customers.

Creating your corporate image is not enough. For any identity to be successful, it needs to be well managed too. Brand guidelines are designed to initiate and show employees the correct way to set and apply the brand communication across a variety of platforms and applications in a way that best supports and protects the brand.

A strong protected brand continues to build and grow value for your business. Corporate guidelines help achieve this by ensuring all employees, partners and external marketing agencies use the brand elements in the correct way at the right times. The guidelines provide the information and tools, setting the tone and standards for using brand names, logos, typefaces and other design elements in advertising (online and offline), brochures and flyers, POS, reports, newsletters, promotional items like exhibition stands, gifts, packaging and online communications.

A 2005 study by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton and Wolff Olin’s found that brand-guided companies outperform their competitors, with results that improve profitability. ⁽¹⁾

Consistency

A key factor for maintaining a good and successful corporate image is consistency - especially important for any business with multiple locations. Consistency breeds recall and recognition, supporting your brand. Guidelines give your company control over the way other people use your brand so that its visual appearance to customers and clients is always the same.

Can you imagine the confusion for your customers if the signage on the outside of your building in one city was different compared to another? Is your stationery in the one office different to an office the other side of the country? Are you consistent or lax? Hopefully, your brand and corporate communication are the same at all your branches and offices. If not, you need to consider designing and creating a set of guidelines and apply and manage them so your brand is expressed and exposed consistently.

What should you include in your corporate guidelines:

• Brand values and ethos

• Logo

• Positioning, size and clear space

• Do’s and Don’ts

• Colour palette

• Typography

If applicable:

• Images

• Copywriting and tone

• Layouts

• Templates for stationery

• Web specifications

• Co-branding

• Advertising

• Signage

To Summarise

Corporate guidelines function at two levels: firstly, they explain why your employees and distributors and agencies should use the brand to achieve business objectives and goals. Secondly, they provide practical instructions on how to use communication fundamentals consistently across the business.

TOP TIP: Don’t assume that everyone has adhered to your corporate guidelines - it is important that you have an in-house process where final artwork is checked and approved.

References:

(1) http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/media/uploads/Managing_Brands_for_Value_Creation.pdf