Whats your USP?

Do you have one, do you even no what one is? well its not the U.S. Mail service for a start. Your USP(unique selling point) is the unique thing that makes your product or service more valuable then any other. If you haven´t got one, then how can you sell your products and services? You could try and sell them by demoting your competitors, and spending your valuable sales time talking about other products available and why you should not buy them. But this will only exhaust your sales meeting, and maybe even highlight another product not even considered by your prospect. Professional sales is an art form in itself, and compiling the correct tools before you go to work is extremely important. If you don´t know why people should use your products or services, and can only base the reasons on why they shouldn´t use anyone else's is a pointless way to go about your business. Find your unique selling point, package it, and concentrate it in your meetings, you will definitely see your sales improve, and your customer will walk away knowing about your product, its uniqueness and why it is so valuable for them to be a part of.

Plain bad Business

Why is it in Tenerife when you want something, it always costs more, and you never get exactly what you want. Let's take Indian restaurants for example, if I order a Shami kebab, I expect a minced lamb sort of spicy burger, not a minced chicken kebab with spices. Is it me, or are lamb and chicken two totally different meats. And these places wonder why they are closing down, they offer poor menus and terrible service. Back in the days when Tenerife was the place to holiday, you could get away with this. If a man stood to complain at a restaurant table, another family would bustle him out of the way to nick it. Everyone was so full of sangria, they didn´t know a big mac from a Shami kebab, never mind what meat was in it. The walkways would be full of people hovering around like flies, from one stool to another, trying desperately to shed a few of their worthless Euro´s. The pound was trading at the top of the currency volcano, and the Euro was the place to shop. Tenerife and the Canary Islands even more so, cheap fags, cheap booze, and many cloth-less women hovering around in a cocktail blur. Unfortunately those days are gone, but us, the business owners are still here. So what can we learn from the Shami kebab, what can we do in this bottoming out period of reseccion to improve our sales?. Well it's not going to take a rocket scientist to work this out. Just take five minutes and write down all the things you hate about other businesses in Tenerife. What they don´t do for you,what they could do better, and what you aren't getting. These are the things that we should all be improving. Then I have a second question for you, what are you offering, that can save people money? In times of reseccion, people need to save, or need an excuse to buy. Giving people that excuse is what turns your marketing messages into cash. Let's take shopping for clothes as an instance. Everyone one loves to shop for clothes, but in times of reseccion, we need another reason. If I am offering two shirts for one, thats a real good reason to purchase. If I´m offering 50% sale on old stock, in my store, I´m giving you a reason to shop. These are the reasons people will buy, simply trying to sit it out, will see your stock slowly dwindle from the shelf, and cash flow to only cover the bills. Leaving you with no stock, no money and no business

.Coupons, discounts, two for one, sales, it goes on and on. There are many people out there ready to buy, you have just got to give them a reason.

Less Spending, More Coupons, This Holiday Season

Less Spending, More Coupons, This Holiday Season

According to a Harris Interactive survey for RetailMeNot.com, 45% of US online adults plan to spend less money on gifts this holiday season than last because of the state of the economy, while one in five plan to spend significantly less. 89% of online adults think coupons are a great way to save money, and 35% of those who will be spending less money on gifts this holiday season will use coupons, the study found.
Among the other shopping strategies for spending less money on holiday gifts, according to online adults who will be spending less money this holiday season:
2008 Holiday Shopping Strategies
Expectation % of Shoppers
Purchase fewer gifts 83%
Buy less expensive gifts 63
Shop at discount stores 44
Shop Online 37
Use coupons 35
Make gifts 22
Shop during Black Friday sales 19
Source: Harris Interactive, October 2008
According to the study, 80% will purchase fewer gifts this year by buying gifts for fewer people (46%), buying a smaller amount of gifts for the same number of people (43%), or making some gifts instead of purchasing them (22%). Additionally:
• Those who shop online are expecting to either to find better deals (32%) and/or to save money on gas (24%)
• 29% will shop early to avoid impulse buys
• 12% will wait until the last minute to get more discounts
Of the 83% of online adults who are willing to make online purchases, 71% say the most popular items are books followed by music and electronics
What Online Shoppers Are Planning to Buy
Purchase % of Shoppers
Books 71%
Music 62
Electronics 55
Clothing 51
Travel 50
Office supplies 39
Health & Beauty 34
Source: Harris Interactive, October 2008
85% of online shoppers use tools or websites to find good deals online. 56% of online shoppers use search engines to find bargains. In addition, they have found other ways to save:
Online Tools for Finding "Good Deals"
Tool % Shoppers Using
Price comparison websites 32%
Online coupon websites 25
Online advertisements 23
Bargain tracking websites 12
Shopping-themed social networks 5
Source: Harris Interactive, October 2008
Guy King, cofounder of online coupon website RetailMeNot.com, concludes that "... consumers are becoming more strategic in the way they look for deals... coupon use, in particular, is on the rise and more consumers are realizing tremendous savings... In addition... online tools are creating new channels for retailers to reach budget-conscious shoppers... "

Online Savings for your Business

In the economic crisis we are all presently facing, the opportunities to save money in your business are very scarce.

Business Pages Tenerife are always looking for ways we can help small businesses avoid extra charges on the services they need.

We are now developing our IT Department further, to cope with the demand for our Network Services and Internet Solutions.

As the credit crunch takes a firm grip on the high street, we are seeing many companies pull back from owning locals and offices, viewing the web as a more favourable place to promote and do business. The overheads are lower, and you are able to communicate with a much larger audience.

Getting your website and marketing right, can offer high, attractive returns.

We provide a wide range of network solutions to suite any existing online business and provide impartial advice to businesses who want to create a website and an online business presence.

We offer an unrivalled web hosting solution for new and existing websites, providing both Microsoft Windows Web Servers to support ASP/.NET based web sites and Linux Web Servers through the highest quality, fastest data centres in the world.

Our Web Hosting & Monthly Support packages start from only 60 euros per month. We have a 9-5 help desk with live support technicians who can remotely connect to your workstations and fix any problems that may have occurred.

We can extend our live support service to deal with your PC problems remotely, our qualified technicians are capable of fixing problems on all major operating systems.

We also have a competent SEO/SMO team that can take care of your promotion and visibility on the web. Finding your site is vitally important if you want it to work for you, and bring you sales.

Our Web Server Administrators will transfer your existing website to our web servers free of charge, and install your systems promptly and securely, with email and web support.

Our Web Designers and Computer Programmers can also update, enhance or rebuild your website to today’s specifications enabling the most up to date browser compatibility.

We can assist your company in all areas of Information & Communication Technology to save you time and money, please contact us directly or call our helpdesk on 902 881 061.

To appear professional on the web, you need the support of a professional company!

Business Pages Business Chambers Quartely Meeting

The Business pages Sales Director addressed the 2^nd Chamber meeting with the following speech.

“Good afternoon everybody, and welcome back to the second Business Chamber Network Meeting, brought to you by Business Pages Tenerife.

Today I would like to share with you, our survey results, from the last meeting. These are the answers that all of you provided us with.

84% enjoyed the meeting, the other 16% said it was OK!

93% of the attendees of the last meeting benefited in some way.

68% found the Presentations interesting, the other 72% had comments to help.

64% of attendees would like to become involved on a committee level.

So ok, what does this tell us?

In our assumption it tells us, that the creation of a business chamber and the opportunities that it brings, are important to us all.

The business chamber, with your support will grow, and continue to create new opportunities for everyone. But most importantly, we see the business chamber creating a voice for the individuals who are in business in Tenerife..

We all know a single business is hard to be heard, but lots of businesses, standing together is not. We have the power with a business chamber to stand up and be counted. To be heard when we need to be, and to tackle authorities and new rules and regulations that affect our futures. Along with this come the excellent benefits from networking, the creation of B2B opportunities, and importantly, meeting new friends and colleagues from the industries that surround us.

Creating a committee, for the Business Chamber, helps it to grow. It injects new ideas, and shows everyone involved, this isn’t just about Business Pages Tenerife, its about business in Tenerife. We want people to be heard, and creating a support group for that reason is the business chambers first objective.

The first committee representative has been chosen for that reason; he is our newly elected Business Consultant. Members, of this Business Chamber will benefit from his services whenever they need them, and his expertise in Spanish business will enable the chamber to flourish.

Mr Fernando Bernitez from Ferae Consulting SL

The second elected committee representative, will represent the Municipality of Adeje. Our goal is to finally cover all the municipalities in the south, and give people a direct point of call, as the chamber grows.

If you need help from the chamber, if you need information about the chamber and you live in the Adeje area, then you can now speak to Mr. William Divine, from Divine properties, Fanabe.

The third representative for the Business Chamber is Mr Graham Bennit from Kitchens by Design, Puerto Santiago.

He has been elected to represent the Los Gigantes area. He is a keen business man, with great drive and contribution for the growth, of the business chamber.

All of the new representative’s details will be on a fourth coming email,

I would like take this final opportunity to thank everyone for their attendance; we will continue to grow the chamber and its services, and together look forward to the next BPBC Meeting in October.”

The meeting was attended by 42 Businesses, and had also reached as far as Puerto del la Cruz, with local businesses showing major interest. The next Network meeting is scheduled for October, with details to follow.