ApprovedIndex Blog

In our last blog post we laid out the case for not following the predictable path of cost-cutting and downsizing that most businesses fall prey to during a recession. We argued that in the current business climate large companies are mostly locked into a beggar thy neighbour type strategy of cost reduction (in fact where they are pursuing growth, they're doing it through takeovers and mergers) and that small businesses hold the key to recovery through their innovation and risk taking.

Over the next few posts we'll try to suggest some ways in which small businesses can take measured risks in order to reap large rewards. We'll point to some potential avenues of growth that, while they do involve some up front expense to exploit, could lead to capturing some of the markets that the large corporates are too cautious to go after and emerging from the downturn in a much stronger position than before.

The first such suggestion is ecommerce.

Taking your sales online not only opens up your catalogue of products and services to a much wider audience who are suddenly only a couple of mouse-clicks away but also allows you to exploit the accessibility and cost-efffectiveness of online marketing channels. With only a few hours research any business owner is able to start taking steps to promote their business online - be it through social media channels like Twitter and Facebook or by tweaking your website to make it appear higher in Google search results (a process known as Search Engine Optimistion). With an ecommerce website in place, any successful marketing activity will drive customers directly to your place of business and potentialy result in sales.

As well as facilitating this have-a-go approach to marketing using tools like Google analytics with your ecommerce website make it possible to track exactly where on the interent your website visitors are coming from, which search terms they're using to find your site and which ones are actually converting into sales  - allowing you to work out who your best customers are and tailor your marketing efforts for these kind of people.

Getting an ecommmerce website up and running won't be cheap - you're looking at an expenditure of at least £1k for a decent website. In straightened economic times and with bank finance so hard to get hold of we understand that that's no insignificant sum. But when you consider that online sales in 2011 topped £62bn while high-street spending dwindled, and that over the last year the number of small businesses trading exclusively online rose by 31%, you realise that getting your products and services online is a no-brainer.

Preaching to the converted?
Okay, we know we're writing a blog entry here and that if you've found our site because you're interested in the internet and business that you're probably trading online already. So, do we have a suggestion for you, the experienced e-commercant?

Yes: M-commerce.

Mobile phone users were the source of 2% of all ecommerce transactions in 2011 and with the proliferation of smartphones that figure is expected to more than treble over the next few years. With that in mind, ask yourself this: how mobile friendly is my ecommerce site and am I doing enough to embrace smartphone using customers?

If your site isn't optimised for use on a mobile device which has a small screen resolution, limited bandwidth capabilities and possibly no support for Flash you could already be missing out on a significant number of sales - especially if what you're selling is aimed at younger, more tech-savvy customers.

Whether you need to develop a mobile website or mobile app is a question to which you should give careful consideration (and you can get more advice here) but what's certain is that smartphones users are the future of ecommerce.

What is the connection between Russell Crowe and the difficulty that small businesses are experiencing getting bank loans? In this blog post I'm going to attempt to find it but before I do we first need to solve the question thrown up by this post's title: are we in fact in recession?

The official answer is, of course, no: so far we've only experienced one quarter of economic contraction (in Q4 2011) when two are required for a recession proper. In addition, news today of accelerating growth in the UK services sector (FT - registration required) is causing many economists to revise their previous forecasts and predict a revival of UK economic growth across the board.

These predictions however are but one voice among many and it seems that the consensus is not as optimistic. Long term, the picture doesn't seem rosy - especially for small businesses. As the double edged sword of inflation causes costs to rise and consumer spending power to diminish, small business confidence is sinking lower and lower.

In such an economic climate the temptation is to batten down the hatches, cut costs and try to ride out the storm. Of course, the effect of many businesses doing this at the same time only leads to worsening economic conditions, higher unemployment, less household spending and increased chances of going out of business. Is there any way for a small firm to break the cycle?

This is where Russell Crowe comes in.



Okay, not really Russell Crowe but one of the characters he's played in the movies: John Forbes Nash Jr - mathematician, troubled genius, subject of the film 'A Beautiful Mind' and potentially the provider of key insights in how to manage a small business during a time of economic contraction.

Nash's principal field of study was game theory a branch of mathematics that studies circumstances, in games or otherwise, where the success of one 'player' depends on the choices made by other 'players'. One of Nash's most famous contributions to this field was the concept of Nash Equilibrium.

In very simplistic terms, a Nash equilibrium is a situation in a game involving two or more players where, for any player, changing one's own strategy without the other players changing their strategies leads to no benefit. In other words, every player is locked into playing the same strategy in order to avoid their opponents gaining an advantage - regardless of whether the combined strategies are beneficial to all the players overall. In some instances of Nash equilibrium, all the players could increase their pay-offs if they could all agree on changing their strategies to some new solution of the game.

(Those who've seen the film 'A Beautiful Mind' should think back to the scene in the bar where Russel Crowe convinces his horny mathematician colleagues to all agree to ignore the unattainable blonde and instead concentrate their attentions on her less physically well endowed friends. This way all of them get a fair crack at going home with a date rather than following their natural proclivity to compete for (and get rebuffed by) the blonde thereby ruining their chances with the other girls ).

The most famous example of a Nash equilibrium is the Prisoners' Dilemma where two prisoners are questioned independently. If both stick to their story then neither can be prosecuted but if one 'defects' and implicates his partner he escapes prosecution while the other goes to jail. The outcome that is best for both players overall is to stick to their stories but the Nash equilibrium hass both players defecting, because each serves his own short term interests in doing so, and both players therefore being prosecuted.

So how do Nash equilibriums inform our perception of the current UK business climate?

Applying game theory principles to economics is nothing new - in fact, Nash was awarded a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994 - and I am a strict amateur so what follows should be taken with more than a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, I think there are insights to be gleaned.

Let us remember that the UK is no longer the workshop of the world as it was in the 19th Century. Manufacturing and exporting is no longer our main game. Economic health in this country depends to a large extent on consumer spending power. When that spending power is diminished, as has happened recently, large retailers and service companies take a hit to their revenues and start cutting costs. Which often means layoffs, leading to greater unemployment and further reduced spending on the high street. No individual large company can go against this trend as they can't spend money on growth when there is no market (i.e. employed consumers) to take their product. Large companies answer to their shareholders (read pension funds) who would see such risk taking as reckless and unwarranted. Each large company is locked into the strategy of downsize and cut costs until the economic situation somehow improves, even though the most profitable strategy all round would be for them all to spend more, pay more wages, raise consumer spending power and create a learger market for their goods and services.

So when does this cycle end? Inevitably when the reduced spending of large companies allows small businesses to start making inroads into the market space concede by those large firms. Almost always, small businesses lead the charge to recovery (FT).

So what lesson can a small business take from this possibly over-extended metaphor?

Clearly at the moment finance which allows small businesses to expand is incredibly hard to come by as the banks are trapped in a Nash equilibrium of their own (making). But there are opportunities out there for the small businesses who are brave enough to seek them out - small firms are not trapped in the same cost-cutting and employment slashing cycle as the publicly traded companies - and growth is possible.

I'm not advocating stupid risk taking or risk taking for its own sake but, of you've got a great idea and confidence in the abilities and resources of your company now could be the time to attempt to break into the ground being rapdily vacated by the large companies. And alternative funding sources like those mentioned in the last post could provide the capital you need to do so (but be wary of venture capital funds).

Who knows, maybe Russell Crowe can save the economy after all...

The first month of 2012 is almost at an end. The days are getting longer and, while temperatures aren't showing signs of rising just yet, it's getting slightly easier to believe that spring will one day arrive.

But will 2012 be a springtime for British businesses emerging from the long winter of recession, or is the economic climate set to get harsher still?

January's business news provides rather a mixed forecast:

1. HMRC showing welcome readiness to resolve small business tax disputes. (DOF Online)
HM Revenue and Customs has (rightly) come in for a bit of a barracking in recent years. Making secret tax deals with corporations like Vodafone and fouling up PAYE tax codes for 1.4m people in 2010 has significantly undermined confidence in the government department. They've also repeatedly been accused of victimising small businesses in order to increase the tax take and help cut the UK deficit. A move by HMRC to introduce a new Alternative Dispute Resolution service aimed at small to medium sized enterprises is welcome then, as outlined in this article from Director of Finance Online, though time will tell whether the new system makes it out of pilot and how much good it will do.

2. Small businesses are the 'real internet companies' says, er, Google(?!) (Telegraph)
In a rare display of humbleness for the search engine giant, Google exec Matt Brittin said at a conference in Brussels that online behemoths like Skype, eBay and Google istelf are not the 'real internet businesses' but that that title rests with SMEs, the 'unsung heroes of the economy'. It seems that Google doesn't mind a bit of competition after all - presumably as long as that competition isn't offering a product or service that Google itself offers and is too small to pose any kind of threat.

3. Small business lending still weakdespite project Merlin (Telegraph)
Project Merlin, an agreement between the Government and the top four banks (Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and HSBC) was finalised almost a year ago in February 2011. The terms were that those banks would lend a total of £190bn to business in 2011 including £76bn to small businesses. So how did they do? Not very well apparently. The banks not only missed those small business targets but also saw a drop in new business lending of 6.1% year-on-year in the three months to November. What are the prospects for this situation changing? Pretty bleak as even larger businesses are now reporting that bank credit is hard to get. As the banks continue getting their balance sheets in order to better cope with the Eurozone crisis small businesses are urged to try alternative sources of investment capital such as http://www.fundingcircle.com/ - a peer to peer social lending programme or http://www.crowdcube.com/ - a crowdfunding enterprise.

4. Auto enrolment pensions for small businesses delayed until 2017 (Guardian)
Those small business owners still grappling with this year's tax return (we hope you've remembered today's deadline) will be relieved to hear that the introduction of at least one administrative headache has been delayed for another 5 years. The auto enrolment scheme was set to bring up to 10m workers into pension schemes for the first time but the DWP have cited "exceptionally tough economic times" as reason for delaying the introduction of the programme - under which employees are automatically enrolled on their employers' pension schemes - until 1st April 2017 for companies with fewer than 30 staff.

5. Facebook to offer free ads to small businesses (Sky)
A generous month for internet giants indeed, January also saw Facebook announce a £4.2m giveaway of ad credits to businesses in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Individual buisnesses can get up to £83.16 each of free credits and there will also be free events run by Facebook and local Chambers of Commerce throughout the country explaining how to set up a business Facebook page and use it to engage customers. More sceptical heads might see this as a response to Google's recent introduction of brand pages on their new social network Google+ which, if used shrewdly by businesses, can have a similar effect to advertising.

Those of a less cynical bent are just happy to get free stuff.

You've had a great business idea, you've crunched some numbers and now it's time to invest both money and effort into your digital marketing strategy. Where do you start? We would recommend starting with a first rate business website design.

There are a multitude of options to consider when planning to design a website for your business, and if you're looking for some pointers then carry on reading.

We have compiled a list of do's and don'ts for business website design that all business owners should keep in mind when coming up with ideas. Stick to the pointers we've set out below and in no time you'll have Google quaking in their boots.

 

Business Website Design - Do's

Clear Layout - Ensure that all of the key parts of the website are clear and easy to see, use clear themes, backgrounds and fonts. These will all help the user be able to explore the website

Navigability - When users are exploring your site, make sure that all the key areas are clearly signposted, and that content is never more than three clicks away from the homepage

Content - Quality content is key, providing the user of your website with good information will encourage them to stay on your site, make purchases, recommend your website and in terms of SEO, they may also link to your site

Design - This area encapsulates layout and navigability, but it also includes some other key areas that need to be considered. The colours and images used must complement each other, they must also complement the brand overall.  

Purpose of the website - This is an important aspect to consider, and one that should be considered before anything else. Is it a brochure website, are you going to trade on the site, who are you aiming the website at? All of these and more are important questions you must ask yourself.

SEO Friendly Site Construction - You want to attract users to the website don't you?? If you do then optimising your website so its search engine friendly is absolutely essential.

New Windows - Open a new window when linking to an external site. This will allow your visitors to easily return to your site when they are finished visiting the linked site.

Internal Search Engines - DO consider adding a search engine to larger sites. This can help users find what they are looking for quicker, and makes it simpler for them

Business Website Design - Don'ts

Overload with Multimedia - Having some images, graphics and videos is a good technique to split up the static content on a website, but don't go overboard. Users may not want loads of flashy animations; remember users are still after quality content at the end of the day. Having large amounts of multimedia based content can also slow down your page loading speed, and some coding languages (the stuff users can't see that makes the animations work) cannot be read by search engines, so in some cases this content can have a negative effect on your social media campaign.

Don't over-do Pop-Ups - yes, it's important to get pertinent details from users, but it's much better to let them choose when they want to do that. Don't bombard the user with messages as soon as they land on one of your web pages, it's happened to all of us, and how many of us have found it convenient? Not many I guess? Let users interact with your website, and only then ask if they'd like to pass on their details, or, don't do it at all and just highlight the areas where users can sign up and let them do it themselves, in their own time.

Website Design - We wouldn't advise building your own website, unless in a past life you excelled in web design. A cheap and poorly built website will detract your online audience massively. Save some marketing spend and invest as much as you can in a quality lead website design process. It will pay dividends

Link Structure - Don't allow broken links on your site. This will hinder your user's experience of the website, and it will also negatively affect your SEO campaign. You can find free software on the internet that will check your links, and if any are broken you can get in there and get them fixed. Usability is key, so don't let this factor slip on your site.

Website Content and Copy - DON'T write copy that is focused on your company. Place emphasis on how buying your product or service will benefit your visitor. Use the word YOU (referring to your visitor) instead of WE or US.

Extras

Browser Check - Make sure you view and test your Web site in as many different browsers and browser versions as possible. Your website can appear differently in different browsers so make sure you check them, and amend to get the best format to suit as many browsers as possible.

Test, test and test again - Get impartial opinions from people you may know, let them test your site. See how they navigate around the site, what they think of the design and any other relevant feedback. This can all then be fed back to the designers, where it can then be refined. Getting the site ready and as good as it can be before launch is critical.

SEO for Beginners, the second part of this series of SEO tips is all about aligning your business and SEO strategies. This is an all important aspect that must be considered when beginning a concerted effort to improve the visibility of your website, via SEO methods.

Reflection time
Examine your business goals and what your website is currently doing or what it will do. Are these two areas aligned, signing off the same hymn sheet, are they focused like a laser, on the prize that you've set yourself?

If not then you need to have a think about how you can get these two areas aligned, or your strategy for the website will go off kilter and quickly.

Write down the areas that have become mis-aligned and delve, discuss & debate into how you can align these areas.

Getting these goals aligned will help you to define how and where you put your efforts when you employ your SEO strategy, not only for your website, but for your overall business strategy.

Get the building blocks of your website correct & the rest doesn't become easier, but it becomes a lot clearer.

Handling Opposition to your website and SEO strategy
Obviously, business needs can alter the decisions we want to make, so at times we can't always do what we would like to. This does not make your SEO strategy obsolete, it means you have to focus on other areas until the time or resources become available to optimise the parts of your site that have been put on the back burner.

Once you have shown your strategy to the rest of your team, or consorted with your peers if you're a one person business, then it's the time to choose which areas you want to focus on at this stage.

Focus on increasing traffic overall to the website, optimise specific pages on the website, and see how these perform.

But

The most important consideration to keep in mind is that you keep your expectations in check. SEO takes time, and limited changes will produce slower results, so enter with the mentality that you will be in for the long haul. Once you and your fellow employees notice that the site is bringing in more quality traffic then it will be time to garner more money for your SEO budget.


And finally,
So what to remember! Develop a document displaying your business goals and objectives overall.
Define what you want your website to do, or what it currently does. Are these areas aligned?
If you have mis-aligned areas, are there opportunities to focus these and bring them in line?
If not, prioritise on a smaller part of the site, and manage your expectations. List some SEO goals that will be attainable whilst you are limited by resources, time or management.

Next time we will discuss your future site visitors and what you want them to do when on your website.

Beginning an SEO strategy for your business can be a very daunting task. Where on earth do you begin??? The terminology is off-putting, the complex coding that can be involving is mind boggling and there is so much information out there where on earth do you begin?

When I first got involved with SEO those thoughts were flowing around my head on a rotational basis for most of the day. Getting ready in the morning for work involved minutes of head scratching regarding the use of H tags when writing content, and what kind of anchor text was best to link my internal pages.

This blind panic has abated over time, and I now feel comfortable with the terminology (well most of it), that I think it's about time to pass on some introductory pointers to webmasters who want to aid their sites and see their all important website gain some good grace with Google.

So over the upcoming weeks I will post some short articles relating to a particular area in SEO that are simple enough for webmasters with little experience to employ and gain those all important SERP rankings. Ill post my own advice with links to videos from industry professionals at Google and other leading bodies.

The first post is something all marketers, business owners or website babysitters can manage, and that is defining the reason for having your website, and having a well planned SEO strategy. Defining your aims, goals and objectives will help you to clarify how you want your website to operate and who it should be aiming for. A good strategy should be thought out before any of the nitty gritty keyword research or on/off page optimisation begins.

1 - Define your primary, secondary & any additional business goals.

2 - What does your website do?
    If you already have a website, then examine what it's doing at the moment. Is it selling products online? Is it a brochure website, which displays your products? Are you publishing research papers, discussing new innovations, business biographies?


If you don't have a website or your looking to re-develop go through and write down what you want your website to do in the future, thus giving yourself a clearly defined list of aims and objectives for your website. This will also help give you an idea of the complexity of the website and allow you to align this with your marketing budgets for the upcoming business year, and then help you to gain a realistic perspective of the functionality the site will be capable of displaying, in line with your current budget.

Next time we will discuss how to align what you have just found out with your overall business goals and how this can affect you're online and SEO strategy...

It was announced yesterday that Twitter was in line to make $140 million in revenue from its Advertising offering. That news got us thinking at Approved Index on why Twitter is proving to be beneficial for small businesses.
Twitter has had a huge impact on the world, it's announcing new stories as they break, it's helping uprisings in oppressed countries and with 350 million tweets sent every day, the 140 character limit blogging site appears to be slowing for nobody.
We then pulled together a top 10 list of reasons why your business should be using Twitter to enhance its social media, online and overall presence within its market and too its existing and potential customer base, be you a B2B or B2C organisation, this top 10 twitter tips list will really help you to grasp the power of the micro blogging phenomenon that is @Twitter.

1.    Learn about your industry/ get latest news
Start by following as many relevant journalists, industry leaders, colleagues, competitors and anyone else in your industry who posts thoughtful, insightful and importantly relevant information about your industry. By following these people you will be able to quickly find out about market developments and comment on them yourself. It's a great way to find inspiration for content that can go on your blog or website. This not only increases your overall web presence, but the search engines like it as you're updating your website on a regular basis.

2.    Keep an eye on competitors
We follow our competitors and regularly monitor their tweets, not only this we monitor their websites and a whole host of other material. Do this!!! Monitor your rivals so that you know what they are up to, it may provide inspiration, it will also help you to gain a competitive advantage. If your competitors aren't on Twitter, be brave and be the first, there are 200 million users on Twitter, some of these will be existing or prospective customers, connect with them first and get building that relationship.

3.    Build relationships with industry thought leaders
Contact industry leaders, journalists and any other relevant industry people. Not only will you learn about industry news, as mentioned above. You will begin to develop online and hopefully offline relationships with these people, who over time (this isn't a rush job) will consider your opinion and mention you for free, and who can beat free advertising. With social media, the emphasis is on trust and building communities, so getting a positive mention from a well respected figure can do wonders for your brand.

4.    Helps with business and sales development
This is a tactic that may take time, but one that can pay off if managed correctly. If your business prospects are online, many are and more are coming. This channel can pay dividends in way of business development. It's low cost and if you can convert prospects into customers then the ROI will be high. Monitor your industry; build relationships and over time those relationships should develop into business. They may not come quickly, but it'll be worth it in the end.

5.    It's an "extra" customer service channel
It shouldn't be your only customer service channel, but as an extra channel Twitter can be invaluable. Look at ASOS for a great example of fast, professional and friendly customer service using Twitter; this is what makes them one of the most trusted online brands. Your business doesn't have to go to that extent but making sure you respond to enquiries and complaints that arrive via Twitter will help build that human relationship for your brand. For some great examples on other companies using Twitter read this great article about companies excelling at using Twitter for customer care.

6.    Posting customer centric tweets will position you as a thought leader in your industry
When first starting out on twitter many businesses fall into the trap of ego-centric tweeting.  Don't be one of them.  Your potential customers are likely to be short on time and overloaded with information, so they're really not interested if your business has a new logo.  By tweeting genuinely useful information and providing real value in the form of advice, tips or breaking news, you can position yourself as a thought leader within your market, even if you're a small business.

7.    Increase traffic to your site by announcing new content, offers and products on Twitter
Give people a reason to visit your website when maybe they weren't thinking of it. Announce on Twitter when you have new content or an offer that is likely to attract them to your site. If it's compelling enough they may re-tweet your offer and that could potentially reach thousands of people. Twitter is a quick way to enter people's conscience, and it can happen at any time of the day with the increased usage of smartphones. You now have the chance to send out product messages to followers who have acknowledged they have an interest in your business and the products and services you offer. JUST REMEMBER!!! Never bombard people with sales messages, you're meant to be providing content and messages with value, you'll alienate the people you want to connect with if the Twitter stream is purely sales based.

8.    Find out what PEOPLE think about YOUR business
With the proliferation of social media you can now monitor when and in what context your brand name, products and organisation are mentioned. Using freely available tools such as HootSuite, Tweetdeck and analytics tools such as Crowdbooster, you can monitor what works and doesn't work on twitter, and what is being said about you. This can be an effective way to manage your reputation and respond to the comments about your business in real time.

9.    Increase brand loyalty by utilising Twitter and other social media platforms
By interacting with your existing and potential customers on Twitter, both when they have had positive or negative experiences, you are likely to gain trust and brand loyalty - as long as you deal with issues professionally. Brand loyalty will enable you to encourage discussion and share ideas on Twitter and other social media platforms, so it's important to be consistent in your approach to achieve this.   

10.    Ask Questions, Get Opinions, Get Feedback
What Twitter allows you to do is exactly the above: Ask Questions, Get Opinions & Get Feedback.
Twitter allows you the opportunity to ask a large number of people for their thoughts, product reviews and allows your business to open up communication channels. It's a simple thought but one that can provide important information from people that matter...the customer.

For a start-up or small business the prospect of hitting the phones can be pretty daunting. Often it's the business owner or MD that has to get the sales process rolling and if they've never done sales before or haven't sold anything for a long while it can take some time to get back in the groove. Alternatively, you may just have hired sales staff for the first time and need some solid advice to dispense. Either way, the following telesales tips should get you off on the right foot.

1. Find good data
Cold calling usually leads to low success rates. Try to find contact details for people who have previously enquired about or used a similar product or service to the one you're selling. Online lead generation is probably the best way to generate new opportunities - either through your own website or via a dedicated online lead generation company.

2. Use a good phone system
This might seem obvious but calling via Skype or a mobile phone does not inspire confidence or create an aura of professionalism. Make sure you're using a landline, especially for the first call, and that your calls don't cut out or crackle.

3. Write a script
Being prepared for the call is a large part of the job. Make sure you have a hook to get people interested, something about their company to let them know you've taken an interest and are not just calling from a list; if you can link it in with your product all the better. Get the benefits of your product/service in early, have a list of objections to probe for and suitable responses and a few alternative closing lines. At the end of a sale, sum up everything and let the buyer know when you'll next be in contact. The script should be flexible enough to allow you to improvise while helping you maintain a good call structure.

4. Track your progress
Record all the information you can about each call in a spreadsheet or database. This will help you assess the quality of the data you're using and the effect of changes to scripts, techniques etc. You'll also know which calls to follow up and when and the details of any new contacts.

5. Don't be discouraged
Telesales is hard and most of the time you won't get a sale. If you start to get dispirited go back and change something - find a new data source or revamp your script and then track how these changes translate into sales. The majority of the people you call will not want to buy anything but there are about 30% with whom the right telesales technique can make a real difference, so keep going until you find the right balance.

Telesales Quotes
Sometimes you need to draft in a little extra help in the form of a telesales company. Approved Telemarketing provides a free, no-obligation service for comparing leading telemarketing companies for sales or lead generation.

Just fill out one simple form to get quotes from 4 telemarketing companies today.

There aren't many people who when working don't get a craving for a hot drink, be it tea or coffee. The office hot drinks vending machine is a hub of activity throughout the day here at Approved Index. But how much do we know about the humble hot drinks vending machine, or vending machines in general.

Here are some interesting facts all about vending machines, and a great infographic all about office workers drinking habits when at work.

The first ever vending machine

A famed engineer Hero of Alexandria wrote about a vending machine that disposed of holy water in the first century. Users inserted a coin into the device; the weight of the coin lifted a flap that allowed the water to flow. Once the flap had lifted high enough the coin dropped off and the flap closed.

Industrial revolution, no it was a vending machine revolution

For vending machines to take prominence you need to fast forward to the industrial age. Both America and the UK had forms of vending machines available in the 1880s. In London you could insert coins into a postcard dispensing vending machine, and in America you could purchase chewing gum when on train platforms from vending machines.

Thank vending machines for Pinball

Games were integrated into American vending machines to attract custom; it is widely thought that the games that were put on these vending machines led to pinball machines being created.

Insure your life, use a vending machine!

From the early 1950's to the 1970's in American airports you could purchase life insurance from vending machines in airports. This was very profitable for a long period due to the low numbers of plane crashes, but it was later phased out due to regulatory changes.

Vending machine spotter, Japan is the place to go!

Japan has the largest number of vending machines per capita. In 1999, the estimated 5.6 million coin- and card-operated Japanese vending machines generated $53.28 billion in sales. You can buy standard items from these machines but it's also possible to find live lobster, potted plants, liquor and a whole variety of other more unmentionable items.

For more random vending machines then view this great blog post on 17 unusual vending machines.

Now we have some great hot drink vending machine suppliers at Approved Index, but the following infographic just shows how important hot drinks are for maintaining employee happiness, read it and be amazed at how much coffee and tea is consumed, you may well be surprised.

Produced by Consultant Services Group and Life In The Office Blog.

All businesses have a sales process, a way of getting your product out there into the market, but these processes differ greatly. From fruit 'n' veg salespeople shouting on the street, double glazing companies going door to door & here at Approved Index we pick up the phone for some quality conversation with prospective clients.

Different business sales techniques work for different markets, but there are some core business sales tips that should be kept in mind when trying to sell your product to web generated leads, whatever your market.

We have pulled together the 10 essential business sales tips that can help you close leads and focus on the best prospects first, thus speeding up the overall sales process.

1 - Fast response is essential. All businesses have competition, so don't rest on your laurels. Contact qualified leads quickly. A fast response shows you're keen to do business, and that you're ready to help the lead with their enquiry. Creating a good first impression can go a long way to securing a possible sale.

2 - Sell the benefit of the initial conversation. A well thought out and clear idea of what you are going to talk about is important. Being able to explain the benefits of your product or service in a succinct manner will help you turn this initial conversation to a finalised sale.

Keep in mind the following when making that initial phone call

• Who you are
• Who you're with (company name)
• What you sell (in very simple terms)
• How your prospect will benefit from your product or service
• A question to gauge interest of the prospect

3 - Recognise the importance of a well crafted email. Read our previous post on tips and techniques for business email etiquette for a full summary. But keep in mind formality, providing the correct information and making sure you email as soon as possible after the first phone conversation.

4 - Know your competition. Keeping abreast of what your competition is up to can be a great way to maintain competitive advantage. Know what they sell, prices and how they like to sell. Gather as much information as possible and it will prove beneficial when you're pitching your business to the same prospects.

5 - Identify which type of lead you are dealing with (hot, warm, beauty parade, infinite loop, black hole) and invest time and effort accordingly.

• Hot (you are talking to the decision maker, and they have approved budget)

• Warm (the prospect has a genuine need, and is looking at options)

• Beauty Parade (the prospect is merely comparing the market, and may decide to buy if prices are cheap enough.  Equally, they may have an existing supplier and simply be checking that they are getting a fair deal from them)

• Infinite Loop (you make contact, you send information, but then the requirement gets put on hold and remains there every time you re-contact, sometimes indefinitely.  You never get a no, but never a yes either)

• Black Holes (you are never able to speak, or you have one conversation and send information, but the prospect never takes your call or responds thereafter)

6 - Make sure you capture prospect data in your CRM. Even if you don't win the business on this occasion, keep the prospect on file and expand your contact list for future reference. A prospect may not want to make a purchase at present, but that might change in time.

7 - Highlight your successes to prospective clients. Make sure you mention previous successes and accreditation's that the business has accumulated previously. If prospective clients can see that you're officially recognised by governing bodies, and that you have completed work to a similar level in the past it will add an extra layer of trust between both parties. Gaining you that all important sale.

8 - Ask for feedback when you don't win - but also when you do. This helps to refine your sales technique, and what you learn could mean extra business, by adapting how you approach prospective leads in the future.

9 - Do your research on each prospect (what do they do, where are they based), but not at the expense of being the first to call them. Going in there with some knowledge shows that you are interested and that you have made the initial move in researching the company.

10 - Agree next steps with prospect."I will send you an email, and if you agree I'd like to call you back on Thursday to follow up". Mention the next steps to the prospect then you and they have a clear idea of what will be happening next, and there are also no unexpected calls or emails that haven't been pre-agreed. This will keep the sales process moving smoothly and in the right direction.