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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.

For any business confidentiality is of great importance. All organisations work hard to keep confidential and business critical documents safe from rivals and unwanted prying eyes.

Documents get stored securely, networks and computers are protected with endless firewalls and passwords and when employees begin a new role there will be a warning against sharing confidential information to unauthorised people.

But, there is one member of the team who we all rely on, the team member we never think of until we need them, the team member that is ordered to the far flung corner of the office as soon as it arrives on day one who could be responsible for some major information leakages if given the chance. The workhorse that is the photocopier is now a possible source of information leakage and many business owners are still unaware.

Many of the modern photocopiers all contain Hard Drives, similar to the ones in your computer. These drives are storing the information that you send to the photocopier and if you aren't careful this information can be accessed much like a discarded Hard Drive.

So what can you do to protect yourself and any important information from being seen by external parties, including your competitors?

Here are three great protection methods that you should consider -

Encryption
When data is sent to the photocopier it will come in an encrypted format, adding an extra level of protection. Once the information has been copied or printed the data remains encrypted so that when you decide to get rid of the photocopier no other person will find your sensitive information.

Network Authentication and Authorization
This is another good form of protection for your documents. You can restrict access to the hard drive of your copier by only allowing access to people with a special code or a pass that they swipe before accessing their documentation.

Hard Drive Removal
Before replacing or removing your photocopier you can get organisations to come in and securely destroy the contents of your photocopier's hard drive. You can then be safe in the knowledge that nobody else will have access to your sensitive information.

They're essential items in all offices, photocopiers are a vital piece of office equipment. When email emerged there were calls that the photocopier was dead, and that the paperless office was now going to emerge. As this premise has still not materialised the office photocopier is an important member of your team, quietly sitting there until called into action to print off an array of work documents.

Here is a breakdown of the essentials you need to remember when you need a new photocopier for your business.

Leasing Photocopiers - What to Consider?

This is an important question that you should ask right at the beginning of the decision making process, it's always useful to continually weigh up the advantages or disadvantages of both. But here at Approved Index we feel leasing is a great option for any small to medium sized businesses. So we have put together a guide to help you make that all important business decision.

Drawbacks of Photocopier Leasing

Many small and large companies prefer to lease photocopiers as opposed to paying a large up-front cost and purchasing a photocopier. Instead of owning the photocopier you are technically renting it from the photocopier supplier. You will get the photocopier itself, accessories, on-going repair and customer support all for a monthly payment that is negotiated between you and the supplier. This cost can vary greatly depending on what the lessee's overall requirements are.

Drawbacks in terms of leasing photocopiers for business are very few and far between, hence the popularity of using this method to acquire new photocopiers. The interest that will be accrued via the leasing process is one of the key considerations for businesses to take into account. But, if you were too purchase a photocopier outright using credit or payment plan then you would be paying interest as well. So it's important to check what interest payments you will have to make and weigh up the pros and cons.

The other key consideration to take into account is that you don't own the equipment, therefore selling the photocopier or damaging the machine can lead to problems. Selling the photocopier is out of the question, but where costs may be incurred is any type of damage to the machine that can be attributed to a lack of care whilst the machine has been in use. If the photocopier suppliers can attribute the damage to neglect, then you can be in line for large excess charge to cover the cost of repairs. This is a rare occurrence as generally when people are in the workplace they are respectful of the equipment they are using, unlike this employee.



Benefits of Photocopier Leasing

There are many benefits of leasing photocopiers especially for small to medium sized businesses; one of the best is the lack of need for a large upfront payment that can be massively inconvenient for smaller businesses, a good business photocopier can easily set a business back anything from £2,000 up-to £12,000 and more if you have even more bespoke requirements. You can instead get a top quality photocopier with all the add-ons that you require for a monthly payment, therefore the cash which you would have spent can be used on other business matters.

Leasing a photocopier also means that post purchase the photocopier will be well taken care of, in most leasing plans you will get on-going repairs and support from the company you leased the photocopier from, after the warranty has expired from a purchased photocopier you are left without any support, and repairs can be expensive. Photocopiers tend to get used very regularly, they do in our office that's for sure, so having the peace of mind that your leased photocopier has an on-going repair agreement gives you great peace of mind that when something does happen you will quickly get the help and support that you require.

Another great benefit of leasing your business photocopier is the fact that if you have a long term lease agreement in place, when the current photocopier begins to play up or becomes obsolete you can quickly, easily and more importantly affordably upgrade to a new model.


Benefits of Leasing Photocopiers

•    Easy to budget for
•    Various upgrade options are available
•    Tax efficient for businesses
•    Convenient and flexible monthly plans
•    Regular small payments, rather than large initial outlays

Email.... How did businesses survive without it? I know that I would be lost without having Outlook opened all day on my computer, and on my phone as well. Instant contact to friends, families and work colleagues is of huge importance to all of us, and something that we now expect.So how should we differentiate how we email friends and family, to that of emailing work colleagues, sales leads or prospective employees? Should there be a difference? Or is it just a matter of emailing in the same tone no matter who the recipient is?

In this post we will give you some of the key tips on how business people should format their own emails in a business environment. But firstly, here are some interesting facts related to email.

First Ever Email

This has a rather protracted history due to the development of early network computers, but the first ever networked email message is credited to a man called Ray Tomlinson. In 1971 this first "real" email was sent. Unfortunately the content of the first ever email has now been forgotten, but theories out there attest the content to be along the lines of "QWERTYUIOP". There was no call for email at the time, Ray just thought it would be a "neat idea".

The Most Common Email Password

In 2009, when the details of 10,000 Hotmail accounts were published the most popular password, and a worrying one at that was "123456". This was again reflected by the Gawker attack of 2010, when the "123456" password topped the list. I feel reassured knowing my password is a long protracted combination of numbers and letters.

How Many Emails Are Sent Per Day?

Research completed by the Radicati Group in 2010 extrapolated that on average around 294 billion emails are sent on a daily basis around the world. That is a lot of sharing of thoughts, information and no doubt links to YouTube videos of cats looking cute.

Business Email Etiquette

Okay, so we have looked through some fun facts, but let's explore what best practice standards you should endeavor to be applying to your emails when in the workplace environment.If you have any others to add then please comment. Thanks has to go to Judith Kallos for these excellent points regarding email etiquette, read her full post regarding 101 Email Etiquette Tips for more excellent pointers.

1 - Address your contact with the appropriate level of formality and make sure you spelled their name correctly.

2 - Spell check - emails with typos are simply not taken seriously.

3 - Be sure you are including all relevant details or information necessary to understand your request or point of view. Generalities can many times cause confusion and unnecessary back and fourths.

4 - Keep emails brief and to the point. Save long conversations for the old fashioned telephone.

5 - Think of your business email as though it was on your business letterhead and you'll never go wrong!

6 - If you cannot respond to an email promptly, at the very least email back confirming your receipt and when the sender can expect your response.

7 - Formality is in place as a courtesy and reflects respect. Assume the highest level of formality with new email contacts until the relationship dictates otherwise. Refrain from getting too informal too soon in your email communications.

8 - When replying to an email with multiple recipients noted in the To: or Cc: fields, remove the addresses of those who your reply does not apply to.

9 - When replying to emails always respond promptly and edit out unnecessary information from the post you are responding to.

10 - Never send anyone an email they need to unsubscribe from, when they didn't subscribe in the first place!

I'm sure there are businesses that have considered outsourcing the laborious task of completing payroll for the employees of their business.

It can be a time consuming and highly pressured process. Nobody wants to underpay or overpay an employee and then incur their wrath at a later date. Therefore outsourcing can be a great way to manage that all important payroll. It can be a way to alleviate pressured employees from completing tasks that are not business centric, and get them focused on tasks that earn the business money.

So in that vein, we have compiled an informative and useful FAQs and misconceptions guide related to business payroll on the Approved Index website.

View the full article here Business Payroll:FAQS and Common Misconceptions or read my brief summation of the key points identified in the article.

1 - Payroll companies take care of all pay related matters Payroll service providers not only take care of paying your employees the correct amount and on time, they also handle all the other outside elements of payroll from taxes, insurance, employee benefits, as well as the distribution of payslips and P45s. Using an outsourced payroll company, ensures that they will take care of everything for you.

2 - Business payroll can all be done online Another positive reason why you should outsource your business payroll, it can all be systematically filed, maintained and updated online. Giving you the opportunity to check your payroll online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Convenient and easy to use, what more could a business ask for?

3 - Business payroll is only suitable for businesses with 5 or more employees It would not be cost effective for the business owner or the payroll providers to handle payroll for less than five employees. If you want to outsource your business payroll then you do need to have a larger employee footprint, a minimum of 5 employees is the usual requirement.

So that's my wrap up of the points in the article I found useful. If you have any comments or suggestions for other FAQs then add your comments below. I enjoy a good debate.

Telephones have become an integral and in some respects generic piece of office equipment. I'm pretty sure a large proportion of people don't even notice their business telephone systems at work, or the complexity of some of these systems.
Business life motors along at a resolutely fast pace - so what happens when your business telephone system begins to falter, or you finally realise that your system is in desperate need of an upgrade? Here is a brief guide to some of the common misconceptions that people have when planning an upgrade or overhaul of their business telephone system.

View the full Business Telephone Systems: FAQs and Misconceptions article, or keep reading for a brief summation of the key misconceptions

1 - Business telephone systems are complicated! All new business systems can be complex at first, but the development and continued growth and profitability of your business relies on you embracing new technologies, even something as traditional as the telephone. These new systems will come with in-depth training and detailed reference guides, so any fears can be easily alleviated. The business benefits will then quickly become apparent, sales and customer services departments will be praising the day these new business telephone systems got implemented.

2 - We've been with our current providers a long time, changing will be a hassle! There are many benefits to be had by changing supplier; not only cost savings, but new providers could have a much better after sales package available. Keep your current provider on his/her toes, sometimes suggesting you may leave will encourage them to alter your current business telephone package.

3 - I run my own business, but only have one phone. Business telephone system suppliers can supply me right? Unfortunately not, these business telephone system suppliers can only supply to businesses with multiple phones and phone lines. If you need a new supplier or some new hardware then the best place to go is the high street. Develop the business and soon enough you should have the need for a larger scale business telephone system.