Client Perception is Everything: Avoid Bad Sales Collateral

Making a good impression is the top secret weapon of choice for salespeople. Sales collateral is a major part of a salesperson’s “good impression” toolkit.  Sales collateral include business card, brochure, promotion gift, sell sheet, and anything designed for a salesperson to increase his/her client base.

Have you ever looked at a business card, flyer, website or postcard and immediately said I would never do business with this company or you simply dismissed the company and said next? That is your client perception working.

Some companies use collateral that hurt sales. According to Alexander Hiam, author of Marketing For Dummies, in choosing your sales collateral, avoid the following:

Plastic: cheap plastic folders, clear plastic page protectors, or big, ugly plastic sample cases all say tacky and cheap to prospects. Use high-quality papers and favor cloth or leather cases and bindings, if at all possible.

Amateur designs and layouts: Sure, anyone can design sales and marketing materials in this era of high-quality laser printers, but most people shouldn’t. Amateurs often create poor-looking, confusing layouts. Their work just doesn’t have that special look that characterizes fine design —and the better prospects notice.

Errors: An amazing number of factual and spelling errors exist in sales collateral. Salespeople perpetually have to make corrections or explain errors in front of prospects, which is like saying, “Please use our business. Of course, we can’t even type a spec sheet accurately, but we can muddle through your order somehow.” Right.

Omissions: Most salespeople go on calls without all the collateral materials and information they need to do a great job. They don’t have a good brochure. Their business cards don’t have the current address or the company’s fax number and website. The price list is out of date. Their order form is a cheap pad bought at the local stationery store.

As you send your salespeople out in the field, arm them with good collateral. Help them to be sucessful so that your company can inturn be succesful as well.

6 Tips To Using Stock Photography

Are you a new business that is looking to create a website, brochure, or produce other forms of marketing materials? If you’re not, you should be and one important thing you will need is photos. Here are some tips.

1. Endless Choices and Professional Quality
   Amateur photos never look as nice as the professional ones. Consider red eyes on your models or problems with inconsistent focus. These are small errors that occur often, but with stock photos, you can have flawless images without the worry or the need to turn yourself into a photo editor. Stock photography offers anything you can imagine in a photograph with millions of choices. Many websites are available that offer stock photos. Photos.com, iStockphoto.com, Jupiter Images and Getty Images are just a few of the popular sites that are worth looking into. Logo Design Guru also offers free access to stock photos included in all of our web and brochure package options. It both makes the creative process easier and more convenient.
2. Image Overuse
   Stock photo sites do have a ton of variety, but keep in mind; if they are available to you, then they are available to everyone else as well. When using stock photos, you often run the risk of using repeats. Standing out is important, therefore if you see the same photo all the time, the power and effectiveness of the image is lost.
3. Does Your Stock Photo Look Staged?
   It’s true that people in general have very short attention spans and most of the time, plain text on a page is not going to keep someone’s interest. Photos nicely break up the space and draw more attention to the content, even if the image is something simple, such as a random, smiling person. These types of photos can work well, but beware of the obviously staged image. If an image is too generic, it is clear that it’s a stock photo. This staged look doesn’t appear natural and can give off a bad impression.
4. Avoiding Copyright Infringement
   Often people think that if an image appears on the web, it’s free for the taking. This is unfortunately not true at all. Similar to pieces of music or artwork, photographs are often copyrighted and snatching them up from someone else’s site is breaking the law and can have unpleasant consequences. Images from free sites may also be copyrighted and you may be using them unknowingly. Some photo companies use search software to track their images and can tell if you are using them illegally. Stock photography eliminates this fear. Once you purchase an image, you are purchasing the rights to use it as well. It does cost money, but it is an investment that is well worth it and is law abiding.
5. Model Release Required
   A great advantage of stock photo use is reducing the worry of model release. A model release is a signed form, which allows a photographer and the end user to have full permission to use a person’s likeness for marketing, advertising or artwork purposes. The law protects a person’s right to privacy, even when the person is in public eye. Most stock photo sites have taken care of this for you, so that once you purchase the photo, you have purchased that permission as well.
6. Costs for Stock Photo Options
   The option of stock photography is a great way of saving on marketing costs. Although hiring a photographer will give you more control over what you want, photographers can be very costly. Stock photos can vary in prices depending on how they are sold. Some sites offer monthly or yearly subscriptions and others can charge by individual photos or photo quality or size. Depending on how often your company requires photo use, you can play around with the options and settle on something that works best for you.

Contributor: Joe Witte

Why Brochures Still Matter in a Paperless World

In this increasingly paperless world, the majority of marketing collateral and business presentations consist of digital documents. From your latest PowerPoint masterpiece to a flashy interactive website, electronic media can be quick, easy, and visually stunning. There is no denying the advantages of electronic media.

However, due to these strengths it is likely your message will be forgotten. Your clients will want and need a permanent reminder of your message. Offer them the presence and physical cache of a slickly designed brochure.

1. A Brochure is Tangible
   Made only of simple paper or basic card stock, a brochure is a tangible object that your clients will hold on to and keep. This is especially important if you offer a service that is abstract or industry specific. A brochure will give you a prime opportunity to explain your services and will allow your client time to absorb the finer points of your proposition.
2. A Brochure is Impressive
   Traditionally the costs of designing and printing a brochure kept all but the biggest companies from producing a printed brochure. Fortunately, with the ease and efficiency of online design and printing, the cost has significantly fallen. Take advantage of this development, and present your small business as a juggernaut. Underscore to your clients that you know the value of professionally designed and printed collateral.
3. A Brochure is Simple
   With the alphabet soup of file formats (PDF, DOC, PPT, HTML) the last thing you want to do is confuse a potential client. Don’t force them to take a training course in computer science just to read your pitch, give them a prepared hard copy. Not only will your client’s appreciate this, but also your message will be clearer without the noise of unwanted technical questions.
4. A Brochure is Timeless
   Today’s cutting edge web presentation will be passé and outdated in a matter of months. Rapid shifts in technology can make your slick electronic collateral dated and obsolete overnight. Don’t waste time and money chasing the next big thing. Invest in a brochure, a time tested and proven medium.

A brochure with a classic design will stand the test of time. Easily portable, and simply stored, a brochure will always remain not only on someone’s desk but also in their mind.

Contributor: Dan Natale