TREATMENT BUSINESS

So here it is, fellow advisors, planners, agents and reps: the most embarrassing situation I’ve ever experienced when networking (that I know of). Picture this: I’m traveling for business with Jackie, a top executive for a hotel chain with whom I was to co-facilitate a one-day training session with the management team of a hotel property. Now, Jackie and I have absolutely nothing in common. Zilch. She’s a bit older than I and reminds me of a college professor – she’s conservative in her manner, eloquent and articulate in her delivery, and highly intelligent. Now, this is all fine, but her personality is a bit aloof, so it’s not easy to connect with her.

We decided to break for lunch and found ourselves at a buffet; one of those places where everyone is holding Styrofoam plates, paper cups and plastic utensils. Lunch consisted of grilled chicken, steamed string beans and something orange I couldn’t identify. As Jackie spoke to me, I bit down on a string bean and (you guessed it!) released a stream of water that raced in her direction at warp speed. It’s important to note that while the water didn’t hit her directly in the face, it did, however, take an interesting trajectory and actually grazed the lens of her eye glasses, leaving a line of water that then dripped into her soda.

I tried to play it off as if nothing happened. As you might suspect, Jackie was on to me. She actually went cross-eyed for a moment as she looked at the line of water on her lens. This was now an uncomfortable moment, so my brilliant response was, “So what now?” That was all I could muster. Jackie actually smiled and asked if I would get her another soda, she would wipe her lens clean and we could call it even. Fair enough! The rest of the day went fine; in fact, it ended up being a great day, and a good relationship moving forward. Funny story, right?

Below are some fairly common awkward situations you may encounter in any number of networking scenarios and how you can overcome your anxiety to form effective networks.

How do I introduce myself?

This depends, in large part, on timing. Is the person you’d like to meet in the middle of a conversation? If so, excuse yourself politely and introduce yourself. On the other hand, if the individual appears to be heavily involved in conversation (transactional, personal or technical in nature), offer to return once they are finished speaking with one another. If you’re not interrupting anyone, then simply introduce yourself and ask some engaging questions – questions about them.

With every greeting, start with an assertive handshake: think of it on a scale of one to 10, with one being a floppy fish and 10 being nearly ripping someone’s arm out of its socket. In business situations, you want to shoot for a firm, but not too aggressive, handshake that falls around seven or eight on the scale.

Coffee mugs have become one of the hottest promotional products in the world. Business owners are looking for many effective strategies and advertising techniques to increase their profits. It is important to stay alive in this advertisement fields so that people will always remember about your products and services. This will help them to do constant business and keep increasing the client base. Advertising and marketing have become very expensive in the recent past and small business owners cannot afford any expensive ways.

The practice of giving promotional products is in practice for more than a century. Recipients will receive gifts at free of cost and they will be reminded about the company and their products whenever they see it. Gone were the days where people used to receive simple coffee mugs and travel mugs from these business promotions. With the advancement in technologies, there are latest equipments in the market which will allow you to have the best of design works on these mugs. People have started giving utmost importance to looks and appearances in the present day world. Hence, an attractive gift item will be welcomed by the recipients in all scenarios. Every individual would like to receive gift item at free of cost and it would be double bonanza if it comes in attractive design.

There are umpteen numbers of benefits with these wholesale mugs and one cannot overlook the business advantages. These are great products to kick start your advertising campaign. Promotional products have been targeted by the business owners as the best alternative for expensive forms of advertising in print and news media. These coffee mugs can be bought in the wholesale market that will help you to save some amount of money. The retailers are looking forward to expand their business and the customer base because of which there are favorable discounts being offered.

Wholesale mugs can be bought in bulk so as to save money. The dealers would like to give special discounts and offers when bought in bulk. This deal will help the business owner to have a long term relationship with the dealer. Promotional products are not something which can be given once in a while and stop it. This is a continuous process and business owners should make sure their clients and customers do not walk free after attending their meeting.

Promotional products are free giveaways so as to attract larger set of audience. A recent survey reveals that 52% of the customers bought their first product after receiving a free giveaway from the company. This speaks enormous about the benefits and potential of these products. Designing a custom logo and printing on these mugs will help people to remember about your services for a long time. This kind of marketing will bring long term clients and it will also help you to build better credibility with the clients. Brand loyalty and connectivity is improved under this scenario.

There are so many occasions when one requires the services of a catering company to provide the food and beverages for your guests – to celebrate the birth of a child, Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, special birthdays or anniversaries, engagements, marriages and even after a funeral, but how does one choose from the multitude of available companies offering this service?

It is a well-known fact that the food and drink offered at any event will make or break the atmosphere, so one needs to find a caterer who will be able to not only provide the sustenance, but all the other elements you need to make your celebration a huge successes, such as waiters, the seating, cutlery and crockery, tablecloths and napkins and maybe even the flowers.

Before you even begin to research the catering companies in your area, you need to sort out the preliminaries. You will have to decide on the date and time it is to be held, how many people will be attending and where it will take place. Set a budget, as most caterers base their charges on the number of people attending and then decide what type of food you would like to be served. Take into consideration the cost of beverages and maybe even a bar. Make a decision as to whether it will be a full sit down formal meal or a more relaxed buffet or cocktail occasion.

Once these decisions have been made and you are armed with all the information, you can start your search for the perfect catering company for your needs. There are many ways to look for and contact them, from word of mouth recommendations to those who have catered for functions which impressed you. Your local newspaper, yellow pages and the internet, local business advisory service and party planning companies are also good sources to investigate. Remember, you will need to have a list of suitable companies, as some of them may already be booked for the date you want, or their prices may not suit your budget.

The final element in your search will be to decide on the menu. Note that this aspect will also help you in the selection of your caterer, because the type of food you envision may not be what a certain caterer generally prepares and should therefore be struck off your list as not being suitable. Even though you may have set ideas on what food you would like to be served, listen to the experts as they have their fingers on the pulse as to what is trendy and being served at similar events. Your vision of comfort food at a smart wedding, or in fashion and trendy finger food at a funeral wake may not be such a good idea. You may want to have a full service with waiters, but consider variations, such as platters of food being brought to the table for guests to serve themselves and each other as a way to get people talking and interacting, thus creating a friendly atmosphere.

It’s been a tough year for many businesses, and perhaps the idea of spending more of the ever squeezed budget on promotional Christmas gifts seems like the last thing that will happen. However it’s a great time of year to show your appreciation of your valued customers, important prospective clients, respected business colleagues and loyal members of staff. Everyone appreciates a thoughtful gift. It creates warm and positive feelings towards the giver which helps to oil the wheels of business.

There are so many occasions which present themselves around this time of year to say ‘thank you’ to all the people who matter, but it’s important to choose the right promotional Christmas gifts in order to send the appropriate messages. There are circumstances when distributing cheep and cheerful Christmas confectionery, such as chocolate baubles and Santa lollies, creates a fun and festive atmosphere and the positive benefits of this approach should not be missed. However, a more personal gift to show your appreciation of individuals important to your business needs to be more carefully considered. Actual value is not as important as perceived value, therefore the usefulness and attractiveness of the gift is paramount. This is good news as regards the budget, but if you choose the right Christmas gifts, you will create maximum impact with your gift giving. The quality of your promotional gifts directly reflects the standards and aspirations of your company. This means great care needs to be taken to choose Christmas gifts which accurately illustrate the qualities you wish to portray to your customers and clients. An item which will occupy a prominent position in their everyday life because it is both attractive and useful will make the recipient feel ‘treated’ and will repeatedly display your discreet artwork, be it your logo, contact details or tag lines. This reinforces the relationship you have sought to build with your carefully considered promotional Christmas gifts.

Building and reinforcing business relationships at this time of year seeks to consolidate what has gone before and set firm foundations for the coming year. The importance and inherent benefits of this cannot be underestimated, and should be seen as a sound investment in growing and supporting your business.

A well established and experienced promotional gifts company will understand the importance of promotional gifts as part of the overall marketing mix, and help you look at a range of suitable possibilities for promotional Christmas gifts to get the ideas flowing. There are so many different ways to go depending on your brief and the demographics of the group under your consideration. Whatever you are planning, get in touch with our experienced sales team who will be able to source practically anything you can think of by way of promotional merchandise.

Be sure to make the most of the season of goodwill and don’t miss out by waiting too long to act. The earlier you order your promotional Christmas gifts, the more choice you will have as some may have longer lead times than others. Being able to distribute your gifts at the optimum time supports the best return on your investment.