Monthly Archives: September 2013

working in the office

4 Ideas to Perk up your Office this Winter…

Office Inspiration, ,

With summer drawing to an end and the autumnal winds blowing from the north, bringing with them a constant barrage of fleecing downfalls and bitter cold, the positivity which has driven your summer projects to glorious success, and ultimately your sales, now finds itself at an all time new low.

It is not your fault and nor is it your staff’s. Who can blame you for feeling slightly apathetic when the prospect of Christmas is on the horizon, but distantly so? With such a seemingly long stretch between the present and presents it is no wonder the soul feels dampened!

But, if you’re the boss and your colleagues help drive your business forward, this coming winter will ensure it’s never been more important to keep their spirits high. With a tough 2013 winter expected for businesses, our staff will mean more to us than ever before.

Take a look at a few of our tips for perking up your office this winter…

Make your business a home

We’re not suggesting installing a couple of couches and leaving daytime TV on repeat all day. We’re talking about making a few little changes. Perk up your staff with their very own personalised pen, including a special message which recognises their place in your business, or make them feel secure and part of the team with their own custom company business cards. Making your business a home means going that extra mile when trying to make your staff feel appreciated by (and appreciate) the business they work for.

It’s charity time!

Now I hear you groaning at this idea already… it’s the same groans we hear when the dress down Friday collection-bucket comes around the office. But, taking part in one of many local and national upcoming charity events is always a fun way to raise spirits in the workplace, spread laughter around the office and help contribute towards a great cause.

Imagine the giggles when planning a Children in Need event; are you brave enough to sit in a bathtub of beans all day? Let your colleagues decide your fate, and make sure you deliver! It’s great for bringing people together and takes an edge off the serious business that your average work day delivers.

Cofee Morning

You don’t need to have a ton of spare time or even sacrifice precious work time either; for example events such as Macmillan’s Coffee morning is a great chance to offset the pressure of the average work day at minimum time expense and you get to spend half an hour drinking coffee!

Plus, Charity events are great for spreading a bit of goodwill for colleagues, current and potential clients; maybe include pictures in your business newsletter or share timeline updates on your social sites.

Small Custom Notepad and Pen
Office treats

We spend around 16 hours of the day awake, and at least 8 of those will be spent in the office. With this in mind, maybe it’s time to give your staff a bit of freedom with the tools they work with? Let them go ahead and order their own notebooks, pens, diaries, calendars etc. If every colleague personalised their own stationery, we think you’d find work a much happier work place with everyone using their own stationery!

Personalised Christmas Cards

The Company Christmas Card and New Year Calendars

We can’t think of a better way to inject a bit of fun and team spirit into the months running up to Christmas than with a picture competition for your branded company Christmas cards and company new year calendars! We’ve seen different departments competing for the coveted Christmas card design and the designs can get really ‘heated’ as each department goes one step further to outwit each other.

Or if you feel that perhaps a competition may just distract people too much or the marketing department may have more artistic flair and thus too big an advantage over the accountancy department etc, you could settle by asking for 12 different pictures within a personalised calendar, so each colleague/department could be asked to add a picture which they feel represents the business best. Just make sure you add a few rules!

Have any of your own ideas? Make sure to share below or on our Facebook page!

Personalise your Business

Personalising Your Business

Business Personality, , , , , ,

In times gone by, popping down your local shop or shopping on a high street was regarded as an absolute pleasure. Small local shops thrived and you could regularly find yourself chatting for hours with store owners whilst queuing in an orderly fashion for a rental video of Tom Hank’s latest thriller, Hooch.

This was a true personalised shopping experience, where you were valued as a customer, lavished with friendly cheer and attention and your buying decisions rested solely on the comical genius of the butcher in question or how well a florist could make you feel like Romeo when purchasing a dozen roses.

 

Unfortunately, due to the birth of the internet and the dramatic rise of business to customer platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, it seems the personalised shopping experience we allude to has been well and truly left behind.

Fact: We believe a personalised shopping experience is more important than ever.

As more businesses disappear from the high street, due to a lack of foot traffic, and appear only in the online world the competition to stay at the top of the online landscape becomes fierce. Even if you are one of the lucky businesses with your high street presence still intact, as an offline business your audience is shrinking daily.

Fact: Developing a personality throughout your business is more important than ever.

And no, this doesn’t mean you have to leave every customer in hysterics with your witty charm. It simply means projecting an image of being more than a business solely focused on money and actually interacting with your customer as a real and valued person. Yes – you’ll still have a brand. Yes – you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of your market research. But the inescapable fact is people are far more likely to buy, and perhaps more importantly, remain loyal, to a business that shows they are real person taking care of their needs.

Maybe take the time to pop in a hand written thank you note with your next couple of orders or a complimentary thank you personalised pen. It’s an element of customer care that is missing from today’s online landscape and the businesses who are implementing a personalised interaction are having real success.

Question: How would you feel if you received a personalised item saying ‘Thank you NAME – From all the guys at 123Print UK’?

You don’t even have to stop with the odd personal interaction; you could expand this concept into every single transaction. We personally love the idea of styling the envelope or packaging of every order, depending on its content.

It shows you’ve taken the time to think about your customers and illustrates that you are more than just a robotic business taking money with the left hand and giving the service with the right.