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Marketing, Outsourcing, Retain

Thinking small in PPC for the greatest return

Space 48
September23/ 2014

Thinking small in PPC for the greatest return

Written by Alex Shepherd, Commercial Director at eCommerce agency, Space 48.

As Google continues to grow and dominate our lives, it is no surprise that most brands, merchants and even small businesses are increasingly reliant on them as a channel for driving their business, however many are missing some simple tricks.

While there are many highly established PPC experts out there, busy people / agencies ignoring the finer details can cost a company a significant amount of money. This is particularly important for eCommerce retailers who may have the challenge of low margins to contend with. Here are some of the areas of PPC which you may be currently overlooking but could make a real difference to your bottom line.

Cost effective conversions

While I am sure that most of us are aware that ‘Head’ terms such as ‘LED TV’ will offer the greatest volume, we are also aware that they are very expensive. Terms such as this will likely be at the start of the research cycle so it may be some time before people are ready to make the purchase.

For advertisers only targeting head terms, The combined effect of high CPC (or cost per click) and low conversion rate could turn advertisers away from PPC as a channel. We need to think about the terms that will convert at a more cost effective rate. These longer tail terms can turn a completely unprofitable PPC campaign into a highly efficient channel, as we have seen for many of our customers. So, instead of bidding on ‘LED TV’, you might find that, while volume is lower for the search term ‘LG 42IBJ561V’, the cost per click is considerably less and because the customer has decided which TV they are after and is thus further down the purchase cycle, the conversion rate will be far higher therefore relating on a considerably lower CPA (or cost per acquisition).

The above example is a simplified one but the approach is very well established and can make a huge difference to the returns on your PPC campaign. Examining and identifying the most effective longer tail terms in order to leverage the volumes you can get from head terms, is a very time consuming process but it is invaluable and will pay dividends.

The right message

When looking at the longer tail (or indeed any area of your campaign), think carefully about the ad copy. This needs to be relevant, appealing, targeted and specific to the users search query. Trial mentioning price, discounts, offers, product details, free postage, etc. Anything that might make people not only likely to click but more importantly, purchase. Look at the offers the competition have and make sure your ad is as/more appealing.

Above all – test! While we can guess what may drive the most clicks and sales, ultimately there is no substitute for cold hard data so ensure that you have a mix of ads in rotation, optimise to the best, remove the worst and then start again. Trial ‘Free Postage’ versus ‘Free P&P’. It may look the same to you but one may offer a noticeably better CTR (click through rate) or conversion. This process should be a constant evolution.

Send them to the right landing page

It is also very important that we think carefully about landing pages. While you might want to drive the customer directly to a product page on which they can purchase the product, think about the search terms. This might be right for many searches but if you are faced with a more generic search such as ‘green hunter boot’ – rather than sending them to the ‘Classic’ green hunter boot product page, you might want to send them to a Hunter boot category page, because they might actually be looking for the Balmoral hunter boot in green or even for a children’s green Hunter wellie.

This can make an immense difference to bounce rate, however just as with the ad copy, it is important that this is tested and you do not apply generalisations. Be as granular as you can. This will require a very specific account structure which will take time and effort to establish but it will pay dividends.

The even finer details…

Geographic bid adjustments are also often overlooked. The key is in the data, but looking at every last detail may expose areas of opportunity. Are there certain regions that deliver noticeably higher basket sizes or more repeat custom? If so, this might warrant higher bids. Are there regions that simply do not convert? Are there areas where you have a store presence? You should bear all of this in mind, not only with the bid strategy but also with the ad copy.

Google shopping is another area that relatively few retailers/etailers are currently exploiting but, when set up and managed properly, this can deliver the best returns of a PPC campaign. Many of our clients see circa 75% of their adwords volume coming from these (and they are delivering circa 95% of account efficiency).

When advanced campaigns appeared in 2013, this forced adwords users to consider mobile. According to Google, the 4th of December 2015 will mark the day that mobile search queries will equal desktop, so with this in mind, it is critically important that we consider both the bid strategy for mobile devices and the user experience on their eCommerce site. Conversion data should inform the strategy although with cross device reporting becoming available, we need to consider the part that these mobile searches are playing in each conversion.

PPC for eCommerce

The truth of the matter is that this article has barely scratched the surface. While some say that there is no real difference between PPC for eCommerce and that for lead generation, I would argue that PPC for eCommerce is less forgiving. As margins are often tighter, the strategy needs to be considerably more evolved and every last detail needs to be examined to ensure that the account is driving the most efficient volumes. This really should be considered when selecting the right Google partner to work with.

Alex Shepherd is commercial director of Magento Gold Solutions Partner Space 48 and works with brands such as Better Bathrooms and Charlotte Tilbury.

Products, Sell

How to sell via an online marketplace

Adrien Nussenbaum
September23/ 2014

Online marketplaces are one of the major retail trends of the past few years. More than half of Amazon’s business now comes from Amazon Marketplace and many other major retailers have launched their own marketplaces, attracted by additional e-commerce channels without inventory or logistic constraints and the chance to offer customers increased product choice and more competitive pricing.

Online marketplaces also offer a great opportunity for the smaller retailers that sell their products via online marketplaces. Here are my four top tips on how to sell on them:

Choose the most suitable marketplace for your products. There are now so many online marketplaces for sellers to consider, from major high street retailers to specialists such as Etsy and notonthehighstreet.com. A strong and varied product range is important when choosing which marketplace to sell on, but it is also important to make sure the seller’s products are complimentary to the overall retailer. Sellers should also choose marketplaces with a solid technical platform and the right tools to ease catalogue integration and listings management.

Use attention-grabbing photography. As with anything online, good product imagery is hugely. Any seller will be competing with other sellers of similar products, and they won’t want to stand out for the wrong reasons. Always choose the best images possible, making sure that they fit in with the overall feel of the site and main retailer brand.

Use pricing tools. Price isn’t always the main factor in a purchasing decision, but it stands to reason that a majority of consumers love a bargain. Most good marketplaces will provide a pricing tool, which allows sellers to compare their price with the current best price on each product. Prices can then be adjusted accordingly and gives a seller the chance to be positioned in the Buy Box position, the section on a marketplace that highlights the most competitive prices available at that time.

Label your products carefully. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) principals should also be applied to listing products on an online marketplace. A seller should ask their marketplace account manager what would be an appropriate title on that particular product category, both in terms of being attention-grabbing and doing well with SEO. For example, most customers search for the electronic goods by brand, so including the brand in the title would be key to getting picked up in searches.

Foreign Markets, Tax and VAT, YOU!

Scottish referendum and currency: Protecting your small business

Deepak Goyal
September18/ 2014
  • Referendum uncertainty has exposed even the UK’s smallest companies to currency market volatility – but there are ways to manage this

Tomorrow’s referendum and its prospect of an independent Scotland have created a climate of uncertainty.

Evenly-balanced polls make it impossible to predict the outcome, and should the Union break-up there is no clarity on what the political, economic or business environment of an independent Scotland would look like, or its impact on a reduced UK. This double layer of uncertainty is worrying for both markets and investors.

And with uncertainty comes volatility in currency. A poll showing a shock lead for the Yes campaign saw a four cent drop in sterling against the dollar. A second poll suggesting the lead had swung back in favour of No saw sterling rebound by a cent. As long as traders are unsure about the future of the nation’s economy, and so the value of their investment, they will sell off their sterling – consequently pushing down the price of the currency.

Although big businesses have had their say over recent months, the fluctuating value of sterling has a serious effect when it trickles down to some of the smallest businesses across the UK, particularly those that sell overseas through online marketplaces

One of the companies we work with is a UK-based online retailer, which sells €10,000 worth of electronic accessories every week on Amazon’s German marketplace, amazon.de, earning it £7,892.

Weaker sterling means fewer euros are required to buy each pound. The pound is now 2.2 cents lower against the euro, for our client this now equates to £8,032 a week – an extra £7,250 over the course of a year.

The recent weakening of the pound has left this business with two options: keep their euro prices the same, meaning they would maintain their usual sales volumes and enjoy the increased margins, or look to boost sales by dropping prices.

By passing on the effective cut in costs through the weaker pound, their profit margins remained the same – but their sale volumes soared. Lower prices in euros saw them rate higher in product searches on Amazon Marketplaces and sales have doubled to €20,000, and so has their overall profit.

Taking advantage of these fluctuations requires three things:

  • Complete visibility on your incoming and outgoing payments – the amount and exchange rate.
  • Getting the best exchange rates, allowing more flexible pricing to maximise profits and minimise losses.
  • Controlling when you convert your funds and, as a result, at what rate.

 

Currencies Direct can help e-tailers do just this. Our experts are always available to discuss any questions or concerns customer might have about their own situation and to help them to find the best and most appropriate service given their business.

– ENDS –

About Currencies Direct

Currencies Direct (www.currenciesdirect.com) is one of Europe’s leading non-bank providers of currency exchange payment services. Since its formation in 1996, Currencies Direct has evolved from being an innovative service provider of foreign exchange for consumers and high net worth individuals into a dynamic and pioneering ‘business to business’ fully integrated treasury solution service provider. Headquartered in the City of London (United Kingdom) with operations in Europe, Africa and Asia, Currencies Direct is part of the Azibo Group, a privately owned investment company.

www.currenciesdirect.com/etailers

More information

For more information or for interviews with Currencies Direct, please contact Michael Sheen on MSheen@bell-pottinger.com or 020 7861 3013.

eSeller Guides, YOU!

Mind the Gap

Peter Laplanche
September12/ 2014

At least when you pull into a tube station someone forewarns you of the ‘gap’ as you step from the train to the platform. But it can be a different world out in your warehouse where you’re relying on your mobile printer to keep producing the barcode labels you need to despatch your goods. Few service providers prepare you for the gap in services and the real costs of having your mission critical printers removed from site for repair.

All-inclusive service packages on printers promise reliability and excellent value for money – some even cover print-heads and accidental damage for three or more years. That should give you piece of mind and a fixed outlay and you never have to worry about it again. But, a bit like the station platform, fully managed service contracts often fall short of your train and it’s not uncommon for retailers to have to invest a lot of extra work in their environment to make the gap in their contract work.

A good service provider manages the logging and follow up processes that traditionally accompany a ‘return to base’ service. However, the fundamental ‘gap’ of using this service will still be there, and the reason it’s still there is that in order to be cost effective, the service – even all-inclusive ones – have to be ‘return to base’ (RTB) solutions.

If you’re unfamiliar with an RTB solution it’s where your printer is sent away to be fixed when it goes wrong. Often businesses only look at the financial savings offered by all-inclusive solutions and either forget or don’t consider the other costs, often unseen, that are incurred. Costs like having to commission additional IT skilled resources on site to help manage loop stock, or you having to learn how to bridge the gap when your valuable print assets are removed or rotated in and out of use for repair.

If you commission an RTB service you need to consider how you will:

  1. administer the process
  2. manage the assets properly
  3. operate your business while the printer is away
  4. manage the replacement of a spare/pool printer
  5. configure that replacement printer
  6. track the movement and operational ability of individual printers
  7. extract the same level of management information to help you plan and budget the future print strategy for your business

Withdrawing on-site engineers to save money when combined with a lack of alternative IT knowledge on site means that some of these simple steps become large ‘gaps’ in the operational process of IT provision. Fundamentally, it means that you’re facing downtime in your warehouse, which is costing you more than money, it’s also your reputation at stake.

One way that retailers and e-commerce businesses are increasingly choosing to bridge the gap is using a remote engineer service. It’s a way of putting a ‘presence’ on site without physically doing it. Datatrade developed Reg., a tailored, simple solution that users can set-up and manage themselves and which is, more importantly, configured to their own printers, their support processes and their IT infrastructure.

In the fast moving world of e-selling when you need to maximise uptime of your mission critical printers you don’t want your service package to fall short. A mobile service like Reg. bridges that gap, it’s like having the specialist knowledge and skills on board without the engine driver and costs about half the actual cost of a normal service package.

 

 

 

Marketing, Products, Sales, Sell, Technology, YOU!

Why Twitter isn’t an ecommerce platform

Adrien Nussenbaum
September11/ 2014

The recent news that Twitter is to add a ‘buy’ button has caused much debate in the ecommerce and social media industries. Until now, Twitter has generated revenue via advertising but this is a potentially major change in approach, with a button included in a tweet that allows a user to make a direct purchase.

Pop singer Rihanna and fashion brand Burberry have already signed up to take part in the initial trial. I will watch the results with interest but I am not convinced Twitter is a platform for ecommerce.

Mixing social and commerce
I am sceptical about this new service because we have seen over time that most people don’t like to mix news/social with commerce. This is despite the fact that everyone talks about social commerce in all its forms, but there is a difference between discussion and actually doing something. Also, Twitter was built on a kind of counter-culture spirit. As much as it is now used a lot by brands to communicate, I believe that it can only remain a marketing tool not a transactional one, great for driving conversation and engagement with a brand but less useful for sales.

Twitter as a marketplace?
Of course there is some potential to generate more visibility on certain products but I am doubtful about its ability to generate immediate transactions. It is also unclear whether it will just be a traffic generator or if they actually want to handle the shopping cart on Twitter. This would be a much heavier and more involved process where it is key to respect all the best practices of commerce. Knowing that Twitter would not hold the inventory, they would have to offer this service in a marketplace manner which requires a lot of processes that I doubt Twitter would want to deal with.

Ultimately, Twitter is a platform that lends itself to discussion and social activity, sometimes around products that people like. But it remains to be seen if that can be translated into users then actually buying products. I’m not convinced that people will do so in any great numbers, because Twitter is simply not perceived as a commerce platform.

Customer Care, eSeller Guides, Retain, YOU!

Customer Personalisation – look first…but then do leap

Katharine_Hulls
September11/ 2014

Marketers have unprecedented access to customer information and data. Yet many remain, understandably, frozen, unsure as to how to turn the data deluge into the required one to one customer experience. Constrained by a lack of skills, the company’s digital marketing maturity – or just budget, for many the route from big data to data-driven personalisation simply appears too complex and too unobtainable.

 

The reality is very different – there is no single set route to improving the customer digital experience. Companies can opt for traditional data-warehousing and database marketing, or they can jump straight into data discovery and advanced customer analytics or aim straight for real-time personalisation via decisioning engines. The choice is yours – there is no “you must do it this way” dictate, and trying one approach does not preclude embarking upon another. Either way, the brand will gain fabulous customer insight, improve personalisation and transform the digital customer experience – and fast.

 

Katharine Hulls, VP Marketing, Celebrus Technologies, insists, don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of the personalisation challenge – jump in  and begin to make a real difference to the quality of each customer’s personal experience today.

 

Customer Engagement

There is a perception that it is becoming ever harder to get real engagement with the consumer due to the noise in the market and the increasing amount of ways consumers choose to interact with brands. But is it really that hard to reach the customer and build meaningful connections? Is that one-to-one marketing nirvana still so far away?

 

With the wealth of customer data now available, marketing teams have never had it so good – in theory. The reality is that marketing is struggling just as much as the rest of the business to know just how to proceed in the face of this customer data deluge: according to Gartner, through 2015 85% of Fortune 500 organisations will be unable to exploit big data for competitive advantage.

 

One of the problems is that there has, traditionally, been a very clear path to follow to exploit customer insight to drive personalisation: build a data-warehouse and exploit analytics tools to improve segmentation and evolve, slowly, towards a one-to-one model. Yet many companies, especially retailers and mid-sized organisations, lack either the technical or database marketing skills to make this strategy viable.

 

This ‘one route to personalisation’ rule no longer applies. With the rapid evolution of Big Data enabling technologies, marketers now have a number of ways to exploit this data – from real-time decisioning engines to data discovery.

 

Database Marketing

The creation of a data-warehouse is a tried, tested and proven approach to exploiting in depth customer data to improve understanding before applying excellent database marketing principles such as segmentation and profiling to deliver relevant, targeted customer offers. Organisations that have done this well, most notably those from a catalogue background, have effectively combined in depth on and offline data sources to build a complete customer view, using micro-segmentation to increase the quality of the offer.

 

The key to success with this approach is a robust data-warehouse model to create a depth of customer information and expertise in database marketing to exploit segmentation and personalisation – such as the use of one-to-one, dynamically populated emails based on individual customers’ browsing and basket behaviours.

 

Data Discovery

For those organisations without a heavyweight data-warehouse in place today, however, there is no need to wait – web based customer data can be exploited now using data discovery and big data analytics to reveal extraordinary insight into customer behaviour. From uncovering the golden path to purchase, to identifying previously unconsidered product affinities, data discovery tools are transforming organisations’ understanding of customer behaviour and attitudes.  For one media company, for example, using data discovery to improve customer insight and boost the value of its mailing list uncovered not only the potentially predictable – people with cats like knitting, but also that dog owners enjoy swimming.  Whilst this might seem insignificant, that type of uncovered insight can have a big impact on cross- and up-selling results.

 

These tools require a degree of data confidence as well as data analytic skills. Indeed, even if such skills are not available within marketing they may be available elsewhere in the business. Telcos, for example, are already confident in analysing vast quantities of operational data, while retailers have data scientists operating within inventory control and merchandising. So why not look to reassign these skills to customer data?

 

Real-Time Personalisation

Of course, many organisations simply do not have the skills in house to embark upon effective data-warehouse development, database marketing or complex data discovery exercises. So what are the options? Spend years building up the skills and making the investment in order to finally derive some benefit from the fast expanding customer data deluge? Maybe not.  There is a real opportunity now to short-cut the route to real-time personalisation by exploiting real-time decisioning engines to present online content and offers based on an individual customer’s current and previous activity on the web site.

 

This approach is gaining strong traction within the Financial Services market, as companies leverage a very strong background of CRM and sophisticated technology experience to present the most appropriate offer to each individual customer on the website in real-time. This is particularly valuable in Financial Services due to the highly regulated nature of the sector.

 

Strategic v Tactical

Is there a downside to taking a fast track route to real-time personalisation and side-stepping the more traditional, more time consuming aspects of improving customer insight?  To be frank, not really. Yes, the quality of the personal experience and relevance of the offer might be perhaps just 80% as good as that achieved in tandem with deeper customer understanding. But, on the plus side, the business has not had to wait for many months, if not years, for the data-warehouse to be built and analytics teams developed.

 

Looking ahead, however, relying solely on automated decisioning engines is not going to drive absolutely optimal results. In the short term these solutions deliver effective real-time personalisation that drives up conversion and improves the customer experience. However, this is a somewhat tactical solution. In the longer term, organisations that want to be at the top of their customer experience game will most likely also be: centralising and operationalising all of their customer data in a warehouse, and undertaking deep customer analytics in a data discovery tool, in harmony with driving real-time one-to-one personalisation with a decisioning engine.  This combination of a complete, multi-channel single customer view with deep customer insight will not only improve the quality and sophistication of personalisation but also drive strategic direction.

 

Conclusion

So while marketers may feel somewhat overwhelmed by the volume of customer data and the many, many ways now available to engage and interact with these customers, they should not let this freeze them in fear.  The reality is that there is no longer one fixed way to approach the customer experience.  Every organisation now has the chance to build a strategy that reflects existing skill sets, data history, market sector and available budget.

 

So don’t wait: don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of the personalisation challenge. There is no single path to customer enlightenment but any number of routes, so just jump in and get started.

Customer Care, Customer Opinion, Marketing, Outsourcing

Benefits of mystery shopping for small businesses and large

Fergal Bell
September03/ 2014

In recent years companies have embraced mystery shopping as a way to learn more about the experience that their customers are having and how their sites are coming across to visitors.

What is it?

In the UK there are currently in the region of 50,000 mystery shopping trips being conducted every month for both large nationwide stores and smaller, local businesses. In most cases mystery shoppers treat it as a part-time job and sign up as a mystery shopper as a way of enjoying meals out or nights away or even just to get a little retail therapy. Participants generally register with one or more mystery shopping companies, specifying their areas of interest, location, whether they can drive and so on. This information is used to match mystery shoppers with assignments. They then visit a business, posing as a customer. The mystery shopper will usually buy something to make the visit as close to real life as possible, the cost of which they are reimbursed for (up to a certain value). Depending on the mystery shopping company people may also be paid a small amount – somewhere between £5 and £20.

When the mystery shopper goes on an assignment they will focus on the areas that are important to the client. Some businesses want to make sure locations are clean, tidy and risk-free while others might want to make sure staff are providing the right level of customer service or are promoting campaign products. The mystery shopper may record the visit on a smartphone or hidden camera and after the visit will write a report on their experience. It is this report that helps inform businesses of how their site is operating ‘in real life’.

In terms of rewards, successful mystery shoppers can do reasonably well on assignments. Some earn as much as £40,000 per annum. However, for the majority the benefit lies in getting free products, such as restaurant meals, cosmetics or hotel visits, with perhaps an additional payment on top.

Benefits to business

Among UK companies that use mystery shopping services are high street brands like John Lewis, Sainsbury and the Post Office. These and other such companies use mystery shopping because it gives them valuable information on how their businesses are running that could not be achieved if they were to visit the stores themselves. Reading the mystery shopping reports and watching the video recordings highlights areas both where operations are going well and also where they can be improved.

One of the biggest benefits of mystery shopping for small businesses and others is that they see the company through the customer’s eyes. The reports provided at the end of the exercise give an objective view from an outsider’s perspective.

Senior management will also receive an objective evaluation of how staff are performing in real life situations. This can then be used to tackle training issues and also recognise staff for excellent performance.

Another, perhaps lesser known use of mystery shopping is to better understand competitors’ operations. Companies sometimes commission surveys into how other businesses in their sector work, which can point to strengths in the service offering but also weaknesses, which may need be addressed.

eSeller Guides, Health and Safety, Latest News, Management, News, Offices, Outsourcing

What do to if an employee has a heart attack

Fergal Bell
August23/ 2014

Around 2.7 million people in the UK suffer from coronary heart disease and one in four die from cardio-vascular disease. That makes sobering reading but from these figures we can see that it is a condition that will affect almost every workplace in the country. Furthermore, with employees spending around a quarter of their whole week at work it is an issue that employers may be forced to deal with first hand.

Signs to watch out for

  • Chest pains – these are not always severe; they can be mild (particularly in the case of diabetics) and last for a number of hours
  • Upper body pain or discomfort including: in either or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw or upper part of the stomach
  • Light-headedness or dizziness
  • Cold sweats
  • Shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and tiredness; the latter often over several days

What to do

The most sensible course of action if you suspect an employee is having a heart attack is to call 999 and ask for emergency medical assistance. While this is happening the person affected should rest completely and avoid any physical activity, including walking around or carrying anything. The operator will organise for an ambulance and can provide advice on what to do in the meantime e.g. to take some aspirin. This can help the person hugely both in terms of the immediate threat to their life and for the recovery afterwards.

Returning to work

How quickly someone comes back to work depends on the job they do, how bad the heart attack was and how well their recovery has gone. Many people can return to work after a few months but those in more physically taxing jobs may take longer, certainly to work at the same level as before. In these cases employers may need to consider moving duties around to make the situation work. It can also be a good idea for any employee who has had a heart attack to ease back into their roles. This can mean working part-time initially or taking on reduced duties.

Training staff

It is recommended that employers have a plan in place about what to do if an employee is suspected of having a heart attack. This can include training several staff members on taking the lead when dealing with an event. A trained person can call the emergency services, greet them when they arrive and explain what has happened both before and after the incident. The staff member would also contact the employee’s emergency contact and can comfort the other people who were present at the time. Increasingly businesses are also investing in automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and training staff in their use. This may be worth considering.

GoSBS.IT provides bespoke health and safety training, auditing and consultancy services. If you are concerned about issues affecting your business our expert mystery shopper service can provide you with vital information on how your business is really operating. We can provide you with valuable information that can help you to identify issues and ensure your company is running the way it should.

More

How much of problem is workplace stress?

Living Well
August21/ 2014

According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) stress is responsible for 40 per cent of all work-related illnesses. In terms of numbers this makes up an incredible 428,000 cases out of a total of 1.07 million across the UK. What may be more surprising is that the number of cases has been remained almost the same for the last ten years. 

If you were wondering which jobs report the highest stress, they are: health professionals (particularly nurses), teaching and educational professionals and those in the caring personal services (particularly welfare and housing associate professionals).

Principal causes of stress:

  1. Work pressure
  2. Lack of managerial support
  3. Violence or bullying in the work place

Size makes a difference

Where workplace stress is concerned smaller is better. If you work in a small business you are far less likely to be stressed than if you work with a large company. Organisations with fewer than 50 employees showed the lowest prevalence of stress, with around 1.04 percent of staff reporting the condition. Medium sized workplaces (50-249 employees) came next with 1.14 percent while large workplaces (250+ employees) showed the highest levels – 1.178 per cent.

Signs that staff are stressed

  • There has been a decline in an individual’s performance
  • Mistakes they would not normally make have started cropping up
  • Employees seem indecisive or are second-guessing themselves
  • Reluctance to commit to work
  • Work patterns have changed – leaving early, staying later or being absent
  • Individuals seem withdrawn, resigned or unmotivated

Effects of stress on businesses

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), stress affects one in five workers and work-related stress results in the loss of around 10.4 million work days per annum; with more women (56 per cent) than men (44 per cent) reporting it. Fortunately, the situation has been improving and the figures represent a drop from around 12.9 million in 2001-02. As the overall number of cases has remained largely unchanged this reduction may have come about because staff are returning to work more quickly or are receiving better treatment. When staff are off for an extended period it can take its toll on business operations, including increasing the burden on other staff, who may have to cover additional responsibilities. On top of this there is the financial cost to employers, which is estimated at £1.24 billion, to say nothing of the effects on staff themselves.

Benefits of taking action

  • Fewer accidents and near misses
  • Lower rates of absenteeism
  • Better morale among employees
  • Greater work productivity
  • Better staff retention and consequently lower costs of recruitment and training
  • Enhanced corporate reputation

GoSBS.IT provides bespoke health and safety training, auditing and consultancy services. If you are concerned about issues affecting your business our expert mystery shopper service can provide you with vital information on how your business is really operating. We can provide you with valuable information that can help you to identify issues and ensure your company is running the way it should.

Entrepeneurs, Latest News, News, YOU!, Your News

Martina Mercer Announced as a Finalist in the National mumandworking Awards!

Martina Mercer
August20/ 2014

The National mumandworking Awards 2014 will be held at ‘Campus London’ on Thursday October 16 and Martina Mercer, is amongst the finalists in the category most inspirational business parent!  These major, high profile awards promote and celebrate those organisations and individuals who are shining examples of how flexible, family-friendly working opportunities empower working parents to achieve their full potential and benefit businesses, families and the UK economy.

Finalist Martina Mercer said: ‘I’m overwhelmed, I don’t do what I do for awards, I do it to keep my family afloat!’

Why Martina Mercer Was Nominated

Martina Mercer is a business woman, copywriter and marketer. She’s shown an amazing strength of character as she’s struggled against the odds to become a leader in her industry. Now, successful, she juggles working life and family and seems to have found a balance.

Martina’s story is so inspirational as she was a single mum of two who cleaned caravans in the day, studied on an evening and wrote her book when she could. She never compromised on quality time with her autistic son and daughter, instead she ensured she worked around their sleeping patterns and school.

She shows everyone that with a little determination, a lot of willpower and a disregard for money (as she spent five years in the poverty bracket as she gained her degree) anyone can achieve their dream.

There are many more aspects to Martina’s story such as how she climbed to the top of the ladder and how she overcame domestic violence, however the core facts show why she has become a finalist for this award.

Today, Martina employs parents in the same position she was, giving them complete flexibility over hours while ensuring they have the money they need to feed and home their families.

More About the Awards

Now in their 4th year, these awards have never been so topical as every employee in the UK now has the statutory right to request ‘flexible-working’.  Hundreds of nominations were received with a 60% increase over previous years across the 11 categories which range from ‘Most Inspiring Business Parent’ to ‘The Celebrity Working Parent of the Year’.

On October 16, over 100 business leaders, working parents and entrepreneurs will be celebrating their business success within a family-friendly flexible working framework. Finalists will include national and international names alongside start-ups, parent-preneurs and growing businesses.

The VIP Judges

Awards VIP Judges, Speakers and Attendees who have combined business success with parenting and family life will include

*        Laura Tenison MBE – Founder and Director, JoJo Maman Bebe

*        Mandy Haberman – Founder and Director, Haberman & multiple award-winner (including Female Inventor of the Year)

*        Debbie Bird – Editor & manager of babyworld.co.uk, one of the UK’s leading online parenting portals

*        Ian Sharland – Co-Founder and Co-Director of multi-award winning, Baby Sensory (now in 15 countries)

*         Jessica Taylor – Famous originally as Liberty X band member and now a parent-preneur in her own right with unique and fun children’s hair salon Bella & Beau

*         Alexandra Watson – the Leading Success Mentor for Women and best-selling author of ‘The Happiness System for Women’, as seen on The X Factor

The awards will be hosted by Susannah Schofield, Managing Director of software company Dice Matrix Consulting Ltd whose expertise also includes building a business, motivating a team and women in business and who is also a judge. Sponsors include Bumps and Bashes, Swimkidz, Owow Chocolates, Alexandra Watson, What’s On 4 and The Creation Station. Awards Media Supporter is babyworld.co.uk and the awards will be followed by a fabulous celebratory reception as sponsored by Dice Matrix.

Find Out More

To view all 11 categories see here www.mumandworking.co.uk/awards – all awards are judged by the VIP panel except for ‘Celebrity Working Parent of the Year’ and ‘Working Parent Blogger of the Year’ which for the 1st time are open to public vote – just visit the awards pages to have your say!

mumandworking attracts a monthly audience of over 80,000 and is THE one-stop website for parents seeking advice, opportunities and information on flexible working and all things work-related. The ceremony will provide a unique opportunity to network and interact at an inspiring, empowering, sometimes emotional and deeply rewarding event to be part of.

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