Achieve Sales aims to introduce world class marketing and sales techniques and approaches to SMEs in a no-nonsense, pragmatic way - with the primary objective of generating more sales leads and more revenues for your company. http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk 2010-09-05T06:22:33+01:00 http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk/images/rsslogo.gif text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk Brian Ashley http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk/news.php?page=8 <p> Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has unveiled a package of measures designed to address the cash flow, credit and investment needs of small and medium businesses. The support package, which builds upon the commitments outlined in November's Pre Budget Report, consists of loan guarantees and a new Enterprise Fund aimed at helping companies struggling to access finance for working capital and investment. </p> <p> The Government measures include: </p> <ul> <li class="first">An Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme, securing up to £1.3bn of additional bank loans to small firms with a turnover of up to £25m </li> <li class="even last">A £75m Capital for Enterprise Fund (£50m from Government augmented by £25m from the banks) to invest in small businesses which need equity </li> </ul> <p> Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: </p> <p> "UK companies are the lifeblood of the economy and it is crucial that Government acts now to provide real help to support them through the downturn and see them emerge stronger on the other side. We know that some companies are struggling to secure the finance they need, not because of any failure in their business but due to the tougher credit conditions. That is why we have designed a package of measures addressing different forms of credit and providing real help for businesses." </p> <p> The <strong>Working Capital Scheme</strong> is a direct response to the constraint on bank credit available for lending to ordinary-risk businesses with a turnover of up to £500m a year. The Government will provide banks with guarantees covering 50 per cent of the risk on existing and new working capital portfolios worth up to £20bn. The guarantee will secure up to £20bn of working capital credit lines for companies - ensuring they are safe from reduction or withdrawal. In addition, the guarantee will free up capital which the banks must use for new lending as a condition of this scheme. This is lending that would otherwise not have been provided. </p> <p> The <strong>Enterprise Finance Guarantee</strong> aims to help smaller, credit-worthy companies which might otherwise fail to access the finance they need for working capital or investment finance due to the current tight lending conditions. The Government will provide £1bn of guarantees to support to £1.3bn of bank lending to smaller firms with an annual turnover of up to £25m, which are looking for loans of up to £1m for a period of up to 10 years. The guarantee, available through high street banks, will apply to loans and can also be used to convert existing overdrafts into loans to enable businesses to free up their current overdraft facilities to meet working capital demands. </p> <p> To help businesses raise new long-term finance, the Government will also offer to invest in viable companies which have high levels of existing debt through a new £75m <strong>Capital for Enterprise Fund</strong>.  Banks are contributing to this fund. The fund, to be managed externally, will provide long term capital to businesses which have exhausted traditional forms of finance. Companies can then use this capital to invest in and grow their business. Lord Mandelson has also confirmed that the Government is discussing with trade credit insurance providers a Government scheme to help companies affected by reductions in their credit insurance. </p> <p> In order to help businesses identify their financial needs, the Government is today launching a new "one stop shop" easy-to-use web portal. The portal, on the <a href="http://www.businesslink.gov/">www.businesslink.gov</a> website, will direct companies to the most appropriate form of support and help them ascertain their eligibility for a range of government support. </p> text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk Brian Ashley http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk/news.php?page=7 <p> Achieve Sales is planning to post a new white paper entitled "Drive Through the Recession with Interim Sales Management" before the end of the month. </p> <p> It's a "must read" for owners of small and medium sized companies that are asking themselves: </p> <ul> <li>is my current Sales Management capable of meeting the Sales challenges of the current commercial environment head-on? or</li> <li>is this the time for some major changes in Sales?</li> </ul> <p> More than 50% of Sales and Sales Management have never sold through a recession before (the last downturn was in the early 1990s) so  many of them could be floundering due to lack of experience.  So watch this space. </p> text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk Brian Ashley http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk/news.php?page=6 <p> For companies considering whether there would be benefits in appointing a Non Executive Director or for individuals considering becoming a Non Executive Director, Achieve Sales suggests a review of "Non Executive Directors - a BDO Stoy Hayward Guide for Growing Businesses" - written by Rupert Merson. At 80 pages long, it's comprehensive enough for readers to gain a good understanding of the benefits of appointing a "decent non-executive who really understands the needs of a growing entrepreneurial business" whilst not being too heavy or overly complex. </p> <p> Of course, there are alternatives to the appointment of a non-executive that should be considered - Achieve Sales would be delighted to discuss these with you.  </p> <p>   </p> text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk Brian Ashley http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk/news.php?page=5 Following extensive research, Achieve Sales has appointed Ultima Thule Technology of Burnley, Lancashire to re-develop their website using the proprietatry Ultima Thule Content Management System (CMS). Ultima Thule has been in the Web Development and SEO Business for almost 10 years and their CMS has been optimised for the Search Engines and will result in higher rankings for the Achieve Sales website.  text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk Brian Ashley http://www.achieve-sales.co.uk/news.php?page=4 <pre> <span>In a recent survey 1 of over 1,000 salespeople within medium to large salesforces:</span><span> </span> </pre> <ul> <li> <pre> <span>85% recognised a need to improve their ability to articulate value </span> </pre> </li> <li> <pre> <span>69% recognised a need to improve their ability to differentiate their product</span> </pre> </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"> <pre> <span>54% recognised a need to improve their ability at closing sales</span> </pre> </li> </ul> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span>¹<span style="font-size: 8pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span> </span><span>Source:<span>  </span><span>  </span>Silent Edge, UK Sales Performance Consultancy</span></font></span></span> </p> <span><span style="font-size: 8pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span> </span></font></span></span> <pre class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"> <span>It's not unreasonable to apply similar percentages to companies with small or very small salesforces.</span> </pre> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt" class="MsoNormal">   </p> <pre class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"> <span>Ring today for details on training solutions that Achieve Sales has available for small, medium or large salesforces.</span> </pre> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt" class="MsoNormal">   </p>