Selby Marketing Blog

What a year it’s been!

It’s been a while, but Team Selby have still been working their magic in the background, just quietly!  Things have got to be better this year, surely? Hopefully this year will be the one where we all get talking again.

Speaking of which, it was around this time last year (before things really went crazy) that a lucky beach cleaner in the Shetland Isles, discovered a message in a bottle.

It was a Win, Win Situation.  Why? Well, first of all, this considerate chap rid the sea of yet another bottle (which to be fair was made of glass, not plastic, but nevertheless…).  Added to this, being the receiver of the message entitled him to a $1000 (£770) cash prize and not only this - the equivalent would go to a charity of his choice (he chose an environmental charity, obviously!).  What a find!

So, what were his plans for his unexpected cash injection?  Let’s start with the charity – where else other than The Ocean Cleanup?  And his own cash?  An old, red telephone box!  The gentleman bought this whimsical purchase from BT, who run a scheme for the adoption of unused telephone boxes, which they sell to local communities to get creative with and enjoy.  Yes, £1.00! And No, unfortunately they are not available to purchase privately – boo!

Since the launch of the scheme in 2008, it’s unbelievable what some of these iconic British structures have been converted into with creations including Coffee Bars, Micro Nightclubs (yes, you heard correctly) and Libraries, to name just a few.  And the usage of the telephone box for this chap? Memories!  This kind, thoughtful person restored the telephone box to its former glory, by giving it a lick of paint (BT phone box red, of course!), and a new door.  Situated in a beautiful picturesque location, his vision was for somewhere the community and visitors could enjoy – he even added a book where people could write of their memories.  How lovely.

But it doesn’t end there.

The company who had thrown the message bottle into the ocean, a New York-based technology magazine publisher, had admitted to feeling a little guilty about throwing the bottle, which they didn’t think would be rescued any time soon.  They were surprised to receive the email confirming that this had been picked up.  And the coincidence here?  The same company notably published pictures of phone booths on the back cover if its magazine… if you believe in fate, then this was meant to be, surely?

Compared to the oldest message in a bottle sent (dated 12th June 1886), this was in actual fact a reasonably quick find.  Discovered in Australia three years ago, the message wasn’t instantly recognisable to the finders, who had said it looked like “a rolled up” cigarette.  After drying it in the oven for a few minutes, they soon made a remarkable discovery.  With the help of a museum, they discovered that the bottle was part of an experiment by the German Naval Observatory who were testing shipping routes. They also discovered that it was likely to have landed just a year later however it had got buried in the sand!

Thankfully, communicating with the rest of the world isn’t quite as slow as it would have been back in 1886.  The last year has signified a completely different way of communicating and all electronic… not always reliable when you want it to be – just like that message from 1886.

Hopefully 2021 will see the return of the older, traditional methods of communication, and no, we’re not talking about sending a message in a bottle, just seeing each other! Whether we’ve been in touch electronically recently, or not (and of course, once this madness is behind us), let’s make 2021 a more personal year.  Rather than an email, send a letter and rather than a phone call, let’s see each other!

It’s 2020.  In 2020 things are different than they were a few years ago, time has moved on.  So how much? To put this into perspective, Prince sang about partying “like it’s 1999” which of course, was over two decades ago.  And the song itself?  It was released in 1982, almost FOUR decades ago - how’s that for time?

Fast-forward to the world in 2020, a much bigger place with the use of the internet in almost every home, robotic vacuum cleaners and wafer-thin TV’s.  Now even friendship has evolved with a “convenient” twist.  Think Social Media platforms – and now so many more than just Facebook and Twitter to choose from!  Now you don’t have to leave the house to make “friends” and many more than you could ever have wished for!  This fast-moving world doesn’t stop with just friends, though.  It’s not in the T’s and C’s, but enemies can become part of the package too - or Trolls, whatever you wish to call them.

Back in 1982 (when Prince sang about 1999) Trolls existed, but they were harmless enough.  They existed in our story books as the mean, ugly guys who wouldn’t let those cute fluffy goats cross the bridge.  In stark contrast to the bad reputation this little guy had, a fluffy, relatively harmless, totally unrelated version was released as a toy to delighted kids everywhere.  Yippeeee!  This one wouldn’t creep into their nightmares - relatively ugly little chaps, but clever marketing indeed!  Who would know that all this time later (and with yet another recent Troll revival) there are still two ways of seeing them?

It’s a bit like news. Bad news can actually be good sometimes and hearing it can save you from a fall.  Here at Selby Marketing, we prefer to say things how they are.  Not doing so puts us in a compromising position.  Being honest about things has done no harm to our reputation, if anything it’s give us a good one.  99.9% of the time (yes, we’re near-perfect, of course!) it isn’t anything we’ve done here, but that doesn’t make it any easier.  If anything, speaking to your client about something going wrong is awful and makes you feel really bad!  It’s never ideal being the “foe”, but better to appear as the enemy than see a bad job through. 

In the world of handling and fulfilment, there are many things that can go wrong.  Being the last cog in the wheel, there’s nowhere else to go to, unless it can be fixed further up the line.  We can try, of course, but success is not a given.  Hiccups come in all shapes and sizes during the fulfilment process, whether they’re related to delays in transit of goods, broken items, bad data or postponement of one thing of another.

Fear not though!  Many things that are broken can be fixed, so it’s always best to ask if you have something that needs fixing and likewise, we’ll share the good, bad (and of course, the pure ugly) with you.  A good honest, friendly transaction!

Time flies by so quick, doesn’t it?  It only seems like yesterday that the country was having a “B” word referendum however it was nearly (an unbelievable) four years ago!  Once you realise it’s been this long, it’s hardly surprising that folk just want it over and done with.  And so today it begins… the UK is officially leaving the EU.

With four years to plan and a transition period expected to reach to the end of this year and beyond, notably it’s not come with its uncertainties for most and still there are grey areas.  One of the biggest things on the agenda for us as a country is naturally going to be trade and there’s been quite a stir with many couriers and product suppliers getting their plans in place for Britain’s departure and the border restrictions that will come with it.  It won’t be easy at first, but hopefully now the deadline is here, we can look to the future with a degree of optimism whilst retaining that stiff upper lip!

Keeping your cool in the face of adversity is an important trait to have, something us Britons have in abundance - along with queuing, drinking lots of tea and apologising for nothing, of course!  At times, some situations can be a little busier than others and that cool façade may slip a little.  You’re only human, it happens – that’s where Handling Houses such as Selby Marketing come into their own.

Helping our clients to keep their cool in the face of adversity is something we’ve learned to master over the years.  Like any other company, all we can do is embrace changes and learn as we go along whilst future-proofing – a tried and tested method that’s always stood us in good stead.  Looking back, it’s hard to believe that the all-singing, all dancing databases our team build today (and they’re pretty complex) used to be simple DOS-based systems built purely to produce a print run and nothing else too fancy – and all on Dot Matrix labels!

All we can do now is deal with everything the proper way.  Chin up, sit down, make a brew and get on with things until the next instalment.

Did you know in the late 1800’s, Black Friday had an entirely different meaning to what it does now?  Two investors had BIG plans to corner the gold market in the New York Stock Exchange… that was until their plans were scuppered when the government itself stepped in and flooded the market with gold!  Does Black Friday as it is now have a similar meaning?  Is it the chance for stores to finally get rid of their surplus stock?  Who knows?  We all love a bargain though, so there’s something to be had for everyone!

Speaking of which, did you know Team Selby have lots of experience in POS distribution for all those lovely sales?  Maybe we can help you with this?

Supply and demand is a funny thing.  If something is rare enough, everyone wants it. Isn’t that the same for other things, then?  Being in the service industry, we as a company have nothing visual on offer.  Black Friday deals?  We don’t have a product to sell.  Fear not!  Buying in bulk from our own suppliers (in some cases services, others products) puts us in a position when we can pass on a discount to our clients not just once, but all year round!

Whilst it’s great to offer a really good discount there are some things you just can’t put a price on.  You can’t buy it – it is priceless after all – nor can you see it and it’s absolutely never going to be visible on the stock market – this can be rare in itself.  What is that thing?  You want it, don’t you?  It’s CARE. 

Is care an alien concept to you?  If so, you clearly haven’t been going to the right place. Care is an ethos, an approach on how you do things and without this, in our opinion, you shouldn’t be in business. Care comes from learning.  At Selby, putting ourselves under the spotlight before, during and after a project allows us to get better equipped to succeed at what we’re doing. 

Ask yourself how many times you’ve debriefed a project with one final question:

“Could I have done this differently?” 

If you’ve ever answered this with a “yes”, you clearly see things that way we do – we’d get along very well, we think!

As we already have something in common, why not send Selby your brief?  What you’ll get is a knowledgeable, proactive and no-nonsense approach to your handing requirements.  Throughout your project, we’ll be there at the end of the phone, or email if you prefer, assisting you with anything and everything promotional.

Nike: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.”

Starbucks: “Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

Selby Marketing Services: “To make delivering a promotion simple, efficient and stress free whilst ensuring that the customer experience is exactly as intended”

We are a Promotional Fulfilment House, it’s self-explanatory.  Except for the delivery partner we are the last in a long supply chain.  We are the final hurdle before your Reward, Point of Sale, E-Commerce stock, Information Pack, Goody Bag or Mailing goes public.  As your handling partner we can make the difference.

After Gold wins for the last two years at the IPM COGs, we are shortlisted again this year for our work with Lancashire Cricket Club on the World Cup VIP ticketing.  High volume, high profile alongside small bespoke campaigns, our attention to detail is the same.  

Don’t waste your time on crisis management, hand your promotion to an award winning partner, who will nurture your vision and give 100% attention, 100% of the time.

If you have any promotional handling requirement or have a marketing dilemma and need some advice please pick up the phone.

Ahhhhhh, 1989 ‘twas a good year……

Nick Faldo became the first English winner of the Golf Masters Tournament

The Ford Escort was Britain’s best-selling car for the eighth consecutive year

Yuppie’s rejoiced with the release of the first pocket-sized flip phone

That iconic Manchester album by the Stone Roses made its debut

Selby Marketing came to existence

1989 was also the year that put The North firmly on the map.  Amidst the bangin’ tuuunes, baggy jeans, flourescent attire and jangly guitar riffs of the Second Summer of Love, there was something else making a bit of noise.  A certain Mrs Selby was getting requests coming in from Marketing folk left, right and centre to set up her own handling and fulfilment centre – she listened.

In the small town of Ashton Under Lyne, on the outskirts of Manchester, there was a hive of activity in a dining room where at the time, lines of communication were pretty much telephone and (ahem…) letter!  Whilst the communication in 1989 didn’t move quickly, Selby’s did!  Requests for fulfilment came in thick and fast and the (then) micro team soon moved into more suitable premises – there’s only so many boxes and staff you can fit in a teeny dining room, isn’t there?

Selby’s celebrates 30 years this year.

Still listening to our clients all these years later has stood us in good stead. Because we’re all eyes and ears when a promotional handling brief drops in (by telephone and email, notably) and having all those years of experience, we’re always happy to offer those pearls of wisdom we’ve acquired to our clients.  “No” is a word we very rarely use however we’ll always be honest and say what is achievable – being straight-talking Northerners, we feel it best to tell it like it is.

Clichéd?  Maybe, but we couldn’t have made our 30 years of trading without the help of our clients – we literally couldn’t!  How else could we push the boundaries of our fulfilment services without their requests?  There’s a world of difference between an outright “No” and “Leave it with us, we’ll take a look at it”.  

Being winners of the much coveted Handling & Fulfilment award with the IPM industry recognised COGS Awards, has seen us building up our trophy cabinet as we go along our journey.  As realists though, we know it’s not always possible to shine the spotlight on every job we do. Sometimes we just have to stay incognito too.  Discretion about the work we do has earned us a lot of trust over the years.  Masters of invisibility, we still offer email and telephone contact centres to compliment the promotions we handle on behalf of our clients, giving them the complete package.

It’s easy to say “of course - we’re happy to help”, but is it true?  The words trip off the tongue easily because it’s what people expect from their suppliers.  You wouldn’t be in business long if you were to say, “I can’t help you unless you know exactly what you want!  We’re not here to second guess you, we haven’t got time”!  But, that is exactly the situation most providers find themselves in on a daily basis.

Picture this.........

Your client wants to do a promotion.  They say “We know it’s going to be a toy but we don’t know what it is yet.  It could be 1000 prizes so can you quote me for 500, 1000 and 5000 just in case. We think it might be for running for 12 weeks and it might be a winning moments but then again it could be loyalty scheme.  We’re not sure if we’ll want to send by post or whether it’ll have to be courier.  Can we have a quote by EOP today”?

This situation is a fairly regular one where the ideas are all smooshed into one “brief”.  Of course, being” happy to help” we can quote but there are so many unknowns that the final quote will bear little resemblance to the first draft.

The more information we have the more accurate the quote will be from the start.  Of course, we know that much of the finite information won’t be known until much later in the conversation, however there are a number of things that are worth having in the back of your mind when having discussions with the premium provider, the brand and then the handling house.

If you want to know more, we have compiled a handy guide to things you might not think about but things that will make the experience run more smoothly and will safeguard you from any unexpected additional costs.  Interested?  Drop Julie a line - [email protected]

Well at least on TV and in the shops.  A member of the team here has a friend, who has their tree up, yes, you read it right, their Christmas tree up before we hit December!  Sorry but that should be made illegal.

Here at Selby HQ we’ve been enjoying and discussing the merits of this year’s Christmas TV ads and the general consensus is that we’re missing John Lewis’ usual tear inducing, emotional effort,  Elton John just isn’t quite cutting it here! We’re loving the Sainsbury Ad, a surprising but fabulous song choice and the always excellent Aldi Ads, Christmas or not they are always on the money.

Thank you CityAM for reviewing the ads here http://www.cityam.com/269352/john-lewis-sainsburys-ms-whose-christmas-ad-best-year. We don’t agree with all the ratings but it’s a great way to get in the mood and watch all the big retailer ads back to back!

Selby’s is getting starting to get into the spirit.  We’re planning the Christmas Do and organising our client gifts which is starting to put a bit of sparkle in our day but this time of year advents “the big push”! The push to get rewards out even faster than usual, to clear the decks (not deck the halls) and to streamline the despatches into the courier and mail network, after all it’s the busiest time of year for them and we need to allow for delays.  December is also the shortest working month for us and we’re cramming everything into 3 weeks so the team can take a well-earned holiday, a note for your diaries – we plan to close at 5pm on Friday the 21st December and return at 8.30am on Wednesday the 2nd January 2019. Get in touch if you have anything urgent!

We’re not wishing Merry Christmases just yet, it is a bit early, but we do wish Health, Wealth and Happiness all year round.

As always, if you are in need of fulfilment, just drop Julie a line with your handling requirements, always happy to help with a Ho! Ho! Ho!

Oh and before we forget, we won’t be doing cards again this year, we’ll be donating to Crisis UK helping to provide a Christmas Dinner and more for the homeless.  Click the link if you’re interested in their work.

I like to win and it’s something I didn’t realise until I got older.  In fact I didn’t realise that I was at all competitive until recently. Oddly it was in a gym class where (brag alert) I was determined to beat the dozen or so waifs that were half my age. It was ugly and I did more than “glow” for hours after, but I did it.

Playing board games, can become very unattractive too, there have been “scenes” when there was a suspicion of cheating at Pictionary! Cheating is a crime and should be punished!

Thank goodness I don’t gamble!

Last year, we at Selby Marketing Services won Gold in the Handling Category at the IPM COGs and it’s only a few weeks before this year’s winners are announced.   Of course I want to win, it’s a stamp of approval from the judges for our efforts and of course you need to have a good promotion to showcase in the first place.  I think we have a good chance this year and I wish good luck to all the other entries (or do I)?

Joking aside, it really is the taking part that counts.  Its good fun to enter and good grace to be able to applaud when someone else deserves it more.  Better luck next year and all that :)  but remember even if we don’t get the gong, we’ll still offer the same great service, flexible, friendly and efficient.  

Regular readers will know there’s often a joke and as we’re talking about winning here is this year’s Edinburgh Fringe winning joke……. a winning joke about losing.

Working at the job centre has to be a tense job – knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day. – Adam Rowe

Imagine that?  At least if we don’t do well in the COGs we don’t have to go cap in hand to one of our competitors!  

And to finish, another from the fringe.….

I had a job drilling holes for water – it was well boring.  - Leo Kearse

If you would like to discuss your handling requirements with me or get on the mailing list for the (ir)regular blogs and emails, please feel free to give me a call or drop me a line.  

Call 0161 339 5132 and ask for Julie or email me on [email protected]

I look forward to hearing from you,

Congratulations to all winners at The IPM Awards last week, glad to see some of my favourite people on the list.  Next up the COGs!

I’m racking my brains deciding which of our projects to submit this year, last year we got the golden gong so I’ve got to try and top it which isn’t easy.  The trouble is that in simple terms we pack parcels for a living! It’s not sexy, it’s not necessarily creative but it is essential.  Even so it’s hard to submit one single entry that will spark the enthusiasm of the judging panel.

Awards are a funny thing. They are so personal to the entrant. If they are good enough to be entered then they must be your best work and so they contain a part of you and your team. If the submission doesn’t engage the judges then it won’t win, regardless of how you and your client felt about it, and whether or not it was a success. But awards are such a great accolade. They boost your ego, they are a little shiny symbol of your success and show that a group of people who may not even know you have been impressed by your work. You’ve achieved your goal, you’ve won.

But do we really need them to feel appreciated?

We have dozens of jobs that come in and go out every day of every week, all year round.  Thankfully we don’t have to do big and expensive pitches for the work, we get a brief, shop for the best suppliers, produce the best quote we can, get the best people on the job and crack on and once a year, right about now, we start to think about getting an award.  The thing is, we treat every job as a potential submission for an award, and whether it makes an interesting read for a judging panel is another matter.  I’m certainly going to submit an entry into the handling and fulfilment category, I’ll try and make it as interesting as possible (as a judge on the IPM Awards I know there are lots of submissions to read), but if we’re not as worthy this year I think I’ll still be happy.  We’re very lucky and eternally grateful that we have a very loyal client base who continue to come to us for their handling needs and I don’t think that is down to our awards.

My client Lauren gave us the best award when she said to me this morning,

“I cannot recommend you highly enough, I have no worries about anything you do for us”.  

With comments like that, I think we’ve already won!

So, if you would like to work with a team that take away all your worries, that you would happily recommend to your peers and who treat every activity as a winner then look no further.  All you have to do is give me a call on 0161 339 5132 or drop me a line to [email protected].  

I look forward to hearing from you and hope that next year’s submission is one of your promotions.

Take care,

Today Wetherspoons has announced that it is closing down all its social media platforms with immediate effect in all its 900 pubs and its Head Office.

They are among a number of organisations that have closed their Facebook accounts in light of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but Wetherspoons seems to have taken it a few steps further by removing the full digital offering. Claiming that it is in response to the current “addiction” to social media within society along with dealing with fake tweets on a spoof site claiming all sorts of nonsense in their name, they feel that turning its back on social is the best thing to do.  

Earlier in the year and when GDPR was gaining momentum, Wetherspoons stated then that they would be deleting all their held data.  The thinking was that if you don’t hold anyone’s details, you can’t be breached. One has to wonder whether this could be the start of something bigger.  Playboy, Tesla and SpaceX have also closed their Facebook accounts.  There has been some backlash on Twitter where the announcement was made but they are confident that the move will not affect the business and why would it?  Facebook is a mere 14 years old and Twitter 12 years.  Is it likely that a company the size of JD Wetherspoons will suffer financially by not having a social media presence? It has been a real presence on our High Streets for 39 years, the founder Tim Martin is still Chairman and the business owns 900 bars and employs 37,000 people.  As a business they have always stuck to their ideals, there’s no music and a dress code which states that customers must remain clothed at all times, including shoes! I doubt the lack of daily posts will have any impact.

It’s about serving your customers.  People visit “Spoons” for quality real ales, affordable food and good company.  The lack of a social presence will not change this. Has anyone ever been in an empty Spoons? The beer and menu will still be good and varied and the prices will be reasonable.

Remember when data for a mailing was sent through the post on floppy disk. From being given the job we had at least 3 days before we even had sight of the information.  Now everything happens instantly.  You win a job, the data arrives in minutes and the finished job can be sent either electronically in an instant or can be in the post same day and delivered the next.  Everything is wanted here and now and to meet consumer expectations, and do things faster and cheaper, many roles in the logistics and fulfilment industries are being automated.

The Amazon fulfilment centres have an army of robots which bring the shelves to the packers.  The humans stand around a caged area waiting for the bots to deliver the goods where the staff then pick the orders through a hole in the fence.

Robots work 24/7.  They are small, nimble and very strong being able to carry a staggering 340kgs.  They have sensors to detect obstacles and are controlled by a central server which tells them where to go for the next pick up.  Traditionally humans would have to walk miles up and down the vast aisles collecting the items required which obviously takes time and also opened Amazon up to criticism on their working conditions (all of which have now been addressed).  Mechanisation has, for Ocado, reduced a 50 item order pick from a couple of hours to just a few minutes!

It all sounds great, it’s faster and cheaper a Win Win?  But what about the consequences for the workforce?  What will happen to them?

These automated industries are quick to defend themselves on the job front.  They claim that the robots cannot replace humans. There are definitely roles that need the human touch, where dexterity and judgement are required attributes which at present, are lacking in the robots.  However is it just a matter of time?  According to some, most of the workforce could be replaced in less than a decade, yet the companies themselves say that they are creating jobs, opening up more facilities and re-training staff to cover more fulfilling roles.

As the march of the robots is bound to continue and expand we need to concentrate on the aspects of the industry that cannot be mechanised.  Think Business states that as people surround themselves more and more with robots they will crave “real” relationships.

Relationships built on understanding, empathy and a shared goal.  A sense of fun and inclusivity.  These are human attributes that we at Selby Marketing value.  We’re not replacing anyone with robots any time soon so you can rest assured that as always we will be able to fulfil your promotions with that same flexibility and consideration that we always have.

It might take a bit longer, but you can be sure that it will be worth the wait.

If you would like a chat, to a real person, not a bot, then Julie will be happy to hear from you.  Just call on 0161 339 5132 or email [email protected]

Over half a million people were reported as suffering work related stress, depression or anxiety in 2016/17 resulting in 12.5 million days lost (www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/).

We spend most of our time at work, so as employers, managers and team leaders it is in our best interests to protect the well-being of our workforce and to provide a place of work that considers the people, not just the productivity.

Humour is by far the most significant dimension of the human brain – Edward de Bono.

This does not mean that a day in the office should be like being at the Comedy Store!  It doesn’t need to be a joke fest! Good humour starts with the face. People will watch their manager’s expressions and mannerisms to see how the day ahead is going to be.  It is the management who set the tone of the business each and every day.  A smile and a kind word will go a long way to reducing tension and promoting a sense of well-being, which in the long term can increase productivity and often performance.

Good humour and fun combats stress, helps build relationships and connects the team making those negative situations easier to handle and more human. Stress and unhappiness in a role will create negativity possibly leading to mistakes and poor performance.  It spreads quickly resulting in a disjointed workforce each with their own grievances and agendas.

Management need to understand their humour and when to use it. There are four styles of humour (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/fourhumorstyles)

Affiliative – Very positive and used to reduce social tensions.  It is safe and inclusive, spontaneous and witty.  It includes the use of funny voices and facial expressions and creates a sense of camaraderie.

Aggressive – This type of humour is domineering. It includes sarcasm, can be disparaging and teases others, this in itself can cause stress to yourself and to others as it is often considered offensive even it is not meant as such.

Self-Enhancing – A pro-active way of dealing with stress.  Shows you can laugh at yourself, it’s light-hearted and generally optimistic.

Self-Defeating – Encouraging jokes about ones-self, and pointing out your own failures and weaknesses. Can be inferred as being needy and craving the approval of others which is not necessarily a good management technique.

Clearly there is a place for all laughter in society and each of us has a little of the four traits above with some more dominant than others.  It is clear though that in the workplace it needs to be considered, and remember humour, however well-judged cannot remedy bad management, unfair wages or poor working conditions.

One of the best times to inject some well-considered light-hearted dialogue is during meetings. American Express OPEN revealed that 33% of employees spend almost 1200 hours a year in meetings that they consider to be pointless, that equates to 30 weeks!  Of these people, 43% end up dis-engaged from the subject and start thinking about the errands they need to do, You Tube videos or answering their emails.

Most people have just a 5 – 10 minute attention span when there is no call for interaction, so a meeting with a seemingly endless power point and droning voice is not going to light any intellectual fires.  By insisting on brain-storming, ideas sharing and group inclusion, meetings become work sessions, they are shorter and those wasted hours are now productive hours.

Selby Marketing Services is an advocate of the workplace humour initiative.  If you would like to experience this first hand, just send us your next handing and fulfilment brief.  If you are happy with the costs and you choose to immerse yourself in the group, you will get free goodwill and positive vibes from the team, complimentary stress-management throughout the activity and a long and happy working relationship with some great people!

Well it’s looking pretty golden for Selby Marketing.

We’re not sure whether we’re in Autumn or Winter.  The sun is shining, the leaves are turning golden and falling but the temperature was down to 4 degrees this morning! Too cold for us, we’ve not aired our vests yet!

For those who don’t know, we won Gold in the Handling and Fulfilment category at the IPM COGs awards at the end of September, we have won three new clients over the last few weeks and have several new activities under way. Bragging rights are allowed.

We’ve been around for almost 30 years and like many small businesses, it’s not always been plain sailing.  Of course we have had good years and bad years, but we are confident that this will be a Golden year!

We know we are good at what we do and can handle pretty much everything the marketing world can throw at us.  The tricky part is proving that to a business that has not yet enjoyed our services.

Thankfully, many of our new contacts come from recommendation and the word of our existing clients.  This loyalty is worth it’s weight in gold.  By being promoted by those who have experienced what we can do (something they would not do if we weren’t up to scratch of course), our supporters are putting a stamp of approval on our efforts and results.

If you would like to have a chat about a promotion or campaign that requires any aspect of handling and fulfilment we’d be happy to hear from you.  Give Julie a call on 0161 339 5132 or email [email protected].

Here’s a sample of some of the comments we’ve received from our clients.......

o   Rest assured, you still shine as a beacon to great service, brilliant delivery and general all round Northern niceness in business.

o   Another good job!!

o   It’s your hard work and great service that keeps us loyal

o   I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all your support over the years. You have always gone over and above to support our requests and enabled us to provide an effective service to our Clients.  After working with you for so long I feel like you’re part of our team!  

The Edinburgh Fringe festival is in full flight. 

A whole host of acts and exhibitions across the arts from names both internationally renowned and newcomers alike.  Imagine being a “start-up” in that environment!  Terrifying.

However, we all have to start somewhere and it’s always better to be surrounded by people who have honed their craft and are there to offer advice.

When it comes to Handling and Fulfilment we have a vast knowledge and years of experience.

That’s what we pride ourselves on.  As one of our regular clients you would soon discover that one of the team is at the end of the phone to offer clarity, advice or a sense check on your activity. We don’t even have to be working on a promotion with you at the time.  We are in words of a large grocery outlet – “Happy to help”.  It’s not a cliché, we really are, and if you have a sense of humour then we’re even happier.

From POS distribution, Customer Service Handling, Loyalty Schemes, On Pack, Product Sourcing, Direct Mail, Warehousing to name a few, we can help.

Anyway, back to the Fringe…………

“I’m not a fan of the new pound coin ………but then again, I hate all change”!  Ken Cheng 2017

Here’s the list of groaners!

Over the weekend it became apparent that to succeed you have to dig deep and just keep moving forward!

Forgive the brag but t’other half performed a feat of endurance that would make many feel quite poorly.  Yes, he ran a marathon, great! Loads of crazy fit people have done that (not me of course, I’m built for comfort), but it wasn’t just a marathon, it was 26.2 miles up and over Snowdon Mountain in North Wales.  He was among a group of a few hundred deranged runners who did this, and before I witnessed them all finishing I was at a loss to why they would put their bodies through this torture.

My husbands stock answer when I ask is “because I can, and the day will come when I can’t”, I kind of get that, but not enough to make me want to do anything so extreme.  But watching the different ages, shapes, sizes and genders come into the finishing lane, it became so much more understandable. Their drive, determination and obvious months and years of training was quite mind blowing.  For some it was definitely not easy but they did it! They fulfilled their potential.

Positive energy.  That’s it!  That’s the answer.  Without it you can’t achieve your goals, you have to believe you can do it.  You put one foot in front of the other and keep going until you’ve reached your goal. 

That is what we will do for you when we take on your promotion.  We will take the brief, look at any potential problems, review them and put our best foot forward.  We’ve definitely put the ground work in!  28 years of it in fact, so we’ll be among the “elite” runners! At the front and finishing at a sprint.

If you have a promotion that requires a well trained, elite handling team, just give me a call on 0161 339 5132 or email [email protected].

I look forward to hearing from you.

Stay positive,

As “fulfilment practitioners” for almost 30 years we should hope so otherwise what’s the point?  Thanks to the creativity in the industry, no two days are the same at Selby Towers and there is a real feeling of satisfaction when a promotion or marketing piece runs through the building from the print room to the despatch vehicle and on to the end recipient with no hiccups!

How Does this Happen?

The first thing we need is a good brief!  Have you told us exactly what you want from us?  When does it start and end, how does the customer apply, when does it need to land with the recipient and have we agreed how it should go?  There are so many options for packaging and delivery and it will all impact on the finished product.  It might look great on the screen, it might still look good sat on the bench in our workroom but will it withstand the rigours of several conveyor belts and a trip across country?  Start at the end and work back.  We are there to help with that, we plan and advise the best solution to minimise risk. It might mean more money, but it’s better than disappointment and a tarnished reputation.  After all we are the last partner involved who has any investment in the product and the promotion and we don’t like complaints!

So, back to the brief……..

Try to think of the “what if’s”, and if you think you have it all covered run it by us for a second opinion.  Of course things can happen that no-one could foresee but generally it is better to have a contingency before the event than to have to deal with the fall out when it’s gone “Pete Tong”.  Part of this scenario are the serial cheaters!  Though in a minority, they do exist and they know every trick in the book, they can also spoil the promotion for legit entrants so make sure your T’s and C’s are as tight as possible, again think of the “what if”.  Even with that covered, what are your tolerances? How many times will you send a replacement to someone? How strict are you going to be?

So, Customer Service?

Is the customer always right?  I know what I think but that is irrelevant!  You need to decide with your CRM team how things are going to go. Benefit of the doubt is always a good place to start, and is most often the right approach, but our experienced team will know when to listen to the alarm bells and will look to you for guidance on how you want things to play out. Be ready, avoid delays in getting back to the consumer at all costs, it’s just not pleasant!

 Success?

How many redemptions do you expect?  Have you insured against over redemption, are you confident in your calculations or is it while stocks last? There are considerations for both a successful promotion and one that might not be so popular.  How quickly can you replenish stock or what are you going to do with the pallets of stock left over?  Both are an extra cost to the promotion, but with our reports we’ll be able to give you the heads up and help predict and manage the outcome. 

And Finally…….

The promotion has gone really well, customer queries were low, redemptions were on the money and all the stock has gone, bar those few you kept back “just in case”.  So, what next?  Raise a glass with Selby Marketing and start planning the next big promotion!

Selby Marketing Services Limited have been in the handling and fulfilment industry since 1989.  Still family run with a long standing management team.  The whole team are fully engaged in the promotions that come through the doors and a friendly atmosphere makes every day “fulfilling”.