Hot Irons & Attention Spans

Not surprisingly, research indicates that people have limited attention spans. Some research indicates that it averages out at 27 seconds during which, unless the listener hears something of interest to them, the millions of cerebral synapse connections have delivered something more interesting or pressing to their attention. And whilst it may appear to you that the lights are on - there's actually no one home to your message!

What's worse, according to research, is that once the listeners attention has been lost your chances of regaining it to your advantage are less than 10%.

There are at least two clues here.

One, you have got to get the vital essence of your message across QUICKLY. And two, you have to be speaking to someone who has at least a possible chance of being interested.

I’ll bet you have stood listening to someone rattle on about how brilliant what they do is - in excruciating detail – and you don’t even want to use what they have. Sometimes, when maybe you could use what they have, their drone makes you feel like you just want to disappear through a hole in the floor.

Other times you will have walked away from a conversation with someone and if anyone asked you what they do, you’d have a problem explaining it.

Two of the keys to marketing success are;

1. Knowing exactly what your product is and
2. Getting the best return on your valuable investment of time by explaining it to people who are most likely to want it.

Sound easy? Yes of course it is and yet very few business people actually do it.

If you were going to brand a bull, would you do it with a cold iron; slowly?

VAT a to do?

To register or not to register that is the question.

No matter how you form your business (sole trader; limited company etc) you don't have to register for VAT until (at present) your turnover is at least £64,000 in any consecutive twelve month period. So why consider registering voluntarily before that?

Being VAT registered will allow you to claim back the VAT element on what you purchase. If your business requires you to make significant purchases from VAT registered vendors for resale by you, an unclaimable VAT element can have a significant impact on your selling prices. This factor alone may justify voluntary registration, particularly if you operate in a price sensitive competitive environment or have narrow profit margins.

Of course being VAT registered means you have to charge VAT too, which if, you are selling to the public or mainly non-VAT registered customers increases selling price to them in your role of unofficial (VAT) tax collector.

If, however, you sell business to business (B2B), considering voluntary registration can give you the real advantage of allowing your customers (if they are mainly VAT registered themselves) the opportunity to claim back the VAT element of your bill.

This, like many business decisions, should come down largely to the preferences and perceptions of your customers. In other words, whilst this is a financial issue it is equally an element of your marketing tactics. Quite simply this means that if your customer would prefer to deal with suppliers who are VAT registered then give them that opportunity. Business customers will have a perception of you as a (potential) supplier and your image and even perceived credibility can be enhanced by being VAT registered. It can give the impression of size and substance even though this is illogical, in the mind of your customer – it is real. They do say that “perception is everything” and this is because our reality is dictated by what we believe – even if it is illogical.