Images_Digital_Edition_June_2019

www.images-magazine.com JUNE 2019 images 29 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ■ Continuously remove old items This is one that is often overlooked. Take a few moments each day to remove any out- of-date seasonal content and campaigns. Keep on top of your website and ensure that your site looks like it is both managed and professional. ■ Manage loading times Customers are an impatient bunch and often happy to shop elsewhere over the smallest error. Ensure your website does not take forever to load; work with your developer or provider to make sure customers can navigate your website quickly. ■ Clear call-to-action and contact details Ensure all action buttons and contact details are visually easy for customers to find – it will improve your chances of winning the order. Andrew Langridge is from ETrader, one of the industry’s leading suppliers of websites to garment decorators across the UK. www.etraderwebsites.co.uk T here is no doubt that ISO accreditations are helping companies win new business and retain existing customers, providing a stamp of trust for buyers. Larger organisations that generally go out to tender will initially perform a due diligence exercise to narrow down companies with certain criteria to reduce their risk. Many of these companies will be looking for a supply chain that has achieved ISO 9001 –a certification for their quality management system – or QMS. The certification is designed to be applicable to any company across all sectors, whether the company is production-orientated or service-based. Certification is gained through an independent audit of a company’s systems and processes, with on-going monitoring and improvements. The certification requires renewal each year. More recently, and perhaps due to the increased awareness of the eco issues the planet faces, many companies have also gained ISO 14001 certification, which audits the company’s environmental management system. In addition to helping you become a better business through improved management of your environmental impact, this integrated system will help you to manage compliance requirements, reduce waste and improve your brand’s image. The BPMA also felt there was a requirement for an industry specific standard and so created its BPMA Charter membership to develop and achieve significantly higher standards in the promotional product industry. It promotes an elevated level of business practice and customer service, and is an official endorsement of those companies that display its logo. As Charter confers openness, trust, compliance and proven client-driven processes, along with a complete absence of ambiguity, this undoubtedly gives its members a significant ‘edge’ in the competitive stakes. Certainly, distributor members who use it to influence and win new business rarely talk of price being an issue, as the overall value offering is more of a deciding factor. Consequently, Charter membership is growing as companies whose primary strategy is to develop and achieve success over the medium-to-long term look to distinguish themselves from everyone else. Y our business’s website is no different to your store – appearance is everything. Customers will walk straight past a tired, messy and cluttered shop, and the same goes for your website. Customers want the simplest user experience possible. They do not want to be confused, overloaded with information or faced with a difficult-to-use website. They want to go online, order their printed T-shirts and checkout. They are not as excited as most garment decorators are by set-up costs, stitch counts and the number of colours in a print. Strive for simplicity and provide your customer base with an easy-to-use experience and straightforward shopping basket so that they’re not tempted to look elsewhere for their branded clothing. Here are five tips to help declutter your business’s website: ■ Streamline your home/navigation bar This is the spine of your site and holds it all together in terms of accessibility. Make the bar a simple-to-use, informative tool and do not overload it with options and information. Organise it and make it concise for your customer. ■ Less is more Content is a fundamental element of SEO, but sometimes less is more. Customers are after quality, not quantity – do not bombard them with huge chunks of content and information. Be clear, keep the reader’s attention and focus on what information is crucial to them when purchasing or enquiring through your website. Decluttering your website BPMA: THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTIFICATIONS Jon Birrell is CEO at the BPMA. If you have a question for the BPMA, please email editorial@images-magazine.com with BPMA in the subject line. www.bpma.co.uk