Banging the drum

But this month, instead of taking the high ground and talking about issues, I’m going to get right down to talking about some of the things I have been doing over the last few days. So insert your earplugs, because I’m going to give the TCA drum a right good banging!

We’ve just finished updating the member benefits list on our website. It’s only when you get down to listing them that you see what great benefits we provide on top of the basic trade association benefits of representation, information, networking, advice and Code of Practice. We have fantastic member benefits and even a couple of additional Revenue Streams for members.

Professional indemnity insurance is something that independent resellers have been requesting a long time. Ours includes a free check/preparation of proper Terms and Conditions – an absolute necessity for anyone trading.

Our free finance helpline covers issues such as debt collection, legal services, fraud prevention and investigation, asset recovery, lender services, business turnaround and recovery, as well as personal debt solutions.

We also offer a healthcare package from just £1 per employee per week. The potential benefits to the employer by providing this to their staff include reduced absenteeism, improved staff morale and it also helps to recruit and retain staff. For the employer there is even a 24 hour counselling and advice line, an HR helpline, and a health report.

We are an increasingly litigious society, so don’t leave your business or its directors exposed. Our IT legal advice comes from one of the leading IT legal advisors and gives free discussion of any IT contractual/legal issues, free legal audit of your terms and conditions and discounted IT/ecommerce template agreements.

Our channel sales reports for both retail and B2B sales allow you to benchmark your business’ performance. One of our Added Revenue Streams is online debt management solutions for you to sell to your clients, to help them improve their business cash flow and help them reduce the risk of bad debt.

Another Added Revenue Stream is for you to sell insured warranties to your customers. These warranties bring you added income at time of sale, you will get paid for doing your own warranty work (no more worries about being caught in the middle between the vendor/distie’s terms and consumer legislation). This means you can now sell outside of your normal comfort zone, knowing that whatever happens to you, your customers will be covered.

We also offer business information, including credit checking new clients and evaluating suppliers. The benefits of belonging to your channel trade association, for a membership fee of just £10 per month, are too great for us to fully detail here.

But I hope I’ve given you a flavour of some of the things we have been doing. We are really, really busy. And that’s why, dear editor, this column is a bit later than usual!