| Social Networking, Text Messaging Impacting Effectiveness of E-mail Marketing
JupiterResearch has found that rising popularity of social networking sites and other forms of communication including text messaging and cell phone use are beginning to impact the effectiveness of e-mail marketing, particularly the numbers of consumers that say promotional messages inspired purchases.
According to a new report, emerging forms of communication are leading to diminished use of e-mail. Twenty-two percent of e-mail users said they use social networking sites instead of e-mail, with scores more indicating they have used instant messaging (IM), text messaging, and cell phones instead of e-mail.
In 2007, 51 percent of e-mail users said e-mail inspired at least one online purchase, and 47 percent said the same for off-line purchases. However, in 2008, the share of e-mail users fell to 44 percent for online purchases and 41 percent for off-line purchases.
Consumers' confidence in e-mail has become shaken by irrelevant communications and high message frequency, which are top drivers of subscribers' churn and channel skepticism, says JupiterResearch. People receive such a high volume of e-mail that they are unable to pay attention to every message. It is so important for marketers to be relevant and succinct when they send messages to consumers' inboxes.
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Improved Customer Service Drives Global Market for Portable Shopping Devices
Portable shopping devices and cart-mounted devices are the new store automation technologies transforming the global retail scenario. The market is currently in the growth phase and portable shopping devices have seen widespread adoption in Europe and North America, while the pace is picking up in the Asia Pacific region and Latin America. Faced with increasing competition and diminishing margins, retailers are going the extra mile to overhaul their business models to provide innovative and viable shopping solutions for techno-savvy customers.
To move forward in business, high standards of customer care are required. As it is easier to retain the established customer base rather than acquire new ones, vendors must continue to please existing customers. Delivering enhanced CRM is a surefire strategy for advancing business. These strategies will help promote long-term customer loyalty and maximize customer lifetime value (CLV) and engender customer retention.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan finds that the portable shopping devices market earned revenues of over $59.2 million in 2007. The primary driver behind the implementation of portable shopping devices or mobile self-scanners is the significant improvement in the customer’s shopping efficiency and labor productivity. Using these systems, customers can eliminate waiting time in queues, leading to faster checkouts while retailers can streamline operations and redeploy staff to other functions within the retail environment.
As 25% of personnel are deployed at point-of-sale activities, portable shopping devices enable labor reduction at checkout points and increase labor productivity as well as utilization. Workforce reduction can have positive consequences for organizational success because it enables the utilization of personnel to augment customer relationship management activities.
Though the advantages have become apparent, some factors impede the uptake of these systems. The high cost of installation and the availability of cheap labor, especially in the Asia Pacific region and Latin America, deter widespread deployment.
In the Asia Pacific region and Latin America, labor rates are extremely low, curbing product penetration. Further, there is always a trade off between investing the money in IT and spending the same on other short-term benefits such as price reductions and promotions.
The incorporation of digital signage solutions into store environments can also help increase product penetration. Digital signage helps improve interaction levels with customers at the point of purchase. The process and method of delivery is crucial to generate the maximum effect to achieve well-executed sales strategies.
Overall, the multi-pronged benefits offered by portable shopping devices, such as speed, customized services, and convenience has helped streamline and automate business procedures. Vendors and retailers have found these devices highly advantageous, as they alleviate labor shortage issues and drastically reduce labor expenditure.
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Mid-Market Buyers Want Shorter Sales Cycles Than Sales Teams are Prepared to Provide
The midmarket is the fastest-growing segment of the IT industry, yet midmarket buyers are being poorly served. A new study from IDC's Sales Advisory Service, which surveyed more than 4,500 members of its business to business panel, quantified the level of satisfaction of midmarket customers with the sales engagement practices employed by their IT products and services vendors.
The standard assumptions regarding midmarket buyer engagements are no longer valid. These buyers are more savvy, more technical, and more impatient than most sales organizations realize. Not only do they want a shorter sales cycle, they want more contact with technical resources, not more time with sales reps. To profitably serve this segment, vendors must balance investments between outbound sales reps and phone-based and online resources, without giving up the relationship management that both reps and marketing automation systems can provide, says IDC. The good news is that this strategy will support better territory and individual account coverage.
The IDC survey shows that many of the shortcomings midmarket buyers see revolve around poor communication, which can be easily corrected with training, coaching, and effort. Every buying organization has different expectations, and too often field sales fails to ask customers what they want or make an effort to truly understand their needs. Buyers also give sales representatives poor marks on follow-up and follow-through, finding that responses to their inquires are often incomplete or inaccurate.
Nearly nothing is of greater concern to sales management than the skills their people possess and apply every day in the field. The reality is that midmarket buyers see sales too frequently with incomplete information and a general lack of technical skills, says IDC. In looking for strengths, buyers are very clear about what they want. Many of those desires are based on simply having sales take responsibility for providing not just any answer, but the right answer that meets the buyer's needs. Building sales representative skills is paramount in achieving better performance in the midmarket, and these skills transfer readily to the pursuit of enterprise customers as well.
To succeed in the midmarket, optimizing processes to reach buyers and engage them is critical. Taking stock of what already exists within an organization and what processes are well defined, and making that known to customers, will result in buyers knowing what to expect during the buying process.
With a growth rate significantly higher than the enterprise market, midmarket competition will only become fiercer. Organizations that work smarter and focus on turning every point of contact into a meaningful point of value will thrive. Others, during tougher economic times, will see opportunities stall, or go away, won by those who listen and match their communication, sales skills, and processes to the needs of the midmarket buyer.
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Direct Marketing Employment Holds Steady, New Hiring Still Slow
Direct marketers can expect little change in the employment outlook for the remainder of 2007, but a slowing trend in new hiring continues, according to the latest survey by Bernhart Associates.
The numbers are showing little change compared with summer. At the same time, the new hire percentage continues to show a slow and steady decline, which began about a year and a half ago.
According to the most recent survey:
- 60% of companies responding said they plan to add to staff by the end of the year, down slightly from 61% during the summer quarter.
- In April 2006, when the new hire percentage reached its recent peak, the new hire percentage stood at 72%.
- The record high for the index occurred in the fall of 2005, when it reached 80%.
- 9% plan to reduce staff in the coming three months, up from 7% during the summer.
- 29% expect no change in hiring plans during the coming three months.
- 85% of those surveyed said they are having either a “very difficult” time or a “somewhat difficult” time finding qualified applicants for open positions.
- Only 15% said they are having little or no difficulty.
In some job categories, it’s apparently getting tighter:
- Topping the list of skill sets that will be in highest demand is analytics, resulting in demand for statisticians, database marketing analysts and circulation analysts.
- Account management, sales and creative were also listed as areas where needs will be greatest.
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