Je viens de tomber sur une fiche produit du site LDLC.com, que je trouve assez bien optimisée pour inciter au cross-selling. En effet on y trouve deux types de cross-selling : un cross-selling “accessoires” et un cross-selling “produits complémentaires”. Le fait de les présenter de deux manières différentes, l’une très concrète avec image et prix, et l’autre plus simple où le nom des produits est cliquable.

1. Cross-selling accessoires :

En-dessous du descriptif du produit, on trouve une sélection :

Accessoires (en cliquant sur le bouton commander, vous ajouterez directement l’accessoire dans votre panier)

L’un des challenges des sites marchands est d’arriver à augmenter le panier moyen. La simplicité de l’achat d’un produit additionnel sur le site LDLC.com est bien mise en avant (en un clic il est dans mon panier, sans sortir de la fiche produit actuelle). De plus, la couleur vert et bleu des boutons attire le regard.

Le choix de mettre plus en avant les produits cross-selling que les produits up-selling est lui aussi intéressant : il est relativement facile d’ajouter à son panier un petit produit. L’up-selling est tout de même présent, mais en liens textes simples. Bravo LDLC !

Encore un petit billet sur cross-selling, dans le domaine de la langue.

Urban Dictionary est un dictionnaire d’argots proposés, édités et votés par des internautes. (Urban dictionary is the slang dictionary you wrote).

Voici sa façon de cross-selling. D’abord, une newsletter comme tous les jours (si vous vous êtes abonné)

Puis, par le click, j’entre dans la colonne de “Mugs” du site  avec le mot imprimé sur le verre. 7 designs est à votre choix.

Or, tout simplement, au dessous de chaque mot sur Urban Dictonary, cliquez sur le bouton “Buy a mug”.

De plus, T-shirt et chapeau de Urban Dictonary sont aussi disponible grâce à Zazzle, un site de produits personnalisés.

Voilà, n’hésitez pas à laisser votre commentaire.

Here’s a starter list of company-centric buzzwords and their co-creation alternatives.  Read on and let me know if you have other terms to add to the list.  I’ve started at the top of the alphabet, and I’ll look forward to sharing the latter letters with you in the coming weeks.

Advertising campaign: hammering customers with one-way messages aimed at numbing them into passive acceptance of an intellectualized view of the company’s value developed by top executives, and then creatively interpreted by an advertising agency guided by its desire to win a prize at the Advertising Awards ceremony.

The co-created alternative: in the development of an ad campaign, replace some of the agency’s pony-tailed types with some imaginative, equally pony-tailed customers, who’ll work with you to develop material based on their actual experience of your product and will do it in the hope of becoming half-famous.

Alignment: cracking employee heads until they agree with the top-down message and accept that they’ll be assigned metrics they don’t in any way influence. Use “metric” rather than the now passé “measure.” Definitely stay away from “KPI” (key performance indicator), reserved for veterans of failed quality campaigns of the ’70s and reengineering drives of the ’80s.

The co-created alternative: let the experience of rank-and-file employees co-shape the strategy map and its measures, on the silly argument that since they’re the ones doing the work, they’re more likely to align themselves effectively if they’ve participated in the strategy-making (with some top-down guidance by the chiefs).

Branding: apply a burning-hot iron on customers’ foreheads to encourage their identification with the company’s products and image. Tattoos on intimate body parts are second-best. T-shirts are for wusses.

The co-created alternative: allow the brand to “bubble up” as the collective experience of all customers, employees, and stakeholders, on the Woodstock-like belief that if they rock with each other in the mud for a while, some good music will ensue and you’ll sell lots of records, particularly to people who wish they’d been there.

CRM (customer relationship management): guessing at what customers like by bombarding them with mailings, calls and visits until they buy something, therefore revealing a “profile” that entitles the company to send them more stuff they don’t want at increased frequency and at lower cost.

The co-created alternative: let customers co-design the relationship they want to build with you, i.e., move away from using hackneyed pick-up lines in the singles bar, sign-up on eHarmony, and find the type of love your potential partners are looking for.

Cross-selling: getting customers to drink more from the fire hose, on the argument that since the hose is already there, it costs the company less to market that way than if the company had to find you in the first place.

The co-created alternative: everybody hates being sold. It makes people cross (this is the little-known etymology of the term cross-selling). But people will buy experiences. The best experiences are co-created. Customers don’t mind a hose if they get to design the hose experience (or the hose itself).

Data-mining: the art of gathering FBI-like data on you and reducing your bubbly personality to the sum of transactions the system can identify about you. Blame data-mining if your last unpaid credit card bill at Wal-Mart and your back-stage-at-Led Zeppelin possession conviction disqualify you for a discount at Jiffy Lube.

The co-created alternative: news flash! Customers know more about themselves than you do. Rather than poking at the ceiling to try to figure out what the woman in the apartment upstairs is about, get up there, knock at the door, and see if she’s willing to share some part of her life with you. This can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I just arrived from a cross county car trip in the USA after spending years in Europe and the Middle East.  Here are some thoughts about my country I garnered from this journey:

1) The government seems to be on top of the illegal problem south of the border.  I  wase stopped at a checkpoint in Texas where they were hunting for illegals. I was also stopped in Tennessee, and Iknow that because of my tag the officer wanted to look in my trunk.

2) It is going to take some time to get used to customer service again. In a Waffle House each customer was greeted with shouts of “Hello!” from all the employees as they walked in the door. People asked me how I was doing today in there and in another restaurant. Workers apologized for delays.  A highly placed bank officer dropped what she was doing and notarized my car title on the spot. I am in wonder land.

3) Southern ladies have not lost their cordial, genteel nature.

4) Texas is huge. It took all day and night to get through. Unfortunately, west Texas is ugly. (Apologies to anyone from there.)

5) I went through the home of three presidents: George W, Bill Clinton and Andrew Jackson.  I ate lunch in Midland, W’s place.  I asked the guy making my coffee at a Starbucks what it was like living in the home of George W. Bush.  He didn’t answer. Must have been a Democrat.

6) In addition to customer service, I am also going to have to get used to cross selling again.  In the same Starbucks, a nice young woman persevered in trying to get me to buy a package of their new instant coffee. I told her I didn’t like instant, and wanted my latte. That didn’t stop her. Still, they do have some tasty instant. I tried a sample.

7) Virginia Tech football fans are nuts for their team. They booked every reasonably priced room along the interstate near Blacksburg for 30 to 40 miles. They packed the restaurant I was in, and the game had ended 30 miles away and 2 hours before.

There is nothing like the night shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Cross-selling is a selling technique which involves a company selling a product to a customer, then brings there attention to a product that can be used to compliment the one already purchased. A great example of this is with Amazon.com. You have probably noticed this when you add a product to your cart on Amazon, you see an offer below saying customers who bought x also bought y, or may we recommend the following add-ons.

Now, up-selling simply involves cross-selling items that obtain a higher profit margin or higher value. A company’s sales strategy should always involve cross-selling and up-selling to increase their sales revenue.

There are several ways to encourage customers to buy additional products:

• Responding to the customers needs – It is important when cross-selling that the agent the customer is talking to is friendly and easy to talk to. In the majority of cases, a customer agent is tied to a script which they have been trained to use, this can often be frustrating to the consumer. The agent has to be polite at all times, and answer every question fully and correctly. This makes cross-selling and up-selling easier, as the customer responds better to an agent they like.

• The agent’s knowledge of the product – A sales agent must be highly knowledgeable on the product range they are selling. This is very important. The agents have to be able to explain to the customer (with some conviction) why they need the product, and why they should pay more for it. Why should the customer buy x instead of y? They should know all this so that they can convince the customer and successfully cross-sell their products.

• The advantages of the product – Most of the time agents fail to fully explain to the customer the advantages of taking such an offer. It is important for the customer to be able to visualize how the product will be useful for them. Give them the best mental picture possible for the product you’re trying to cross-sell. A customer will tend to get excited when they can actually picture what it’s going to be like using the product. Once a customer knows what they are getting, you can then go in for the cross-sell or up-sell.

• The cross-sell and up-sell technique – After taking down customer details, talking about the main product, and the cross-sell and up-sell, the customer may tend to feel a little overwhelmed by all the information. If the customer rejects the cross-sell or up-sell, there’s a very good chance that they will reject the main offer all together. So to prevent this, talk about the main product first of all, and get them to buy that. Then take down the caller’s information before offering them the cross-sell/up-sell. This way they will be more incline to go in for everything.

InSO have great experience in selling, as we have the pulse of the audience, professionally trained staff, and we always exceed the client’s expectations on cross-selling campaigns. Call our team of experts now on 626 531 6080, or click here for a free quote for our offshore order taking services.

One of the funnier scenes in the movie “Big” is of two co-workers speculating about the main character’s past. Where did he come from, this usurper who has captured the boss’ ear? The camera pans to a picture of the man on a milk carton – as the boy he really is – with the tagline, “Have you seen me?” I watched that scene with my younger son who didn’t get the joke; he is of a generation blissfully unaware that such things were once all too necessary.

Those pleas for missing children have now moved to the internet but milk carton ads are back. Some are targeted to kids on smaller, lunch-sized cartons and others to adults, on gallon jugs. Ads on larger cartons are usually for products that one would naturally pair with milk such as cereal and cookies or those that require milk as an ingredient, like powdered drink mixes. Advertisers must walk a fine line when they advertise to kids however, being careful not to be too promotional. They can feature a licensed character but not with a directive to go to a store to purchase a character-based product. Promotional partners like Duncan Hines have also directed shoppers to the milk aisle in the now famous “Got milk?” spots. Ad spends may be down overall but milk cartons are one segment where there’s been no drop-off in sponsors.

A recent report indicates that despite the recession, supermarket shoppers would rather save time than money, giving high marks to being able to find what they need quickly. Many of us have experienced the brain drain that occurs at the end of a long work day when we stand slack-jawed, trying to choose what’s for dinner. Some turn to the recipes on soup cans and other convenience foods. But those are of questionable quality and we are in the throes of an obesity epidemic. I personally shun any recipe that involves cream of mushroom soup. Food companies could work with supermarkets to create and promote fast but healthy meal suggestions. I know that forcing customers to walk the length of the store for staples is planned to increase the size of their spend but it is annoying. I’m not saying that grocers should jettison traditional store layouts altogether but ingredient adjacencies sold with easy, printed meal prep would create loyal shoppers. It would also increase word-of-mouth advertising, something we’d all like more of.

Den Spruch kennt man nur zur gut. In meiner Kindheit hieß es das vor allem beim Metzger. “100gr Schinken, darf’s ein bisschen mehr sein (108gr)?“ „Gerne“ „ Darf‘s denn sonst noch etwas sein?“ „Ha noi (=nein)“.

Nach inzwischen wohl rund 10 Jahren „Cross-selling“-Gehirnwäsche durch Berater, Marketingmenschen und Analysten kann man einer Abwandlung der „Darf‘s denn sonst noch etwas sein?“ Frage im täglichen Leben nicht mehr entkommen. Wenngleich Cross-selling in vielen Bereichen ja Sinn machen kann, so ist es inzwischen doch zur Unsitte verkommen den Verbraucher damit ständig zu verärgern. Ein leider alltägliches Beispiel:

Abgabe eines Paketes bei der Dt. Post. Bezahlung. Fertig. Aber halt, da kommt noch ne Frage von der netten Angestellten.  „Sie sind doch sicher Huk Coburg Haftpflicht versichert?“. „Ahh ne – aber ich brauch auch keine  Haftpflicht mehr, hab schon eine!“ Vielleicht soll ich ihr aber sagen, dass ich noch 100gr Schinken brauch? Vielleicht haben die das hier ja auch?

Na ja egal – weiter mit dem Einkauf. Haarwaschmittel brauch ich noch. Mist auch hier macht mir das Crossselling (bzw Bundling) wieder nen Strich durch die Rechnung. Leider scheint mein Lieblingsshampoo den Conditioner geheiratet zu haben (Fachbegriff gebundelt). Zumindest sind beide fest durch ein Plastikfolie verbunden. Ein Single-Shampoo von der Marke scheint nicht mehr auf dem Markt zu sein. Na ja vielleicht sollte ich bei der Post mal nachfragen – die scheinen ja vieles zu verkaufen.

Endlich zuhause. Prepaid Internet verlängern. Call-Centermensch ist freundlich, klappt alles wie am Schnürchen. Super. Und dann kommt’s: „ Darf‘s denn sonst noch etwas sein?“  – “Kabel, Handy, festnetz, Bundesliga live, …..” Klar nehm ich alles noch  mit, macht ja nur 300 Euro im Monat. Okay, bin ehrlich: “Hab schon alles “– Halt, Shampoo brauch ich noch. Ob die das dort “ungebundelt cross-sellen”?

Genug – liebe Marketingmenschen, Berater, etc,  bitte

a) Nur cross-sellen was Sinn macht, und das bitte zielgerichtet nach Kundengruppen.

b) Bundling heißt nicht das man einfach verschiedenste Produkte zusammenklebt und dann als eins verkauft.

c) Geht doch mal selbst einkaufen und hört Euren armen Mitarbeitern zu. Die scheinen genau zu wissen, dass das Schwachsinn ist.

We all have “aha” moments. Some are the good kind when you arrive at the very thing that has been eluding you. You slap the side of your head and say, “why didn’t I think of that before?” Then there is the bad kind, when all your best intentions go awry. You slap the side of your head and say, “what was I thinking?!” Either way, there’s pain involved. None more so than when you see a commercial or a product that is truly cringe-worthy. It’s so bad in fact, that you may find yourself wondering if the people in the pitch meeting were lacking oxygen.

Bad brand extensions may not be the result of brain damage but they certainly don’t qualify as brainstorms. They’re more like brain breezes – small, slight, and hardly worth your notice. One of the more notorious ones is Cheetos lip balm. Hopefully this short-lived gloss was minus the day-glo orange color but still, who wants to give or get a cheese-flavored kiss? Colgate Kitchen Entrees is another that just mystifies me. They didn’t last very long either. At what point do you make that leap? Toothpaste + chew = veal piccata? The ill-conceived Nascar romance novels amaze me. This brain breeze was the result of a partnership with Harlequin who also must have momentarily forgotten their demographic. The list goes on. Bic Underwear; Lifesavers Soda; and drum roll, please…Hooters MasterCard. Producing that to pay for a business lunch must’ve been interesting.

In an effort to extend your brand, you may be tempted to form all kinds of unholy alliances. But don’t gild the lily with lead paint. I recently wrote about Chipotle’s sponsorship of the film “Food, Inc.” and about Hasbro partnering with Yankee Candle to make scented puzzles. Promotions and product partnerships like those are the result of the best kind of brainstorms. Ones that make you slap the side of your head and say, “now why didn’t I think of that?!”

In a bold marketing move, Chipotle will sponsor free screenings of the film “Food, Inc.” in 32 cities and place promotional material in 860 restaurants. This partnership is unusual for a food chain because the film focuses on unsavory practices within the U.S. food industry. If you’ve read Skinny Bitch or seen the film, “Super Size Me” you may have already gone vegan. I for one might lose my appetite completely after seeing Food, Inc. because it delves even deeper into how and why food arrives on our grocery shelves.

Chipotle’s founder sees synergy in screening the film. He feels that the more the consumer knows, the more he or she will appreciate what Chipotle does. The food chain uses organically grown produce and naturally raised meat. If you don’t know what “unnaturally” raised meat is, you need to know because you will never shop quite the same way again. Food purists like Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and the author Michael Pollan, who does commentary for the film have urged consumers to demand better practices. They argue that organic foods are pricier at present because demand is low. Once people educate themselves about how animals are groomed for slaughter (and there is no better term) and insist on improved methods, prices will stabilize.

When finding a marketing partner, you can do no better than one who shares your philosophy. In supporting the film, Chipotle raises its own profile and highlights its mission statement. It’s a way to reinforce your message with your current consumer base and also a way to reach others for whom cause-related marketing resonates. You needn’t proselytize, the simple fact of the alliance speaks volumes. It’s an eloquent and tasteful marketing move.

What is Cross Selling?

Cross-Selling is a practice of selling an additional item to the customer to increase the overall sales opportunity for a retailer.  Since the basic principle of any retail business is to establish good customer relationship and to have a win-win situation in practice, it is equally important to know whether the customer gets benefited by the idea of cross-selling. Having said this, it is very important to know scientifically which product creates an opportunity to cross sell, or else it would lead to loss of revenue for a retail firm.

With an understanding of the idea of cross selling, one can hypothesise manually on few products which would follow cross selling. But for a retailer with a large number of products, it becomes practically difficult or rather impossible to ascertain the principles of cross selling for large number of products. Are there any scientific options which would statistically identify the opportunity of cross selling and improve the confidence of a retailer to sell more?

Yes, it is possible to examine the hypothesis on cross-selling scientifically and discover relationship among various products. Having found the relationships, a retailer can develop strategies in many ways like, to plan on promotional campaigns or to attract customers or for new product introduction.

Amongst the various statistical techniques available, conjoint analysis help to discover the relationship present among the products. Here customers are surveyed with questionnaires on their preferences to understand the relationship which would be treated statistically to arrive at structured results. These results are put under trial for testing for certain period; these test results then can infer the relevant changes that need to be made before implementing the strategies.

Amongst other popular techniques are Collinearity analysis, regression analysis, cluster analysis. The availability of powerful data analysis software and sophisticated mathematics makes it simple for the retailer to make simple changes in his merchandizing strategies to result in significant increases in his overall revenue.

Retailer’s possession of POS level data presents a huge opportunity to increase revenues with little investments. The technology needed to make put science behind the money is now affordable to the savvy retailer who is willing to embrace the new methodologies.

Jethendra. B. K

Retail Consultant

www.CustoLogix.com

CustoLogix with its wide experience in statistical analysis helps retailer to improve retail profitability through Analytics. To know more about cross selling opportunities please visit CustoLogix at www.custologix.com/services

Ah, the cross promotion, an alliance as old as the Lascaux cave paintings where the artist included an ad for the pigments he’d used. Just kidding. But cross selling is a time honored and often painless way to reach a shared target audience. Joining forces with others in your core competency is the best kind of symbiotic relationship. Offering your partner’s special service, being able to tout each other’s benefits, and getting access to new customer databases is just a few of the “selling” features of cross promotional advertising.

Best Buy and TiVo announced today that they’ve formed a marketing and distribution partnership. Best Buy will promote TiVo products in stores and TiVo will promote Best Buy to their customers. This is a win-win for both. Best Buy gets visibility outside of their stores and TiVo gets in-store access to customers who are still not familiar with their product capabilities, such as streaming movies from Amazon and Netflix, to name a few. This comes at a time when TiVo is working with a drastically reduced ad budget so it must be particularly gratifying.

Best Buy is making all the right moves lately. They do face strong competition from Wal-Mart but this is only the most recent proof that they’ve put together a formidable marketing team that is intent on capturing more market share. They’ve been expanding their categories and now with this alliance, they are extending a hand to help others while also helping themselves.

In an alliance that makes perfect sense, Hasbro and Yankee Candle have partnered to create scented jigsaw puzzles. As innovations go, it doesn’t merit a Nobel Prize but I have to admire its simplicity. Last year, the games/puzzles super category of toys was one of three that enjoyed some modest growth. The demographic that enjoys “puzzling” does so at home, of course. As more Americans entertain at home or have staycations instead of traveling, games and puzzles enjoy a spike in popularity. So it makes perfect sense to pair the stay-at-home experience with something else that enjoys homebound popularity – home fragrance.

When companies seek to form partnerships with each other there is no better impetus than the opportunity to cross-sell. In this case, you know that Hasbro and Yankee Candle are two strong brands that enjoy consumer trust. Hasbro can be counted on to make a great game or in this case, puzzle and Yankee Candle is the market leader in home scents. It’s a match made in marketing heaven. Quiet, yes; groundbreaking, no. But innovation in puzzles is a big deal precisely because it’s hard to come up with ways to make them exciting and different.

So someone had a brainstorm. Alright, maybe a mild squall but still. Partnering with Yankee Candle is a shrewd way to keep current at a time when R&D dollars are precious few. Puzzlers will buy a new, scented one because it’s different. They may select one based on a scent they already have in candle or deodorizer form or the purchase of scented puzzle may just lead them to Yankee Candle for the real thing. That’s the goal, anyway. Very crafty.

Verbraucherstudie: Immer mehr Kunden wünschen individualisierten Kundenservice – Unternehmen wollen mit analytischem, individualisiertem Kundenbeziehungsmanagement Umsatzpotenziale realisieren und aktuellen Verbraucherschutzanforderungen gerecht werden

München, 11.06.2009 – Laut einer repräsentativen Erhebung der Munich Business School ist bereits jeder dritte Kunde von Telekommmunikations- und Onlineunternehmen in Deutschland bereit, sein Nutzungs- und Onlineverhalten von den Anbietern auswerten zu lassen, wenn die Unternehmen im Gegenzug dafür ihren Service genauer auf die individuellen Bedürfnisse zuschneiden. Gleichzeitig zeigt eine Studie des Marketing Service Providers e-Dialog, dass 59 % der Verbraucher ihre E-Mail-Adresse ungern Unternehmen überlassen, da sie fürchten, irrelevante Botschaften zu erhalten.

Für Unternehmen bedeute dies Zweierlei, so der Dialogmarketing-Experte Florian Haarhaus von Alterian, dessen Integrierte Dialogmarketing-Lösungen weltweit von Unternehmen für die individualisierte Kundeninteraktion mit täglich Millionen von Verbrauchern eingesetzt werden: „Einerseits empfinden Kunden unverlangte und nicht auf die eigenen Bedürfnisse zugeschnittene Kommunikationsmaßnahmen vor allem als SPAM – eine Neukundengewinnung beispielsweise auf Basis gekaufter Adressen verbietet sich damit von selbst. Andererseits gibt es ein klares Bekenntnis für Targeted Marketing: Unternehmen, die über eine große Bestandskundenbasis verfügen und ihre Kundendaten genau analysieren, können mittels eines kanalübergreifenden, individualisierten und damit relevanten Kundendialogs vorher unerkannte Cross- und Upselling Potenziale realisieren.“

Laut Bernhard Steimel, Inhaber der Düsseldorfer Unternehmensberatung Mind, der als Sprecher der Kongressmesse für Kunden-Interaktionstechnologien VOICE Days plus 2009 die aktuellen Nöte im Kundenservice genau kennt, haben viele Unternehmen diese Chance längst erkannt: „Kundenorientierte Unternehmen mit hohen Interaktionsvolumina arbeiten seit Jahren daran, mit ihren Kunden einen möglichst automatisierten und zugleich maßgeschneiderten Dialog zu führen. Insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund der gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen, die sich mit der der anstehenden Datenschutznovelle weiter verschärfen werden, sichern sich diese Unternehmen durch intelligente Datensegmentierung und genaue Kundenwertanalyse klare Wettbewerbsvorteile.“

Auch für Dr. Stefan Tuschl, bei TNS Infratest Leiter für den Bereich Modelle und Methoden, „ist es wichtig, sich auf organisches Umsatzwachstum mit den bestehenden Kunden zu konzentrieren, da sich hier durch Steigerung der Kundenbindung mit vergleichsweise geringem Aufwand hohe Erträge erzielen lassen.“ Das liege daran, argumentiert der Marktforscher in der Branchen-Fachpublikation CRMmanager.de, dass gerade die Neukundengewinnung besonders kostenintensiv und die Umwandlung zu einem gewinnbringenden Stammkunden zeitraubend seien.

Adivina quien va a ganar Eurovisión 2009. Así nos empieza a contar  Sir Google que ha montado una página específica donde se muestra la popularidad y calcula la puntuación que podría obtener cada participante de la próxima edición de Eurovisión.

Que le ha pasado a Google? Se ha democratizado?. Me pregunto que hubiera ocurrido si hubieran hecho una página idéntica para las elecciones Americanas. Bien es cierto, que Google ya dispone de algunas herramientas gratuitascomo Google Trens o recientemente Google Insights que nos sireven para calcular la popularidad de las palabras clave, pero es el usuario quien elige introduce las variables. No se si a Google le ha dado una insolación, o bien la crisis está corrompiendo al gigante, pero lo que si es cierto es que últimamente Google está rompiendo algunas de sus promesas, como insertar publicidad de google chrome en el motor de búsqueda, y ahora nos deleita con la página de Eurovisión…porque…no os parece muy raro que no haya insertado publicidad? Google no hace las cosas de manera altruista y por amor a Internet, cosa comprensible, ya que sus empleados quieren cobrar a final de mes, así que, que interés debe haber detrás de todo esto? Dejo la pregunta abierta para que podamos opinar todos acerca de ello.

Artículos relacionados:

Google Chrome promocionado en la home de Google

There has been a lot of conjecture that iPods would draw in Windows users, converting them en masse to Apple PCs. Indeed, many non-Apple households have iPods, but, by definition, they have no Apple PCs. There are also non-Apple households that have portable MP3 players from iPod’s competitors, such as Microsoft’s Zune. Over one-fourth (26%) of non-Apple Home PC households have an Apple iPod, only slightly trailing the 28% that have other portable MP3 players.

Among Apple Home PC households, the gap between iPod and its competitors is significantly wider. Apple commands 58% penetration of iPods among the faithful, while non-iPods have entered one-third as many households, at 19% of Apple Home PC households.

iPods Trail in Non-Apple Households - Apple Profile Report 2008

Looking ahead, the seventh-ranked consumer electronics product Apple households plan to buy is an Apple iPod. However, among non-Apple households, this item is ranked 23rd, with only 7% of households saying they plan to buy an Apple iPod in the coming 12 months. One in nine (11%) plan to buy a portable MP3 player of any brand.

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I was talking to a client the other day and he was clearly in panic mode. All of his customers were cutting overhead, slashing prices, and basically panicking over this troubled economy, envisioning doom and gloom for the foreseeable future. There’s no question, it’s a bit more than just scary out there. And thanks to the media, we are constantly reminded of this nearly every minute of the day. But I like to think I’m a glass half full person and where there is water, we just might be able to turn it into wine. Consider some of the places where your customers may need to cut and the solutions you can deliver:
• Could it be they’ll be cutting traveling expenses to conferences and seminars? Your opportunity: Offer webinars and teleclasses that don’t require travel but still offer a wealth of educational resources from you, the super VAR.
• Are they putting major projects on the backburner or possibly evening canceling them? Your opportunity: Offer maintenance agreements and managed services instead of new equipment that will allow your customer to continue to do exceptional business with existing infrastructure.
• Have they downsized their staff: Your opportunity: Promote your service capabilities and up-sell or cross-sell on services they used to perform in-house.
Look for the silver lining. Leverage your customers’ budget cuts to find more opportunities. Think about all the products and services that you offer that actually might help your customers during these unstable times. If you can help your customers be successful, the wine will be sweet!

Saying good-bye is such sweet sorrow. You like to quit and you need to do it correct. Whatever your explanation is, it is very important to depart the company with pride. No matter how much you wish to leave it is forever best to say goodbye in good conditions. There is in fact no set-up to obey when it comes to writing your resignation letter. Its contents rely on your personal situations. Your resignation letter will be kept on record in the human resources office. This would be the sole record of your resignation: keep it brief, positive, and direct to the point. Start the letter by getting straightforward. Say your grounds for writing and inform them what you have decided on. Be as modest as you muster. Personal circumstances dictate your reasons for leaving. It is proper not to give detailed reasons for going, you may simply state you have chosen to move because of better career opportunities, you may also reason that you want the break for own advancement. For reference, you may need to state the terms and stipulations of your contract. You have to say the date you are intending to go. If you want to leave prior to the completion of your contract period, then this is where you should ask if it is possible. At the end of the letter, ponder stating how appreciative and proud you are to have served with the company and that it was a period well used up with them. Be sure to affirm that your time with the office has been worthwhile and rewarding. Hinging on the size of the institution, you may need to put your identification, department and position. You can concisely assert highlights of your job and principal attainments during your stay with them. To do it properly, you need draft a resignation letter to your direct supervisor, and ask for a dialogue to tender the letter. This meeting and the number of days that follow it will create the primary impression that your immediate superior or administrator will think about your time and value with the company. Tell your supervisior that you will complete and manage the changeover of any assignments that you are currently managing. Remember, it is always appropriate to remain positive. Your office, boss, and colleagues play a key role with your future profession. Never cut ties nor burn bridges.

Franchising is multiplied and growing achievements of a trade. It is a huge and profitable business where there is a mix of effective marking, market weathered notions and successful enterprise.

Fundamentals of Franchising

Franchising involves two entrepreneur entities – the Franchiser and the Franchisee. Franchisee. They are autonomous trade proprietors, but they co-operate on several tasks.

The Franchiser is the principal owner of the trade. As the Franchiser, he has upgraded a business theory that has been tested, packaged and accepted. He also gives the Franchisee the privileges to promote and make use of certain intellectual property rights like the brand names, plans, logos, patents and copyrights. The Franchiser and the Franchisee is tied by a mutual settlement. The Franchisee must abide by the conditions arranged by the Franchiser.

The Franchisee is given the privileges to make us of the Franchiser’s business for a cost. In exchange for this, the Franchiser will supply an wide yet limited scope of backing to expand sales and to bring greater effectiveness to the Franchisee’s industry.

Advantages of Franchising

Franchising can give a more secured option to self employment. When getting a franchise, you are purchasing the rights to maneuver a booming and established product. Acquiring a franchise takes away the blunders that can be made when launching a business from scratch There are a lot of franchises obtainable in almost all commercial space. It has a low bankruptcy ratio and the chances for success are extremely probable. One of the best advantages included in getting a franchise is the assured aid of the Franchiser. Help is at hand on every part of franchising. The Franchiser will conduct initial teaching, set-up, launch and even advertising support and continual help. Numerous Franchisers will carry out operation meetings with their franchisees to discuss all aspects of the business. They will examine your progress, honor and reward your victory.

Getting a Franchise

Acquiring a franchise should be established on proper decision and intensive research. Do not buy a franchise based on the number of outlets it has, or how elaborate their packaging is. Do your share by investigating on the brand, the company history, financial documents and even obtaining data from franchise proprietors. Purchasing the Franchise is merely the beginning of a venture, do not loosen and wait for the Franchiser to do each and every work because that basically won’t happen. Franchising will provide the scheme and a tested approach but it is still your intense work, perseverance and exertion that will be vital in making it profitable. What makes a franchise profitable is the common desire of the Franchiser and Franchisee to continue to add to the increasing accomplishment of the brand.