How Much Is Your Customer’s Trust Worth?
Identity theft, while once thought to be a minor issue, could dry up multichannel contact center sales. Companies must determine their data privacy and protection strategy to gain and retain customers’ trust. Without their customers’ trust, companies are bound to lose just about everything.
Who knew the crime of the century would be attacking the very same data companies have been working for years to collect, organize and use? Data thieves, that’s who. In fact, the theft of the very information that is the lifeline of contact centers and CRM operations is now more profitable than illegal drug trafficking, according to U.S. Treasury Adviser Valerie McNiven.
Could Identity Theft Dry Up E-commerce?
As a leader in your company’s contact center and (IRM practices, you’ll know that cyber crime has come front and center. While companies are strategizing how best to utilize customer data, thieves are learning new ways to steal it. Consumers are learning that the danger they are in is growing exponentially.
What is the impact of data theft to your company, your customers, their trust and subsequently your bottom line? It’s insurmountable, unless the need for data privacy and protection moves from the server room and the legal beagles to a corporate-wide customer strategy in which every employee is responsible for protecting customer data. Cîartner’s recent study about online security shows customer confidence is rapidly eroding. If customers’ confidence continues to erode, how many of them will be willing to buy on the Web, disclose personal information or offer credit card information to contact center agents when placing orders on the phone?
The Role Of The Media In Alerting Consumers
Why is identity theft a hot topic right now? Part of the reason is that criminals have gotten much better at data theft. Another key component is the increasing awareness on the part of consumers. Several years ago, when the Ponemon Institute interviewed consumers, most did not fear identity theft. They did not know how prevalent it was or the effects it could have on their lives should they fall victim. As such, they did not pay much attention to it or demand changes from companies.
However, this is all about to change. Identity theft stories appear almost daily on every major cable news program and newspaper. It’s even discussed in publications such as Parade Magazine and Popular Mechanics. Via this saturation coverage, the media is obliterating the naïveté of consumers, driving the heightened outrage of customers and the need for change.
In researching further, we found that part of the reason customers have not put more pressure on companies to do something is that they were under the impression that credit card theft, for example, would not affect them very much. I he facts, however, are astounding. Consider the following:
* According to the FTC study, nearly 10 million consumers were victimized by some form of identity theft in 2004 alone. That equals 19,178 people per day, 799 per hour and 13.3 per minute. Consumers have reportedly lost over $5 million, and businesses have lost an estimated $50 billion or more.
* Between 2001 and 2002, identity theft was about 11 to 20 percent, but increased by 80 percent in 2003, according to a Harris Interactive Study.
* Gartner reported that phishing scams have affected 2.4 million Americans, costing consumers, banks and merchants $929 million.
* The Secret Service and the FBI recently busted Shadowcrew.com, an online shopping bazaar for identity theft criminal organizations where thieves from all over the world bought and sold credit card numbers and identity documents.
* And while many credit card consumers thought that zero liability meant zero damage when their cards are stolen, all are quite surprised when they learn the truth. When a card is stolen, it can take years of paperwork and lost time and result in embarrassment, limited access to loans and the ability to buy property or qualify for a new job.
The Data Decision: To Protect Or Not Protect
With the most recent report of identity theft in which the VA’s office reportedly lost the social security, name and address information of 26.5 million veterans and as much as 80 percent of active military service members via a stolen laptop, we are again reminded of how vulnerable we are. The list of companies reporting data theft, including ChoicePoint, Bank of America, T-Mobile, DSW Shoes, LexisNexis and the University of California Berkeley, just keeps growing. Why? Because most companies, when building their databases, did not foresee the danger of data theft or this new type of crime. With each evolutionary step we take to improve business comes a parallel challenge. In this case, the challenge is protection.
The Emotional Impact Of Customer Data Theft
One of the most surprising findings of the California Public Interest Research Group and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse study, “Nowhere to Turn: Victims Speak Out on Identity Theft,” has to do with customer trust. While the financial impact of I.D. theft is certainly great, the worst is the emotional impact the situation creates. Stress, emotional trauma and damaged credit reputation were among the most difficult aspects to deal with. Victims reported feeling violated, helpless and angry. Consider if that is how most of your customers feel when they have trusted you with their data.
Marketers Express Hope for Sweeps, Even in Wake of AFE “Curtailing”
When confirmation came during DMA Circulation Day that American Family Enterprises has been reduced to a skeleton crew and some test programs with an uncertain future, few in attendance at the late-January event seemed surprised. (See page 17 for specifics on AFE’s status.)
In the wake of the prolonged sweepstakes crisis and AFE’s 1999 filing of Chapter 11, followed by its decision to get out of sweeps entirely last September, most consumer marketers seemed to agree that the news was sad but anticlimatic. The industry has had three years to absorb the shock of seeing the stampsheet mailings of AFE’s American Family Publishers and those from Publishers Clearing House reduced almost overnight from one of its biggest subscription sources to virtual trickles.
According to knowledgeable estimates, during the pre-crisis peak years of 1995 and 1996, American Family Publishers’ sweepstakes mailings produced about 20 million subscriptions per year.
The highly public crisis centering on the stampsheet agents also spurred major publishers to make large investments in non-sweeps package tests and shift to less profitable and renewable sources, in order to get out of sweeps as rapidly as possible: Time Inc. once relied heavily not only on its AEE division but on its Guaranteed & Bonded sweeps programs. Now, according to some sources, Time is the last Time Inc. title to use sweeps–and it, too, may drop the incentive. Sweepstakes pioneer Reader’s Digest and its sister titles have also worked overtime to significantly reduce dependence on sweeps business.
Yet, sweepstakes continue to show signs of life within the publishing industry, as well as within other types of direct marketing. Sweeps and fast-50 promotions continue to be used by quite a few smaller publishers (consultant Gordon Grossman counted 39 titles using them as of 1999) and by one or two larger ones, including American Express Publishing.
And now that the public furor has calmed down, some executives predict that sweeps will make a fairly rapid comeback. “It would be difficult to exaggerate how serious the sweepstakes crisis has been for circulation marketing,” said Ken Godshall, senior VP, partnership marketing and new business development, Time Inc. Consumer Marketing, during DMA Circulation Day. Noting the news from AFP, he also confirmed that “almost every Time Inc. magazine has withdrawn from sweepstakes marketing and returned to non-sweepstakes direct mall of one kind or another.” Nevertheless, he said, “I predict that sweeps will make a comeback in the next couple of years. It will be on a new footing. It will be fun and simple. It will almost certainly come from a company other than Time Inc.”
Like other consumer marketers, Godshall also points to a notable improvement in results of this year’s major PCH winter mailing as a heartening sign.
“I’ve been encouraged by PCH’s recent performance in the mail, and have high hopes that they will not only rebuild their direct mail business on a sounder footing, but connect it intelligently with the online presence they’ve developed in PCH.com,” he said.
As of early February, results were still coming in from the January mailing, which had about a dozen segments, according to PCH executive director, public relations Pete Pedersen. However, Pedersen confirmed that the mailing has yielded “significantly more subscriptions than we’d planned on.”
Pedersen acknowledged that current mailing volumes are still far smaller than in pre-crisis days. However, he points out that this year’s plan was based on last year’s plan, “and while weren’t able to reach those goals last year, we’re exceeding them this year.” Pedersen also noted that PCH significantly increased its prospect mailing in the second half of 2000 and is adding a mailing of “pretty good size” in this year’s first quarter.
“People assume that we’re happy to see what’s happened at AFE, but we’re not, because they were a strong competitor and it’s a negative for the publishing industry,” Pedersen said. “But it has no effect on our business. We continue to be committed to sweepstakes. We believe that sweepstakes are not only viable, but a strong marketing tool.” Pedersen says that improved creative and lists are helping results, but that he attributes the upswing “mainly to the absence of negative publicity.”
Veteran circulation executives also point out that sweepstakes have demonstrated their resiliency on other occasions in the past. While nothing ever approached the cataclysmic nature of the late-’90s crisis, stampsheet efforts have been periodically challenged almost since their inception.
Response dipped and recovered after each such challenge (including a PCH agreement in the early ’90s to adjust its creative to settle actions by the attorneys’ general of 14 states). The difference this time around, however, is not only the severity of the repercussions, but the industry’s apparent awareness that promotions can never again be allowed to edge over the line between salesmanship and misrepresentation.
P&G’s packaging initiatives are driving billion dollar sales success: innovation in package design enhance product performance
Procter & Gamble is a recognized leader in the development, distribution and marketing of superior Fabric & Home Care, Baby Care, Feminine Care, Family Care, Beauty Care, Health Care and Snacks & Beverages products.
With contributions from: Jim Monton, Director of Beauty Care Science: Paul Sheppard, Associate Director, Cosmetics & Fragrances; Cheri Stevenot, Associate Director; Deodorants & Personal Cleansing,; Rich Baginski, Associate Director; Skin Care Packaging & Development
Q: What were your top achievements in 2003 in business and packaging?
A: Beauty care has been extremely strong across all units–hair care, skin care, cosmetics, personal cleansing and deodorants–contributing to total company sales of $50 billion, which is a 27% increase since 2001.
In Beauty Care, over the last several years, we’ve sustained double-digit growth in volume sales and earnings. This suggests how well we’re winning with the consumer. Last year we added a $1 billion brand, Olay, and this year Head & Shoulders is our newest $1 billion brand. Pantene has just surpassed $2 billion. So we’re really proud to have a stable of brands that are showing sustained growth.
Over the last 15 years we took Pantene, which was a niche brand, and built it into a global powerhouse. The new package, introduced in 2000, is a global package design that has allowed us to leverage that brand’s equity and growth.
Our Pantene Japanese business has experienced significant growth this past year. This is due in part to the new packaging. We used the same package, but dialed up the pearlescent color to a bright white with gold accents and that really made it stand out on the shelf and achieve a new image. We’ve also added refills, which are popular in Japan. That has also added to the line’s growth.
The most recent addition is the Relaxed and Natural line, targeted for African-American consumers. We took the same package and delivered it in a different set of colors to that target group. It has exceeded expectations. We’ve also introduced the Daily Moisture Renewal and Full and Thick Lines, building off the same package but leveraging gold and black graphics.
Herbal Essences, very familiar to North American consumers, has sustained wonderful growth in Europe, China, Southeast Asia and, most recently, Japan. We acquired that from Clairol and it’s just a terrific packaging design that has allowed us to leverage it around the world with sustainable growth. Herbal Essences has really set the trend for packaging on the shelf over the last five years.
Our newest $1 billion brand, Head & Shoulders had a wonderful expansion in Korea and is now the #2 brand in the country. Again, we’re expanding solid global packaging designs, both aesthetic and technical.
The relaunch of Aussie, another Clairol acquisition, really stands out on the shelf with its bright violet packaging. It has sustained nice growth this past spring and we’re very proud of it.
In Skin Care, Olay is our crown jewel. This past year we launched Regenerist, which builds on the previous success of Total Effects and creates a multi-tier line. The package design and graphics have really helped make Olay the #1 facial moisturizer and cleanser.
Cosmetics has also had nice initiatives in the packaging arena. Max Factor Lipfinity and Cover Girl Outlast Lipsticks have both had new primary and secondary packaging, which have really helped build those brands, also complemented by Fantastic Lash mascaras.
Deodorants have really perked up over the last few years, a lot due to packaging. Old Spice High-Endurance Invisible Solid uses co-injected packaging technology to leverage the male design on that brand. Our Secret brand is also quite innovative. Secret Platinum Peach Simmer uses holographic labeling and it’s really targeted towards teens. We also have new ergonomic roll-on packaging for the Latin American market.
In the Personal Cleansing category, we’ve now got Olay Moisturinse, a moisturizing body rinse in the shower. We’re trying to expand the personal cleansing market and that’s doing very well.
Q: What industry issues concern you and why?
A: The clutter and confused shelf is high on our radar screen. Shopping is difficult for the consumer. It’s hard for them to find what they want and break through the clutter. Our challenge in packaging is to reinforce our equity, stand out on the shelf and be transparent–that is, easy to find, easy to understand.
Behind the scenes, our customer distribution systems are another concern. They’re getting increasingly sophisticated, higher speed and lower cost and, because of that, they can be more damaging to our packaging. The damage rate is becoming an increasing problem. We’re working hard with our customers on this.
Q: What are the trends in your market and how is your packaging addressing them?
A: A.G. Lafley, our chairman, repeatedly says, “Innovation is the life blood of any business but especially the beauty business. The consumer is the real boss and the end users of our brands. P&G and retailers can collaborate a lot more to deliver a better shopping experience. At P&G, we are choosing to work with leading retailers to reinvent the beauty shopping experience.”
Delivering heart health: the FDA is allowing an increased number of health claims that link dietary components with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
Vaughn Hansen had just turned 51. Having recently completed a year’s apprenticeship, he was looking forward to a new job in metal working that would provide his family with a solid income and enable their high school son to attend college.
On Christmas Eve, increasing nausea, cold sweats and a very slight pressure on his chest drove Vaughn to seek out the local hospital’s emergency room. Diagnosed with pneumonia, he was given an antibiotic and sent home. The antibiotic did indeed help reduce the symptoms, but four days later, Vaughn died of a massive coronary.
This story is true. This story, or ones much like it, is repeated hundreds of thousands times every year. According to the American Heart Association (Dallas), cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills over 930,000 Americans each year and was the cause of 38.5% of all deaths in 2001 (with more women than men dying of the disease in every year since 1984). Its economic toll is estimated to be $368.4 billion in 2004. Costs include healthcare and lost wages … but not a child’s missed educational opportunities or the hardship visited upon friends and families left behind.
A Regulatory Thumbs Up
Risk factors for CVD include genetics (e.g., a determining factor for cholesterol levels in some), environment (e.g., stress, pollution), socio-economic status (e.g., access to healthcare and information) and behavior (e.g., diet and lifestyle including exercise).
Although overall CVD statistics include deaths from non-diet-related conditions (such as congenital heart defects), and research indicates that exercise may play a role even more important than diet in heart disease (1), both the healthcare community and consumers are well aware of the importance of food choices and food components to cardiovascular health.
Indeed, the diet-health link is so strong that the FDA allows cardiovascular health claims in association with a variety of foods and dietary supplements. Although food marketers can make cardiovascular health claims for foods with reduced levels of certain nutrients such as fat or sodium, the list for products containing healthful components is longer and continues to grow. In order for a product to make a health claim associated with the presence of a beneficial ingredient, other criteria–such as maximum fat levels–must also be met. FDA health claims are allowed for:
1. Fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain fiber, particularly soluble fiber. Some 0.6g soluble fiber must be present per reference amount without fortification. (2)
2. Dietary soluble fiber, such as that found in whole oats and psyllium seed husk. Foods that contain whole oats must contain at least 0.75g of soluble fiber per serving, and those that contain psyllium seed husk must contain at least 1.7g of soluble fiber per serving. (2,3)
3. Whole grains. Foods must contain at least 51% whole grains (which must contain all three layers of the grain: the endosperm, the bran and the germ). (4)
4. Soy proteins. Foods must contain 6.25g soy protein per serving. (5)
5. Sterol and stanol esters. A food must contain at least 0.65g of plant sterol esters per serving or at least 1.7g of plant stanol esters per serving. (6)
6. Potassium. In October 2000, the FDA authorized the claim “Diets containing foods that are good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.” (7)
Additionally, the FDA allows qualified health claims for:
7. Tree nuts (such as almonds and walnuts) and peanuts. A “qualified” health claim has been approved for nuts. “Qualified health claims” are statements that must be qualified to convey to the consumer that the noted diet-disease relationship is supported by less than significant scientific agreement. (8,9)
8. Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). The FDA encourages manufacturers of dietary supplements to limit suggestions of intakes to 1g or less per day of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. (10) The FDA has been petitioned to allow a similar health claim for foods. (11) And, recently, the agency said it would allow foods to carry a nutrient content claim for certain omega-3 fatty acids. (12,13)
9. B-vitamin dietary supplements. Part of the claim may read: “As part of a well-balanced diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 may reduce the risk of vascular disease.” (14,15) Folic acid is known to reduce homocysteine levels, important risk factors for CVD. Another vitamin (B3 or niacin) was physicians’ treatment of choice for lowering cholesterol before today’s more effective prescription medications. It has been shown to decrease LDL and increase HDL in a way not dissimilar to some statin drugs.
Waiting in the Wings The FDA has received petitions on other components positively associated with cardiovascular health. For example, a health claim has been requested for vitamin E dietary supplements (for 100-800IU/day depending on the form). (16) Much evidence exists for the CVD benefits of vitamin E and other antioxidants, both in supplement and food forms. (17) The FDA previously ruled against allowing a claim linking antioxidants (which would include vitamin E) to reduced risk of cancer.
A tale of two cities: get ready for “Paris on the Potomac.”
Visitors who traditionally flock to Washington in April to admire the cherry blossoms might puzzle this spring at prominent advertisements on bus billboards and and metro brochures hawking a new marketing theme: a three-month citywide festival called “Paris on the Potomac.” Museums will showcase Montmartre artists; cycle tours will appreciate French architecture along Pennsylvania Avenue; and cafes will serve crepes and cafe au laits on the National Mall.
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This celebration of all things Gallic in a city where two years ago Congress banned the phrase “French fries” from its cafeteria menus might raise a few eyebrows–especially as it’s coinciding with a sudden White House rush toward rapprochement with France, in part to solidify support for U.S. policies in the Middle East. Could the same Rovian puppeteers suspected of planting friendly “reporters” in press briefings and closing doors to presidential town halls on dissenters also be jingling the strings behind D.C.’s new pro-French P.R. blitz?
As it happens, tracing the festival’s origins reveals less sinister forces at work. It all began one afternoon in the fall of 2003, in a cozy 4th-floor conference room in the downtown offices of the city’s hospitality industry association, the Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation. Huddled around the table that day were a dozen directors and marketing gurus representing the city’s premiere cultural landmarks, from the National Gallery of Art to the Shakespeare Theater to the Kennedy Center. This group, christened Washington’s “cultural steering committee,” had first convened at the behest of Mayor Anthony Williams in the weeks after 9/11, when fear of future attacks and locked doors at such popular sites as the White House had transformed downtown into a tourism ghost-town. The committees mission was to showcase the city’s oft-overlooked cultural, attractions and lure back sightseers, with their fanny packs and disposable dollars. They had already orchestrated, in the summer of 2002, a successful citywide promotion entitled “Jacqueline Kennedy’s Washington,” weaving events around a Corcoran Gallery exhibit of the former first lady’s enviable wardrobe, and tours of her Georgetown homes (local restaurants caught the spirit, offering such specials as cream-filled meringues shaped like pillbox hats).
At this particular monthly meeting, the committee’s convener, a feisty local historian named Kathy Smith, asked the members to whip out their exhibit calendars and scan for lucky coincidences that might suggest future festival motifs. The National Gallery of Art’s formidable press chief Debra Ziska announced that a renowned expert on Parisian history had agreed to curate the most extensive exhibit ever staged Of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings, set to open in late March 2005. Heads nodded, duly impressed. The representative from the National Museum of Women in the Arts chimed in that a show featuring French impressionist Berthe Morisot would also run that spring. And the Shakespeare Theater’s director revealed that during the same season curtains would raise on Alfred de Musset’s classic French drama, Lorenzaccio.
To Ziska, the opportunity was obvious–a few major exhibits and a French play, each of which required months of wrangling with directors, art collectors, and international loan agents to stage, were coinciding, and during spring’s tourist high-season to boot: This surely called for a French-themed fete. As she recalls, “I proposed it, and people pretty much jumped on board.”
An ideal festival motif, after all, boasts a few blockbuster shows to entice visitors to Washington, but also allows ample opportunity for other galleries to participate by fashioning related exhibits, hopefully giving visitors enough reason to stick around that extra day in Washington. And what museum doesn’t already have some French art in its collection? From the Corcoran Gallery, with its restored 18th-century Parisian parlor room, to the Textile Museum, proud owner of French paisley patterns, to the Spy Museum, which houses artifacts on Cardinal Richelieu’s espionage network, nearly every gallery could, with a rummage through its closets, devise relevant exhibits.
Then someone raised an uncomfortable topic: Would current political tensions with France dampen the festival’s appeal? This gave some members pause; a few awkward glances were exchanged. Then Smith rallied the group, reassuring them, as she recalls, that “politics shouldn’t be an obstacle to promoting culture.” Drawing on her knowledge of the city’s history (she’s the author of a book, a musical, and high-school curriculum on the annals of municipal D.C.), Smith extolled what perfect sense it made to celebrate the French in Washington: “We’re a city designed by a Frenchman, Pierre L’Enfant. We have public parks and boulevards like Paris. Washington really looks like a very European city.”
Over the next few weeks, the committee tested the waters, floating the idea by local hotel and restaurant managers. The response was enthusiastic and encouraging. Hotel sales teams eagerly devised such confections as the Fairmont’s “French poodle package” (a hotel room comes with croissants, cafe au lait, and a pink plush poodle toy), and K Street restaurant chefs swooned for an excuse to fortify their menus with escargot, filet mignon, and kit royale. And with that, the festival was on.
Working with a solicitor to get new business: how to use external marketers to expand your practice - Cover Story
* IN THEIR SEARCH FOR NEW CLIENTS, CPAs with wealth management practices may wish to pay outside marketers to solicit business on their behalf. Additional good referral sources include CPAs who don’t themselves offer these services or other professionals such as insurance agents who want to expand what they offer their clients.
* IN ADDITION TO GAINING PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE, outsourcing the prospect-generation function can help to reduce a firm’s staffing costs. External marketers typically are paid fees based on the revenues the referred clients generate for the firm.
* SOME CPAs HAVE BUILT SUCCESSFUL WEALTH management practices by paying other CPAs for referrals. Others turn to professionals such as insurance agents as a source of new business. The idea is to find someone who understands the firm’s business so he or she can identify genuine prospects.
* STATE AND FEDERAL SECURITIES REGULATORS monitor paid arrangements between investment advisory firms and solicitors, depending on whether the firm is registered with the state or with the SEC. SEC regulations require that the solicitor give the prospective client a copy of part II of the adviser’s form ADV and a separate disclosure document spelling out the arrangement between the solicitor and the adviser.
* INVESTMENT ADVISERS REPORT A WIDE VARIETY of compensation arrangements with their outside marketers. Many pay the solicitor a percentage of the revenues the client generates each quarter. This percentage increases if the solicitor becomes more active in helping to manage the client’s account.
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A CPA firm has assembled a top-notch staff for its new wealth management practice and is now ready to provide comprehensive personal financial planning and investment management services. The business plan calls for the firm to offer these services first to existing clients. The venture’s next goal is to land new accounts. While it’s a sound plan, the firm needs to know how best to identify new prospects and convince them to become clients.
While the CPA credential is synonymous with technical expertise, that knowledge doesn’t automatically translate to the marketing and sales skills needed to attract new clients to a wealth management practice. Once CPAs expand beyond traditional accounting and business consulting services, they no longer are competing solely with other accounting firms–they’re up against brokerage firms, private banks and other financial planners. Many of these entities aim significant resources at the same prospects a CPA firm plans to pursue.
One solution to overcome a lack of sales experience is to pay outside marketers to solicit prospective clients and introduce them to the firm. These individuals can be experts who make their living finding clients for others, CPAs who don’t themselves offer investment management or even other professionals such as insurance agents who want to expand the range of services they offer their clients. All can be excel lent sources of new business. This article explains how CPAs can work with each of these resources to build their investment management practices, plus some of the regulatory challenges they face in doing so.
THE CASE FOR OUTSOURCING
There are two frequently cited arguments in favor of hiring an external marketer to find new clients. First, the practice allows CPAs to work with other professionals whose sales experience and interpersonal skills complement their background. Mark J. McGaunn, CPA/PFS, CFP, president of MJM Financial Advisors LLC in Acton, Massachusetts, made a career change to financial planning and wealth management two years ago after working as an auditor and accounting manager. His goal was to create a “family office” where clients would delegate all of their financial responsibilities to him including investments, bill paying and the like.
Because he lacked a roster of existing clients, McGaunn started from scratch. He initially had focused his marketing efforts on traditional channels–advertising, joining the local chamber of commerce and so on–but didn’t have much success in attracting new clients. He then met a man with 18 years experience selling life insurance who wanted to expand the range of financial services he could offer his clients. Both recognized that combining their skills could provide a mutual benefit. “I was looking for someone to complement my technical skills,” McGaunn says. “He preferred the relationship side so our strengths complemented each other, and he offered to become my referral source for new clients.”
A second behest of outsourcing the prospect-generation function is that it reduces a firm’s staffing costs. Experienced financial services sales professionals (such as bank new-business trust officers), command annual salaries in the $50,000 to $100,000 range plus a percentage of the investment assets they bring in. In contrast, hiring an external marketer–called a solicitor by the SEC–typically requires no up-front outlay; fees are based on revenues the referred clients generate. “I’ve been associated with larger accounting firms–total staff of 300 or so–that hired a full-time marketing person,” McGaunn says. “Someone with my resources can’t afford that kind of commitment.”
Modern folding cartons fight fierce retail competition: new carton printing technologies and unique structural designs help give product marketers an edge on store shelves
In the battle to corner the market, holding on to prime retail shelf space is a brand manager’s best line of defense. Like an ocean view, the retail shelf has become an intensely valued commodity because of its limited availability. Consumer package goods (CPG) manufacturers rely heavily on packaging to help deliver the goods and move them off the shelf.
“CPGs no longer have the luxury of putting a brand out on the shelf and waiting a couple of years to see if a product has good sales,” explains Tony Petrelli, vice president of marketing and business development at Caraustar.
Since new products don’t get a lot of second chances CPG companies have to constantly drum up new packaging ideas to stay at least one step ahead of the competition.
For their folding carton converters, this means more than simply retooling machines and tweaking substrates.
Recapitalize, stay competitive
Printing presses are more capable than ever before. Not long ago four-color stations sufficed. Today’s market now demands at least 10 printing capabilities. “Eight colors and two coating options,” says Don Droppo, Jr., vice president of marketing at Connecticut-based Curtis Packaging.
Droppo recently invested in two UV 51 inch KBA Rapida presses to stay competitive. One printer has eight color stations, the other has seven. Both have coating capabilities. The advantage of a two press configuration is that it jobs can be switched from one press to another, but the printing will be identical. Color dispersion coating and drying capabilities allow metallic inks such as gold, silver, platinum or bronze to be added at the start of the process or during press operation. After drying time, additional colors can be added over the metallics.
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The two new machines will not only ramp up run-times–top speeds can reach 15,000 sheets per hour–but also have the capability to do enhanced graphics, including simulated hot stamping and foil in one pass.
What were once considered “special jobs” are now industry staples, especially in the high-end luxury marketplace where functional and utilitarian packaging is not an option, where creativity is king.
But the beauty does not have to be just skin deep, and it doesn’t have to be just visual. Curtis Packaging is investigating new technology that would allow “scratch-n-sniff” scents to be printed directly on cartons. This technology is already available from Rock-Tenn. Gary Miller, Rock-Tenn’s marketing director; says, “Being able to apply it directly on the package takes out a lot of labor and other costs.”
Multi-million dollar capital investments like these are not unusual, or infrequent, as technological enhancements keep pace with the changing marketplace. To stay competitive, converters have to recapitalize. Specifically for this reason Rock-Tenn has invested in a high-speed, wide web, four-color digital ink jet press from Belgium-based dotrix NV, a division of Agfa, for its folding carton line.
The digital press, called the.factory (pronounced “the-dot-factory”), is in beta testing for Rock-Tenn’s point-of-purchase displays. Besides the intensity and consistency of the color output, digital printing is ideal for smaller runs that require variable copy or graphics, customized printing, on-press proofing and sampling.
Regional and store branding, are also demanding design nuances for folding cartons as a way to muscle in on the competition and vie for shelf space.
the.factory’s fast changeover suits the trend of smaller print runs. Runs can even be prepared off-line to aw)id interference with the printing process.
Plastic cartons show clear benefits
Even though plastic cartons are more expensive than paperboard, plastic carton suppliers like VTS Imperial and AGI/Klearfold, a MeadWestvaco company, are working overtime to keep up with customer demand.
And, being the first to use a plastic folding carton can really shake up a market segment, as GlaxoSmithKline’s new Aquafresh toothpaste, Extreme Clean, has proven.
“When you look down the toothpaste aisle, you’ll see a lot of different things, but there’s nothing like the Aquafresh package,” explains Pat McGee, marketing manager for AGI/ Klearfold, GSK’s plastic carton supplier. However, AGI/Klearfold first had to show that the carton could stand up to the competition and stand out on the shelf.
To maintain the carton shape, AGI/Klearfold uses its proprietary SoftCrease[TM] procedure to produce scores that fold cleanly and hold their shape. The Extreme Clean carton can also run interchangeably with standard paperboard cartons on GSK’s high-speed filling lines, giving them production flexibility.
The benefit of plastic is its transparency, which marketers see as a built-in selling advantage since consumers can see right through the carton to the primary package inside.
Shape of things to come
So how do converters distinguish themselves in the marketplace if they’re using the same equipment and providing similar services all the way down the line?
Flexible Mortgage Guide
In today’s ever-changing world, people need more and more flexibility when it comes to borrowing and mortgages. With this in mind, more and more lenders are offering what they term as ‘flexible’ mortgages. However, the term ‘flexible’ can mean a lot of different things. If you are unsure about which mortgages are flexible and what the benefits of a flexible mortgage are, then this article might be helpful to you.
What does flexible mean?
Although there are a lot of mortgages that claim to be flexible, there are some things that define a truly flexible mortgage. There are four main characteristics you should look for when determining if a mortgage is flexible. These are:
· Being allowed to overpay
· Being allowed to underpay
· Being able to take payment holidays
· Interest is calculated daily
Overpayments
One of the best features of flexible mortgages is the ability to overpay. With traditional fixed repayment mortgages, there is no easy way for you to pay more than your fixed repayment each month. If you have a flexible mortgage, then you will have the ability to pay as much as you can each month. This means that during the good months you can speed up the process of paying your mortgage back. If you regularly overpay then you can save yourself thousands of pounds in interest payments.
Underpayments
Underpayments are another useful feature of flexible mortgages, but they should be used sparingly. If you are unable to make the repayment in a given month, then you can just pay as much as you can, effectively underpaying on your mortgage. Although this is good as it stops you from defaulting, there are penalties involved. The more you underpay, the longer the mortgage will last or the higher your repayments afterwards will be.
Payment holidays
Payment holidays are similar to underpayments, but they let you completely halt payment for a period of time. Although this might sound appealing, there are usually restrictions. Lenders will not let you take a payment holiday unless you have overpaid in the past, and after your holiday you will have to overpay again to get the repayments back on schedule. However, payment holidays are useful for people who are self employed or who want to take a break from work for personal reasons.
Other benefits
Another benefit of flexible mortgages is the ability to borrow back money from your mortgage. If you have overpaid in the past but are now in need of extra cash to fund home improvements or some other purchase, then you can borrow the money back that you have overpaid. Although you will be changing your mortgage terms again, getting a loan at the rate of your mortgage is the lowest personal loan rate you can possibly get.
If having flexibility and the chance to overpay and underpay is important to you, then you should definitely opt for a flexible mortgage.
In today’s ever-changing world, people need more and more flexibility when it comes to borrowing and mortgages. With this in mind, more and more lenders are offering what they term as ‘flexible’ mortgages. However, the term ‘flexible’ can mean a lot of different things. If you are unsure about which mortgages are flexible and what the benefits of a flexible mortgage are, then this article might be helpful to you.
What does flexible mean?
Although there are a lot of mortgages that claim to be flexible, there are some things that define a truly flexible mortgage. There are four main characteristics you should look for when determining if a mortgage is flexible. These are:
· Being allowed to overpay
· Being allowed to underpay
· Being able to take payment holidays
· Interest is calculated daily
Overpayments
One of the best features of flexible mortgages is the ability to overpay. With traditional fixed repayment mortgages, there is no easy way for you to pay more than your fixed repayment each month. If you have a flexible mortgage, then you will have the ability to pay as much as you can each month. This means that during the good months you can speed up the process of paying your mortgage back. If you regularly overpay then you can save yourself thousands of pounds in interest payments.
Underpayments
Underpayments are another useful feature of flexible mortgages, but they should be used sparingly. If you are unable to make the repayment in a given month, then you can just pay as much as you can, effectively underpaying on your mortgage. Although this is good as it stops you from defaulting, there are penalties involved. The more you underpay, the longer the mortgage will last or the higher your repayments afterwards will be.
Payment holidays
Payment holidays are similar to underpayments, but they let you completely halt payment for a period of time. Although this might sound appealing, there are usually restrictions. Lenders will not let you take a payment holiday unless you have overpaid in the past, and after your holiday you will have to overpay again to get the repayments back on schedule. However, payment holidays are useful for people who are self employed or who want to take a break from work for personal reasons.
Other benefits
Another benefit of flexible mortgages is the ability to borrow back money from your mortgage. If you have overpaid in the past but are now in need of extra cash to fund home improvements or some other purchase, then you can borrow the money back that you have overpaid. Although you will be changing your mortgage terms again, getting a loan at the rate of your mortgage is the lowest personal loan rate you can possibly get.
Independent Insurance Agents Unite! Insurance and Financial Discussion Forums are all the Rage
The online discussion forum has emerged as the medium of choice for many Americans. Most recently, forum platforms like vBulletin, Infopop, and Snitz have enabled the novice webmaster to host and moderate their own forum. One of the areas that needs this type of medium the most is the Insurance and Financial Industry.
To give you a little background, the online discussion forum is an updated version of the old bulletin board of the nineties. Members can join, post, and browse topics at will. Free speech and a candid mood makes it all the more enjoyable. Some discussion forums even allow members to chat amongst themselves (is it a chick or a pea?) in private areas or send “PMs” (private messages) to each other if they do not want to share it among the other members of the forum. The thing that makes these more modern forums better is the fact that new posts and replies to posts are immediately sent to the subscribers email inbox.
So why is this good for the Insurance and Financial Advisor Industry? Well, there are several reasons. One is the fact that people out there need answers but are often intimidated by Insurance consultants and the like. Clients often do not want to be solicited to as a result of their simple curiosity…but they still need answers to critical and often confusing Insurance and Financial Related topics.
Take the Life Insurance Buyer for instance. Often times, they get on the internet, compare quotes and rates for term life insurance, whole life insurance, or universal life insurance only to get more confused. These clients need a way to communicate on an impartial, and perhaps anonymous basis with a professional who can help. What fuels the fire is the idea that these “window shoppers” may turn into clients for those Industry Professionals who earn that client’s business through helpful assistance.
The other half of the public that participates in the forum format is the Insurance Agent or Financial Advisor. These members will answer questions posted at large to the forum and help the client with their questions. Insurance Agents and Financial Advisors (such as Bankers, Investment Brokers, and Mortgage Brokers) can also share information amongst themselves.
All the while, this online discussion format creates a virtual database of information ranging from investment issues, to health insurance issues, to life insurance issues. The forums are “searchable” and open for all to view and make use of.
Lastly, a benefit of these online discussion forums for insurance and financial advisors is the idea that members (and guests) can advertise their service. Advertising on a forum comes in the forum of “links” to the member’s website, hyperlinks to their email address, and paid advertising links and banners that can be prominently placed by the host of the forum.
So if you ever have the need to discuss your insurance, financial, or investing situation, look for an online discussion forum - they’re becoming increasingly popular!
Stop Selling Insurance!
Whenever I conduct a workshop or give a talk to a group of agents, I ask how many of them are in the business of selling insurance. Inevitably about 25% raise their hands. My response to them is, “If you’re in the business of selling insurance you’ll have a hard time succeeding because NO ONE WANTS TO BUY INSURANCE!â€Â
No one wants to buy insurance. Not homeowner’s, auto, life, health or disability… They only want what the insurance provides. They only want the benefit. Believe me, if people could get the benefits they wanted in some other way, they would. So,… if you “sell insurance†success will be tough. On the other hand, if you’re in the business of helping people it’s a different story. Now, you might protest that the distinction is simply a matter of semantics, but there are fundamental differences between having a sales focus and having a helping focus.
This difference affects pretty much everything a person does along with how they do it. If they have a sales focus, their focus is on making the sale! Everything from the initial contact to the presentation to the close to the follow-up is done from a sales perspective. Marketing, contacting, presentation, and follow-up are from a product and/or company perspective. On the other hand, a person who is focused on helping rather than selling will understand that the service they provide (helping) is what matters and the insurance they offer is simply the means to achieve the solution they create.
Let me illustrate what I mean. Here’s how a sales-focused person contacts: “Mr. Jones, my name is Bob Smith and I am with the ABC Insurance Company. We have a full line of products to meet your needs. I’d like to set up a time to show you our products and explain how they can solve your problems.†The focus of the entire exchange is on selling their insurance products. In contrast, a person focused on helping, contacts this way: “Ms. Jones, my name is Sue Smith and I help people protect their assets/reduce employee turnover/leverage their financial security. Is that something of interest to you?†They understand that they are a professional offering help, rather than a salesperson selling products.
There are many other distinctions related to taking a professional, helping approach over a selling approach, and they have significant implications. Professionals help rather than sell. They have clients instead of customers/policyholders. They build relationships instead of conducting transactions. They offer solutions instead of sales. They attract clients instead of pursuing customers. People buy from them instead in being sold. They find cooperative opportunities instead of competitive obstacles. Think of the implications from these distinctions. We’ve always heard that people do business with people they like, and people like people who help. You’ve heard the term “trusted advisor� This is what we’re talking about. It occurs when you shift from selling to helping. Imagine having clients who are eager to refer others to you.
When you adopt the attitude of a professional and take the focus off the products, guess who the focus falls on? You! You become the service that clients buy. You become valuable. You become a resource. You become an expert. Clients don’t look to insurance policies for answers, they look to you! One of the greatest challenges in arriving at this mindset is becoming clear as to what makes you unique so you can communicate it effectively to your prospects and clients. I often work with my clients on clarifying their purpose and identifying their unique strengths so that their marketing and leadership is effective.
An interesting challenge we face is that we tend to downplay our strengths, especially if they come easily to us. We tend to take them for granted and we tend to assume that everyone has the same (or better) abilities. A very revealing exercise I often ask clients to do is to ask five people they know for five traits that make them excellent at what they do. (My suggestion is to ask people who aren’t family. Ask clients, friends, and associates.) You may be surprised at the results. I find that the responses fall into three categories. 1) You’ll hear things about you that you and everyone else already knew and will thereby get confirmation, 2) You’ll hear things that you already knew but didn’t think anyone else noticed, giving you new insights as to what people notice and value, and 3) You’ll hear things that you never knew about yourself; things that never occurred to you to be a trait that others would value.
These traits and insights are the things that set you apart from all the others out there. These are the things that cause people to do business with you. These unique traits will help you be more effective as you contact new prospects, present your ideas, and generate referrals.
I find that when people aren’t clear about what sets them apart and aren’t clear about their purpose (Inotherwords, why they do what they do) they end up leading with their products and their company. They rely on the strength and credibility of others instead of leading with themselves. The goal of every professional should be to become credible in their own right. That doesn’t necessarily becoming the foremost expert in their field, but it does mean becoming excellent at what they do as a professional – helping others. It means finding new ways to help. It may even mean helping in ways other than with insurance. You can become a resource for information or a networking source of contacts within your community. You can offer advice in other areas of business or life (other professionals are more than happy to provide you with article and insights you can pass on).
The whole point of this is to stop selling insurance and start helping people. It’s been said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, and it’s true. The interesting consequence is that when you take your focus off of selling and place it on helping, you’ll attract more clients, generate more referrals, and sell more insurance. Life is good…