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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »Happy HolidaysThursday, December 23rd, 2010  Another year has passed and we hope all our regular readers have enjoyed our usual sprinkling of thoughts on the world of marketing, market research and the world of business in general. 2010 saw confidence return to the global economy (albeit a tepid return!) with sectors such as the chemical industry starting to spend again following a turbulent 2009. In 2010 we also saw a greater emphasis on ROI and delivering action orientated findings following greater demand from clients to justify their budget spends. We also saw more prominence on customer engagement as clients began to realize that B2B customers are looking for an experience and not just a transaction (this probably accounts for the reason we saw customer satisfaction and loyalty research continue to increase in 2010). As we look forward to 2011, nobody knows quite what it will bring but one thing we can be sure of is that with the recent explosion of Blackberrys, iPhone’s and tablet computers, digital media will play a more prominent role in how marketers and market researchers speak to their markets in the future. We wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas holiday and a prosperous New Year. B2B Blog Team London’s Business Confidence Index – Wave 4Tuesday, October 19th, 2010  Calling all SMEs that are based in London – let your voice be heard! Business Link in London’s quarterly Business Confidence Index has been providing an in-depth analysis of the recession’s impact on London’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) since July 2009. The findings from previous surveys have been greatly received and widely published, delivering a useful tool for tracking and forecasting the optimism of London based businesses. For a synopsis of the previous surveys findings visit: http://online.businesslink.gov.uk/London_files/BCIMarch2010.pdf In the latest Index, over 3,000 small businesses are going to be interviewed about business confidence during the final quarter of 2010. The Index will also explore strategies that SMEs have adopted to reduce the recession’s impact, their levels of optimism and growth prospects for the year ahead. Please keep the momentum going by taking part in this survey, the only one of its kind to speak with such a wide ranging collection of business decision makers in London. For a few minutes of your time we are offering anyone that takes part the opportunity to receive a FREE synopsis of the findings which is invaluable market information. The survey is being carried out by B2B International. Therefore, please be assured that all answers will be entirely confidential and not passed back individually to Business Link in London. If you are interested in taking part please send an e-mail to bci@b2binternational.com before 1st November 2010 The Chinese Golden WeekFriday, October 15th, 2010  In her first Thursday Night Insight, Jingyuan Guan discusses Chinas tourist boom during Golden Week and the impact this has on travelers. With the week-long Chinese Golden Week holiday now over, the domestic tourism industry reached a peak during the year. These national holidays were first started by the government for the PRC’s National Day in 1999 and are primarily intended to help expand the domestic tourism market and stimulate domestic consumption. The Golden Weeks are consequently periods of greatly heightened travel activity. On that first Golden Week, in October 1999, the government was astounded that 28 million people opted to play tourist in their own country and dug deep into their pockets to spend $1.62 billion. Traveling is very common during the holidays and traveling to big cities is a must for most Chinese tourists. Shanghai and Beijing are the most popular tourists destinations, others include Hangzhou, Xi’an, Hong Kong and Xiamen. In Beijing, the number of tourists reached nearly 10 million, a 24 percent increase from last year. That’s almost half of the Capital city’s current population. Shanghai is also a major tourist hotspot during Golden Week, with 8 million tourists attracted to visit the Shanghai Expo. The Chinese Tourism Academy forecast before the holiday that the number of tourists on China’s mainland could surpass 200 million during the week-long holiday, while tourist income is expected to be more than 100 billion Yuan ($14.7 billion), an increase of 25 percent over the same period of last year. Added to it are the economic spinoffs such wild spending sprees generate, and the value to the economy is likely three or four times higher still. So many people on the move at the same time has made Golden Week travel a nightmare. Think Christmas week three times a year. Flights are overbooked, trains and buses are jammed and the highways are congested in every direction. And once travellers do get to their longed-for destination, more often than not they find tourists sites mobbed, hotel rates sky-high and even soft drink vendors charging ridiculous prices in hopes of cashing in on the bonanza. Such seasonal peaks in demand offers considerable opportunities to marketers, high demand and limited supply enabling vendors to charge high prices for their products. During these holiday periods, hotels charge exorbitant rates, flights are only available at full fare and even the price of soft drinks and snacks rockets. It can be argued that the tourist industry is highly seasonal, and that the tasty profits available during these peaks travel seasons actually compensate for less profitable business at other times of the year. Having said that, such fluctuating prices can be frustrating to the average consumer, and I suspect that many travelers would prefer for hoteliers, airlines and other tourist-related businesses to spread their costs throughout the year rather than to bundle them all into one short period of time. Many people in China only have free time to travel during national holidays, and it does seem unfair that only people with flexible working hours can benefit from lower prices at other times during the year. Seasonal pricing can serve to alienate many consumers by denying them from enjoying price offerings available to others. I would personally like to see companies in China’s tourist industry develop a more sophisticated range of products that cater to different segments of the market and are less exploitative to the average everyday customer. Therefore, properly assessing the need before making any move is a sane decision. Am I going to take a long-distance trip to see a particular resort with a ridiculously priced flight ticket and large crowds of people everywhere or stay at home and relax? And so it is at the outset of any particular research project that I always ask clients to ask themselves to understand whether research should be commissioned and what type of research will be able to help them. The first question that should be asked in the research planning stages is “does the information you seek already exist within your organization?” If not, what is the problem you are looking to answer and to set the respective objectives and goals for the study:
For more information on what questions you may want answering and how market research can help deliver business intelligence to your organization visit Frequently Asked Questions In Market Research Small Business Owners OptimisticWednesday, November 4th, 2009 
According to the latest American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor conducted in August, 55% of small-business owners are optimistic about near-term business prospects. This is a notable increase from the 45% who said the same when the semi-annual study was last run in March of this year. 763 US-based small-business owners were interviewed in the telephone survey. Among those businesses reporting growth opportunities for their companies, 44% admitted that these opportunities had come about as a result of less competition in the marketplace. Yet in spite of the seemingly growing optimism, 63% of respondents still do not think the worst of the US economic difficulties are over. 17% of the small-business owners claim they risk going out of business within the next six months. 68% said they are “stressed out” by the current economy and, for 31%, it has caused them to question their decision to become entrepreneurs in the first place. A similar study which we conducted recently for Business Link in London among small business owners there also showed optimism remaining high for the next 12 months. In spite of feeling the effects of the credit crunch, a half of business owners that we spoke to are looking to fuel growth through ramping up marketing activity, 4 out of 10 are looking to diversify into new markets, and a third are looking to launch new products. If you are the owner of an SME in London, we’d love to hear from you. To take part in future waves of this important study, please e-mail us and include your name, company name and London borough where your business is based. Customer Loyalty and SatisfactionTuesday, October 27th, 2009 
On the customer satisfaction page of our website, we state the following: “Most companies lose 45% to 50% of their customers every five years, and winning new customers can be up to 20 times more expensive than retaining existing customers. Just a 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase profits by 25% to 85%, depending on the industry.” There can be very little doubt that retaining your existing customers – especially those most profitable ones – is vital under any economic conditions; never more so than when times are tough. Indeed, as reported in CCF Online, customer service author Colin Shaw, who spoke at the recent Call Centre Expo, is adamant that a recession is the ideal opportunity to galvanise customers and create strong customer loyalty. While competitors may allow customer service to take a back seat when times are tough, now is the opportunity for you to focus on improving the experience of your customers. According to Shaw, some of the key questions we as companies should be asking are:
Some telling stats reveal that many companies only have themselves to blame when it comes to customer churn. On average, of the customers that leave, it is because:
This would indicate that four out of every five customers leave because of the actions – or inactions – of the company. Ironically it can be small things – which are more often than not easy to action – that go a long way towards making a customer feel valued, keeping a customer happy and, more importantly, encouraging their loyalty. Don’t overlook the importance of keeping your customers satisfied. Why not read more about this subject in the following white papers:
Better still, call or e-mail us to see how our tailored customer satisfaction programmes can help you maintain customers for life. « Previous Entries Next Entries » |
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