Social Moms Lead the Way to Mobile

Moms More Likely to Own Smartphones, Tablets Compared to General Consumers

According to a new eMarketer report, "The Mobile-Social Mom: Speeding the Trend Toward 'Mobile First'," if you want to know who is moving over to mobile social media, look no further than mom. eMarketer estimates that as many as half of all moms with children under 18 in the household will use mobile devices to access social networks in 2012. 

Moms are on the leading edge of a behavioral shift that has marketers and social networks scrambling. They may soon become the first demographic group who will use the mobile phone or tablet more often than the computer to access social networks. 

The change is happening due to a number of factors. Moms are highly likely to own one of these mobile devices; February data from Arbitron and Edison Research found that 61% of total U.S. moms surveyed owned a smartphone in 2012, ahead of the 44% of total consumers who owned one. The percentage of moms who own a smartphone has grown enormously over the past couple of years. As recently as 2009, just 8% of moms had one, according to Arbitron. 

Tablet ownership also trends higher for moms compared to the population as a whole. Arbitron and Edison found in their February 2012 study that just over one in five U.S. moms had one, compared to one in six total consumers. 

And these mobile devices allow moms to log in more frequently: Arbitron and Edison found that 46% of U.S. social networking moms surveyed visited social networks multiple times per day in 2012, up from 37% in 2011 and 32% in 2010. Mom may not have time for long visits to social networking sites but mobile allows her to snack throughout the day, whenever she has a spare moment. 

As moms start to put mobile first for social media, they are changing the rules of the marketing game. It is not enough for companies to simply add mobile to the mix. They must consider moms' social media usage holistically and plan their marketing accordingly -- not only taking account of when and where they use social media, but also how and why. 

Businesses that take this approach not only stand a better chance of reaching moms now, but they can prepare themselves for the inevitable usage shift that other demographic groups will make.

(Source: eMarketer, 10/16/12)

The Sales Funnel...Rebooted

I read a great article by David Edelman.  David illustrates how the traditional sales funnel has been updated into something much more complex.  Basically, what used to work doesn't anymore. Sound familiar?

The sales funnel isn't dead, it’s just outdated. Today’s consumer takes a much more complex iterative path thru and beyond purchase. The classic funnel shows an ever-narrowing array of decisions and choices until purchase, when in fact the channel-surfing customer today often is expanding the set of choices and decisions after consideration. Just as importantly, treats the post-purchase process with the same level of importance as the pre-purchase journey.

It’s a pretty simple concept really but I like it because this visually highlights and isolates the most important aspects of the journey.

1. Consider: What brands/products do consumers have in mind as they contemplate a purchase?
2. Evaluate: Consumers gather information to narrow their choices.
3. Buy: Consumers decide on a brand and buy it.
4. Post-purchase: Consumers reflect on the buying experience, creating expectations/considerations that will inform a subsequent purchase
5. Advocate: Consumers tell others about the product or service they bought.

This visualization of the journey helps focus conversations on where to spend money, where the opportunities are, what sorts of people and processes you need to deliver on them, where you’re weak and your competitors strong. 

September Surge Changes Auto Forecasters' Tone

New-vehicle sales hit their fastest annual pace in more than four years in September, but the month could have been even better. After all, fleet sales were flat, fuel prices were unseasonably high and automakers laid off the incentives. 

September's seasonally adjusted annual selling rate of 14.9 million exceeded expectations by a wide margin, and the surge was driven entirely by retail gains, said Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley's top auto analyst.

So are long-term forecasts being revisited?

The strong September -- in which sales rose 13 percent to 1,188,899 units -- has so far not prompted official forecasts to rise. But it has changed the tone of conversation among automakers and analysts, many of whom had revised 2012 forecasts downward since the first quarter.

Bill Fay, Toyota Division general manager, still expects 2012 industry sales of 14.3 million but now adds "and maybe a notch above."

R.L. Polk hasn't raised its forecast of 14.3 million this year and 15.2 million in 2013, "but we reviewed it for upward revision after August and September sales beat expectations," said Tom Libby, North American forecast manager.

TrueCar.com is still forecasting 14.4 million this year and 15.0 million next year.

Morgan Stanley's Jonas called September's 14.9 million annual selling rate "dreadful, no better than 1978." But he says the underlying strength of the market is consumers being forced to replace the aging U.S. vehicle fleet, which he says averages 11 years old with 130,000 miles on the odometer.

Fleet volume rose just 1 percent in September and retail jumped 15 percent for the seven largest automakers, which dominate sales to fleet buyers, according to theAutomotive News Data Center.

"If fleet had been as strong as retail, the September SAAR would have been 15.2 million," Jonas said.

Kurt McNeil, General Motors' U.S. sales boss, said GM pickup sales slipped because fleet volume fell in September, but the company isn't turning to incentives on them.

"We don't necessarily have the newest truck in the industry, but we still have the lowest incentive spend," he said.

Industrywide, per-vehicle incentives ranged from flat to slightly lower in September, according to TrueCar.com.

And gasoline prices, which normally decline after the summer peak driving season, remained unusually high. The mid-September average of $3.83 a gallon was only five cents off the year's highest level, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

That may have helped sales of fuel-efficient new cars in September, TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak said, but it was a damper on trucks.

"Trucks are hurt by lingering high fuel costs," he said. "Small cars are remarkably strong, but trucks are weak."

In addition, small businesses may be spooked by the uncertainties of the upcoming presidential election and Congress' so-called Dec. 31 fiscal cliff and therefore deferring pickup purchases, Toprak said.

"Truck sales are based on prospects of business growing," he said. "Maybe the deals are not that great on trucks and so buyers are waiting. We'll probably see more incentives in the fourth quarter as is typical."

GM's McNeil believes auto sales will continue to outperform the slow recovery pace of the general economy, "which is particularly good news for GM as we walk into a cadence of new product in 2013 and 2014."

(Source: Automotive News, 10/15/12) 

Sales Tip: Rushing to Judgment

As a salesperson, you should work to focus all of your attention on your customer and his/her needs. It's all too easy to swoop in to present a solution instead of listening to your customer's complaints and the specifics of his/her situation.

In this rush to cut to the chase, you're in danger of coming across as arrogant, and your customers end up feeling their input is unimportant and unappreciated. This understandable mistake happens for two reasons:

* You want to come off as the "expert" or "hero," showing off all your knowledge by providing the solution before your customer even has a chance to finish her thought.
* You're in a hurry and don't have the time and energy to devote to your customer.

For example, let's say you're about to leave for a week's vacation when a prospective customer calls. He starts to go into a long story about his business and all the problems he's encountered in the last five years. You realize that you have heard his story -- or at least a similar one -- many times before, so you interrupt him to give your answer to his problems. You try to end the call as soon as possible so you can leave for vacation.

In this case, even though you might have given your prospect a good solution, chances are he won't feel satisfied with the conversation. He didn't have an opportunity to tell you about his business, so he feels shortchanged.

What should you have done? Next time, embrace any information your prospect gives you, whether you believe it's valuable or not. If you truly didn't have time to talk at length with this prospect, you should have requested the opportunity to call him back after you returned from vacation. Otherwise, you should have put down your briefcase, closed your office door, and listened to him for as long as he needed.

Remember, even if you hear the story all the time, it is unique and personal for each customer. Instead of interrupting your customer with your standard solution, let him have the floor and explain his problem. Only then can you proceed with the process of finding a solution for whatever ails him.

Technomic Study Provides a Snapshot of Quick-Service Restaurant Customers

What does the typical frequent quick-service restaurant (QSR) consumer look like? Recent research finds that he is Caucasian, between 25 and 34 years old, accompanied by his spouse or significant other, and likely dining in the restaurant.

So finds a demographic analysis of almost 38,000 consumers polled for Technomic Inc.'s ongoing Consumer Restaurant Brand Metrics research and analyzed for the recently released Understanding Quick-Service Restaurants and Their Customers Market Intelligence Report. 

"The quick-service restaurant segment includes some of the largest and most innovative companies in the U.S., as well as some interesting up-and-comers," says Technomic Executive Vice President Darren Tristano. "But at the same time, increasing competition means that it's more important than ever to understand what consumers value about fast food and where QSRs have opportunities to improve."

Technomic's Consumer Restaurant Brand Metrics program provides chains with a unique scorecard to benchmark performance against their peers and track results over time. The study asks consumers to rate the importance of certain attributes when deciding which QSR to visit. Based on initial survey analysis, Technomic ranked the top attribute categories.

Attribute Importance Ranking
(percentage of consumers giving a top two box rating, based on a 1-5 scale where 1 = not important and 5 = very important)

1. Food -- 91%
2. Cleanliness -- 88%
3. Service -- 86%
4. Value -- 84%
5. Beverage -- 78%
6. Atmosphere -- 61%

Leading Chains in Each Attribute
(top five, in alphabetical order)

1. Food -- Chick-fil-A, Culver's, Golden Corral, Jamba Juice, Papa Murphy's
2. Cleanliness -- Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone Creamery, Culver's, In-N-Out Burger, Papa Murphy's
3. Service -- Chick-fil-A, Culver's, In-N-Out Burger, Krispy Kreme, Papa Murphy's
4. Value -- Chick-fil-A, CiCi's Pizza, In-N-Out Burger, Krispy Kreme, Papa Murphy's
5. Beverage -- Caribou Coffee, Chick-fil-A, Jamba Juice, Old Country Buffet/HomeTown Buffet, Starbucks
6. Atmosphere -- Caribou Coffee, Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone Creamery, Culver's, Starbucks

The first in a new series of related segment-specific reports, Understanding Quick-Service Restaurants and Their Customers examines the demographic composition, behavior and attitudes of quick-service restaurant consumers. The report is powered by Technomic's Consumer Restaurant Brand Metrics program, an ongoing comprehensive study that demonstrates how consumers rate the importance of roughly 50 restaurant attributes regarding food, service, atmosphere, value, convenience, reputation and more, as well as the performance of 52 leading quick-service chains on these attributes.

Findings include:

• 82 percent of QSR consumers rate the food quality at their recent visits as good or very good.
• QSR patronage tends to peak with the 25-34 age group, then decrease with each age cohort.
• Consumers form opinions about products and services whether they have had first-hand experience or not. 66 percent of consumers feel that the average QSR is good or very good at emotional connection; and 58 percent say the same of brand image.
• Consumers give QSRs an average rating of 56 percent for advertising effectiveness, but those numbers range from a high of 69 percent who believe the top chain is good or very good to a low of just 33 percent.
• Eight out of 10 consumers say they are willing to recommend the quick-service restaurant they rated to friends and family.

Source: Technomic Inc., 10/01/12) 

Health Care Law's Impact on Businesses Varies

Companies specializing in driving down spending on health care, whether through electronic records, preventive care or consolidating services, are turning out to be the biggest winners from the 2010 health care law. 

Investors, analysts and policymakers say any business that can help health care providers cut costs or keep patients from being readmitted to the hospital soon after an in-patient visit is attracting more customers and seeing more investment.

"We must drive down the cost of, or maintain the cost of, health care," said Albert Waxman, co-founder of Psilos Group, a health care venture and growth equity fund. His firm is investing in companies specializing in controlling administrative costs for health care providers.

He has company: Investing in health services rose from $261 million in 2010 to $368 million in 2011; second-quarter 2012 investments are up $11 million from second-quarter 2011 investments, says the National Venture Capital Association.

Health care information technology spending for the second quarter hit $293 million, up from $86 million for the same period last year, according to Mercom Capital Group, a market research group that looks at health care technology. Those deals included telehealth technology, as well as mobile devices that providers carry to keep tabs on patient data.

Several businesses traditionally associated only peripherally with health care providers may also profit, because the law is forcing change in the way the medical field operates.

There are now 221 accountable-care organizations made up of hospital and physician groups, as well as insurer-based groups, according to a Leavitt Partners report issued in June. Technology, administrative and home care providers that help the ACOs save money stand to do well.

Any preventive-care organization that can help employers or insurers cut costs by lowering rates of diabetes, heart disease and respiratory issues -- such as fitness plans or smoking-cessation programs -- could also see a sudden surge in customers, says Kenneth Thorpe, who co-directs Emory University's Center on Health Outcomes and Quality.

Waxman invested in a company that uses information technology to monitor employees' health habits and to reward them when they go to annual health exams, get checked for chronic diseases and work to take care of any potential health issues.

"We're very excited about the future," said Martin Watson, CEO of SeeChange Health. "Without health reform, we figured we'd get to the $800 million mark (in earnings) by 2016. With health reform, it looks like we'll hit $1.5 billion by 2016."

SeeChange works with clients such as UnitedHealth by providing technology to cut premiums for beneficiaries who engage in healthy behaviors, tracking claims data to see which areas might need improvement, or adding cash to a health benefits account if a person stops smoking or begins a weight-loss program.

Cigna health insurance began moving toward accountable-care organizations in 2008, long before the law took affect. But Matt Manders, who heads Cigna's accountable-care initiatives, said the law has worked as an "accelerant." Cigna has 32 "collaborative accountable-care" organizations and plans to have 100 by 2014.

"It takes some time to have demonstrated results," Manders said. "But more than half (of the 32) have seen significant improvements in quality and cost reduction."

While many for-profit organizations will benefit, non-profits could do well, too. "In 2014, insurers can't profit by denying coverage anymore, so they need to keep people healthy," said Thorpe. That could mean prevention efforts, such as the YMCA's diabetes prevention program, could see an influx of cash.

Investors also see potential in accountable-care organizations, which are included in the Affordable Care Act. Private businesses have been working toward them for a few years.

ACOs gather providers, insurers and pharmacists, as well as home health care and palliative care providers, into a team. Those teams share data to avoid errors and duplication of tests and procedures.

Michael Sparer, health policy chair at Columbia University, cited Montefiore Care Management, a not-for-profit health organization in New York's Bronx, as a good example of a group that began making changes before the law started taking effect.

Henry Chung, Montefiore chief medical officer, said the group decided years ago to be paid by patient, rather than service, to cut costs. Now, it's one of 32 Medicare pilot sites.

As health care continues to change, Chung said, he sees several financial winners. In a non-fee-for-service system, primary-care physicians have an opportunity for greater reimbursement. There will be a greater need for care coordinators who keep patients well and out of the hospital. There will also be a need for palliative and home care services, and for community doctors to make sure they reach everyone in the community who might use their hospital.

"The spotlight will be on plans like ours," Chung said.

(Source: USA Today, 09/24/12)