Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: Survey Monkey, Survey research
Before conducting a survey, one must always have an accurate description of his/her target audience: who they are, what their characteristics are, if they are male or female, how old they are, what they do for a living, how much money they make and so on.
One must also use (free) secondary research to find information about his/her products, competition etc.
The better job one does of writing the survey and planning the analysis, the easier the job of interpreting the survey will be for them.
The first few steps to take when interpreting your survey are:
- How many people completed the survey?
- How does that compare to the target group – the number of people on your email list, for example?
- What was the response rate? (To figure this out, take the number of people who completed the survey and divide that by the number of people who opened the survey invitation.)
- What was the average amount of time that people spent taking the survey (in other words, did people take it seriously or did they seem to fly through the questions)?
- Who responded-what does the breakdown look like, in terms of age, gender, type of business, etc? How well does it represent your target group (for example, your customer base or e-mail list)?
Next, look at the answers to your key questions or “outcomes” in the survey. For example, if your survey is a product creation survey, what % of the respondents said they’re very interested or somewhat interested in the product and what percentage said they’re not interested at all? Of those who are interested in the product, what kinds of things do they want to see in the product? How would they like the product delivered? What are they willing to pay for it?
Thirdly, see how those things “break” by demographic characteristics: Are men more interested in the product than women? Are newcomers more or less interested than people who’ve been in the business longer? This will start to give you a good sense of who’s most likely to buy the product and at whom you need to target it.
One must then ask himself/herself, what do the open-ended questions tell me? Your survey should rely mostly on closed-ended questions since they are easier for respondents to answer and easier for you to analyze. Open-ended questions are great for picking up on things that were not captured with closed-ended questions. Read through those comments, first looking for themes in the comments, then looking for how widespread those themes are, and finally summarizing what you’ve learned from these questions.
Finally, based on the results, create your “to do” list:
- If there is clear interest in the product that you’re creating, you should combine everything you can to draw your road map for creating that product – then, follow that map.
- You should have learned things about your target audience that you didn’t already know. Make a list of those things and note the things you want to further explore in future surveys.
- Note the things that don’t make sense to you. These are things you might want to explore on your blog or even in conversations with some of the survey respondents.
It’s always a good idea to look back at the comments that your respondents wrote about the survey. This should help you when you design your next survey.
These steps should aid you in analyzing results from SurveyMonkey.com.
For more information, click here.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: inexpensive research methods, Informal surveys, small business research
Informal surveys are relatively inexpensive. The respondents of this type of research is a self-selected group. Make sure you get one answer for each question.
The main thing to remember during an informal interview is response bias. Try to avoid it because it is bad research where the results are skewed towards the ones invested in the topic. Informal surveys are less direct and normally not performed face-to-face. Even though informal surveys consist of a small number or respondents, the information is valid and it portrays the overall population.
The surveys portray community perceptions, can test whether opinions are changing, and can be designed to reach a broader group even though they are self-selected.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: downturn economy and historic destinations, good economy and travel, historic destinations
In a bad economy, saving is on everyone’s minds. While much of the economy is down, the historic destinations industry increases. In order to save money, families have stayed closer to home, visited historic attractions, gone to theme parks closer to home, and veered toward the outdoors utilizing national and state parks.
Visitors spend billions of dollars when visiting historic sites and therefore increase the business around those areas. Historic destinations, for that fact, are proven economic generators. It is important to know where consumers are spending their money because it typically counts for two-thirds of economic cash flow.
While the historic destinations industry is at a high in an economic downturn, economic forecasters expect consumers to resume traveling abroad.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: Business, Research, Surviving the recession
Though the recession means hard times for businesses and the economy, it does not mean everything will fail. Here are some simple tips to survive the recession.
First, it is important for a company to solidify its niche. Without a niche, the business is not as competitive. Too much diversification in product lines or strategies could be detrimental to the company, especially during harsh economic times.
Second, the company should seek out new market segments. Even if the market seems too small or too risky, any new business will be beneficial to the company.
Third, a company’s management must lead by example. Managers need to maintain motivation and show a personal commitment to the company so employees will as well. Managers should also act promptly to reward good performance and terminate those with poor performance.
In addition, managers should establish clear communication with employees to ensure that everyone understands the company’s goals. Some even recommend making the company’s financial information available to employees because it allows them to see the results of their action.
While there is no fool proof method to surviving a recession, sticking to your niche, seeking new markets and maintaining strong management is sure to keep your business on the right track.
If you have questions, we have answers.
Or at least we can tell you how to get answers.
Sometimes businesses need data about their market that simply is not available. For example, businesses that specialize in making handmade goods often struggle with pricing their items. What is the true value of a handmade silk dress or original piece of art?
The European street team of Etsy decided to find out, and distributed a questionaire on the Etsy and Flickr forums and through Modish. 687 people answered the questionnaire. Most of the respondents were women under 35 years of age. 34 percent were from the United States and 22 percent were European.
The results of the survey helped entrepreneurs making homemade goods to price their products, and thereby grow their businesses. It shows that research is vital for businesses, because it is the only way to get all of the answers needed to make important decisions.
For more information about the survey, check out the summary here.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: Answers, Left-Handed, Research, Surveys
The results of a survey discussing left-handed people show that almost all of life’s questions can be answered through survey research.
Ever wondered if left-handedness runs in families? Which hands left-handed people use for various activities? The effects of being left-handed?
Check out the survey and survey results to get answers, as well as ideas for your own exploratory survey.
David Ogilvy, one of the most influential men in advertising history, is the pioneer of big-brand consumer-goods companies. He built his success on great consumer research and direct marketing skills. Ford, IBM and American Express are only a few of the Fortune 500 companies that he advertised for in the past.
Some of his best advice is listed below:
- When Abraham Lincoln spoke of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, he left out the pursuit of profit.
- Remember the old Scottish motto: “Be happy while you’re living, for you are a long time dead.”
- If you have to reduce your company’s payroll, don’t fire your people until you have cut your compensation and the compensation of your big shots.
- Define your corporate culture and your principles of management in writing. Don’t delegate this to a committee. Search all the parks in all your cities. You’ll find no statues of committees.
- Stop cutting the quality of your products in search of bigger margins. The consumer always notices – and punishes you.
- Never spend money on advertising that does not sell.
- Bear in mind that the consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Do not insult her intelligence.
Although most of his advice is stated in metaphorical terms, it is important to capture the essence of his messages. After all, he used this very advice to help him build an empire of success, Ogilvy & Mather.
Thousands upon thousands of businesses across the country have declared bankruptcy since the recession began more than a year ago. Others that have remained are thriving by picking up the increased market share from fallen competitors. But others succeed by sticking to one important principle: customer service.
According to an article by Kathy Lohr on npr.com, “U.S. bankruptcy court records show more than 43,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy last year, but that doesn’t even include individuals who file for personal bankruptcies to get rid of their business liabilities. Part of the reason may be the amount of debt companies were carrying.”
But business professor Charlie Goetz from Emory University thinks that there are other reasons businesses survive and even thrive during a recession.
“When times are good, it’s amazing how many companies really don’t pay attention to their customers,” he says. “Customers are a dime a dozen so they don’t even worry about them.”
Goetz also points out when the times start to get bad, the companies don’t have anyone to fall back on. Therefore, the recession has weeded out the weaker companies, and many economists say it may be a good time to start a new business.
Barton McMillan is a custom home builder and remodeler in Atlanta, Ga., who has been in the business for 20 years. McMillan was lucky and didn’t have too much debt when the housing market collapsed. He has worked to build strong working relationships with his suppliers, and even other contractors know him personally.
Since people are mostly remodeling right now, he works on a few large jobs. He takes the time to stop by his projects at least once a day to make sure they are on track, and the customers have taken noticed.
While the recession has caused even the consumer to cut back, it is not the time for businesses to cut back on the quality of service they provide. Take the time to really focus on the customers you do have and strengthen the relationship with them and your suppliers.
Read the following article for more information: “Recession Survivors Capture Competitors’ Business” by Kathy Lohr.
Everyone is tired of hearing about the current situation of the economy. But what if you could leverage the recession and use it to your advantage to help your business survive? There are people and companies that don’t even seem to be affected by the recession and are actually thriving. Here are some strategies to help you leverage the recession and come out on top:
- Refuse to participate in the recession. The biggest thing you can do to hurt your business is fear. There is no need to fear the recession. If you keep a positive attitude and put in the extra work, it will pay off in the end.
- Stick to your plans and focus on execution. Always be proactive when pursuing what you want. If you try to deal with life as it comes at you, you will never going to get what you want and you will never be in control of your future. Instead, be prepared and focus on what you want and how you are going to achieve it. Then, go for it at full force.
- Sell value instead of cutting prices and quality. Don’t compete with other businesses that are cutting costs and corners to survive. This is an amateur tactic used by businesses to beat out the competition, but will never yield the most valuable option out there. People value quality and are more willing to pay more for a better product. So don’t cut costs, figure how to sell a more valuable product at the same price.
- Don’t feed into the negativity. Sell your customers on a solution that won’t make them think about the recession. If you don’t feed into the negativity, you are less likely to be affected by it.
By making each of these strategies a cornerstone to your business strategy, you will come out of the recession successfully. There are plenty of people and companies that are successful during times like now with the kind of attitude you need to mimic. Then, you’ll find yourself thriving in this environment.
For more information, check out: “Marketing Strategies to Leverage the Recession” by Rob Sinclair.
Focus, focus, focus! If you’re a business owner in the midst of this recession, then this word needs to be on your mind at all times. You need to focus on long-term benefits for your company rather than the short-term benefits. Focusing on aspects of the business that are only going to bring in short-term profits is not of essence right now.
Open innovation is not only a tactic that is going to help your business succeed in the recession, but it will also give you a great advantage over your competition. “By breaking down traditional boundaries, open innovation allows intellectual properties, ideas, and people to flow freely both into and out of an organization.” Inside-out open innovation refers to saving your business time and money by allocating projects or assets outside the walls of your business. This tactic could also help you formulate new supplier and partner relationships. It could also help you promote “innovative ecosystems” and generate “high-margin licensing incomes.”
If your business lacks in a certain area, such as telecommunications technologies for example, it would be easier to hire another company to do that work for you rather than getting your own people to do it. That way, the end-product will wind up costing less and looking better than it would have if your own employees had worked on it. You also get to share the success despite having a small part in the production process. It should also reduce your business’s costs and risks.
Recessions are dull times and lots of businesses end up halting promising projects due to the fear of what the recession might do to the business. However, this is not the case when it comes to inside-out innovation. Inside-out open innovation allows for greater flexibility during rough times. Most companies never pursue a project as if they themselves were the customers or suppliers and that’s where they go wrong. By doing this, they could allocate projects they don’t know how to execute to companies that are more experienced and get to share all the returns in the end.
In conclusion, if you find that your business is struggling right now then try to outsource your projects to other businesses that specialize in areas your business is lacking in. This should relieve some of the pressure and allow you to make profits as a result of collaborative efforts.
(Harvard Business Review Publishing. Web Exclusive: Use Open Innovation to cope in a Downturn by Henry W. Chesbrough and Andrew R. Garman. June 2009.)
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing
Surveys can be useful for organizations to learn how to improve business practices. These surveys can be distributed online. By surveying employees, customers and other business partners, organizations can determine how they can create a more efficient business.
Obviously, questions will vary from business to business. Depending on your business you could ask what time is usually best during the week for a meeting, what business partners would like to see change or how customers view your brand.
It is important to determine which audience you are going to survey and what you want to learn form this audience.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: business saving ideas, business saving tips, cut costs in a recession, tips for saving in a recession
Here are a few more ways to cut costs:
Before choosing or renewing your energy supplier, review other companies and choose the one that is most affordable for your type of business. Also, by researching different insurance companies, you will find one that has benefits designed specifically for your company.
Look for grants and small business rate relief that the government offers. The government is willing to help, you just have to do some research. If you are renting your property, try to negotiate on a lower rate or a discount if you pay ahead of time.
Reduce waste at all costs. Try to decrease waste of paper consumption and paper waste, monitor ink and try to change setting to efficiently use ink, and look for ways to reduce other company necessities you have.
Other ways of cutting costs is to monitor costs of transportation and insurance, postage costs by using only 2nd class mail, and telephone costs by choosing again the best company for your needs. Also have good legal advice on your side to guard your business.
Finally, monitor the levels of employment. If it looks like you could have less employees or it appears as if there are some that are not pulling their weight, it is time to let them go. Sometimes this can be hard, but it is necessary and you are running the business.
While running your business don’t forget to treat your staff with the upmost respect and in turn you will earn theirs.
There are many ways to cut costs resulting benefits, but the hard part is implementing them.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: business saving tips, money savers for businesses, tips for saving energy
Another way to cut costs during a recession is to save energy.
For example, monitoring the amount of electricity your business uses can save you hundreds of dollars each month.
Many of these tips may seem obvious, but just because you know you should be doing something does not mean you are going to necessarily act on it:
Turn off lights in rooms when they are not being used or occupied. Also try buying the new energy efficient light bulbs for your company, preferably ones that have a warranty on them and have a long shelf life.
Before closing up, turn off and unplug all equipment for nights, weekends, and holidays.
Keep heating and air at a decent level that is sustainable but not over the top. If the air system is on, remember to keep windows and doors closed and at best blinds as well. This keeps sun from penetrating a room and heating it up even more, counteracting the air conditioning.
If it is nice outside, you can turn off air and open the windows. If employees are stuck inside all day, this task cuts costs and relieves the stress of employees. It will be useful to turn air off or at a minimum during times when the company is not operating.
Remember when cutting down on energy, it is vital to have management on your side and make sure they are implementing cost efficient techniques. Also, make the employees part of your team and have them act on your new program. Remind them every so often that you are serious about being conscious on saving energy in every way.
Keep communication open among employees and allow a channel for new ideas and changes in your company. This will ensure a longer lasting and more affordable way of running your business.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: cut costs in a recession, money savers for businesses, small business tips, surviving in a recession
Need to cut costs during the recession? It might be helpful to monitor your cash flows. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Monitoring your cash flow is a vital component to remember when running a business. Without budgeting, paying attention where your money is going and where it is coming from there will be no doubt that your business will quickly disappear.
Pay attention to who your customers are. Learn about them fully in the beginning. Whether is it a small and especially large orders, this is a precaution on your part to make sure you will be paid. Determine payment terms and make sure they are understood from both sides of the party.
Remember to raise an invoice on your goods to ensure you will be paid. Also, pay other companies on time for their services too, because chances are they are as tight on money as you are.
Finally, keep track of customers paying credit. You should create a routine to check up on such transactions. If they have not paid try to contact them through phone, letters, and email.
Recessions are hard on everyone, but people and businesses that take advantage of new opportunities can succeed despite hard times.
According to Ariel Tung of the Herald-Times in Indiana, “Businesses that do well in a recession are those who benefit from changes in consumers’ spending habits.”
Succeeding in the recession is really all about positive and negative energy. If businesses look at situations positively, people will be less stressed out and more willing to make good things happen. However, when businesses focus on the negative aspects of a situation, they become less productive. In other words, a positive attitude leads to positive outcomes, and a negative attitude leads to negative outcomes. Have you ever had a day when you’re in a really bad mood, and everything just seems to be going wrong? Then on days when you’re in a really good mood, everything seems to be going right? If you’ve experienced this, then you know the workings of positive and negative energy.
One example of a business thriving during the recession is Sturgis Garage & Wrecker Service in Bloomington, Ind. Many people are trying to maintain their old cars, instead of buying new ones, so the auto repair business has experienced a sudden surge of customers. Customers continue to visit Sturgis Garage & Wrecker Service to get their cars’ transmissions and engines fixed. Meanwhile, the positive mood of the employees and their willingness to work hard to please customers has brought in even more business for the company.
Other businesses that are doing well right now include used and low-priced furniture stores. Let’s face it, people are looking for bargains, so businesses that specialize in bargain items are benefiting.
One example is Furniture Exchange in Indiana. The store stocks some used furniture, but the real reason it is doing well is its low-priced new furniture. Therefore, the furniture store is not only making customers happy, but also pleasing business owners that sell new furniture. Furniture Exchange has reinvented itself to appeal to customers, so it has succeeded in increasing its business during the recession.
Another bargain-based business is Plato’s Closet, which sells cloths that are lightly used for 50 to 70 percent less than their original price. Some Plato’s Closet stores have seen their sales increase between 10 and 18 percent this year. Businesses that sell DIY (Do It Yourself) materials are also very prosperous right now, since people would rather make things on their own than pay someone to do it for them.
What you need to take from this is a business needs to constantly to put itself in the consumers’ shoes. If a business can’t do this then it’s bound to fail. A smart business is a business that listens to its customers and accommodates their needs. Right now, people are experiencing major financial issues, so businesses that only specialize in high-end products are going to lose a lot of their business.
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Businesses may not realize it, but there is a lot to take advantage of during a recession. It just takes patience to develop good strategies. “Tough times force entrepreneurs to work on business models earlier, and reach profitability faster,” said Jan Brassem of Brassem Global Consulting.
Everything gets marked down in a recession to help people and businesses cope. Some of these things include the cost of labor, materials and office space. Materials tend to be very costly these days, so getting them at an affordable price should motivate businesses to start using the recession to their advantage.
According to Brassem and his business friends at Harvard University, the University of Hartford and New York University, there are many ways to restructure a business’s strategies during the recession. Here are some of their suggestions:
1) Try your best to survive the recession. Cultivate relationships, look for new customers, investigate new channels and deepen the relationship with your bank.
2) Create an “analytics initiative.” Always trust your instincts and never let people deter you from what you know will work. You should have one executive that handles all data collection analysis, base buying and strategic decisions on that data.
3) Prepare for major changes in the industry.
4) Link your business to social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This should invite many new customers to start taking interest in your business. It might also bring you new product ideas.
5) Announce new promotions you’re having, if you have any.
6) Start discarding all products and items you don’t need. Have a promotion on them and sell them for cheap. This should bring in new customers.
7) Spend time with the people you work with (clients, customers and vendors.)
Avoid making any rash decisions.
9) Invest in technology.
10) Pursue mergers and acquisitions.
11) Rethink your financial model.
12) Always communicate. Communication is essential in every business. It’s important that everyone involved with your business knows what’s going on so that everyone is on the right track.
13) The leader must always stand out. A good business must always be led and people who work for you must always know what their roles are. If there is no leader, everything will collapse.
14) If you need to try out new things and reinvent different aspect of your business, do so cheaply. There is no need to overspend on anything unless you’re certain it’s going to work. However, nothing is ever certain in a recession and you should avoid costly experiments as much as possible.
15) Recessions are a great time to steal the market share from competitors. While they’re busy trying to cut costs and handle the repercussions of the recession, you could be taking over the market.
16) Never leave yourself without a plan. The worst thing to do is approach the recession unprepared. Always think ahead and make the best of what you have.
17) Decisions have to made but always make sure you make the right ones. If you think someone needs to be fired then do it. Prolonging the decision is only going to make your business suffer.
As you can see, there are many useful strategies to help your business succeed during a recession. You must be willing to have an open mind and a positive attitude if you want your business to thrive. Research always helps guide you during uncertain times, but you also need a good team of people backing you to make these things happen. They can be done but you just have to take it one day at a time. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
(This article is based on the article, “Seize the downturn and grow your business” by Jan Brassem, National Jeweler, 00279544, May 2009, Vol. 103. Issue 5. Taken from the database Business Source Premier.)
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: how to run market research, insight into the consumer, low cost research, market research
Many small businesses do not have enough money to hire a company to perform research, leaving it up to the business owners to find what they are looking for. As a business, it is easier to run research informally through talking to customers, sales reps, and suppliers.
Obtaining information will show what has and hasn’t worked, guide efforts into new products and services, and ideas on what to focus marketing efforts on. Keep up to date on the environmental trends that may impact your company such as business closings and drops in interest rates.
Think of secondary research that has already been collected through government publications, trade journals, and other companies to find out bits of information on areas that apply to your business. Always keep the customers, the competition, and the environment in mind when running a business.
As the initial step for market research is to frame the questions you want answers to. If you run a clothing store and you are thinking about adding tailoring, you would ask yourself if tailoring would be viable.
Monitor business trends by staying up to date in the news and find out what is in. For example, recycling is becoming increasingly popular. So to find a way to have people turn in their old products and get a discount on the products you sell would be one way to utilize a business trend.
Remember, there may be other businesses that have the same idea so keep market share and positioning in mind. Ask the customers what they think of a new idea, if it is a positive one then you can continue into more in depth research.
1. Keep in mind that the information you get is only going to be as good as the market research sample group. When choosing a sample group, they need to be relevant to your target audience.
2. Design the survey carefully. Make sure you don’t have any leading questions and that you don’t offend anyone. Also make sure the questions are specific to find information you are seeking directly.
3. Keep the surveys short. They should fit on one page.
4. Remember to provide a comment area on the survey.
5. Determine what way your survey is going to take place: by mail, email, on your website, in store, or combination.
6. Set goals and criteria for the research so time is not wasted and results are made according to plan. If you don’t, it is likely you may stray from your initial desires.
Market research is necessary for the success of every business at all stages of its life. It is what keeps businesses in touch with the consumers
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: Bloggers, inexpensive research methods, Surveys
Even bloggers can conduct research.
In fact, popular bloggers are especially capable of conducting research. Take, for example, Gus Philpott, a blogger who discusses traffic issues on the Woodstock Advocate.
Philpott asked his readers to participate in a Tollway speeding survey. 46 people responded, and their answers confirmed his observations of speed on the tollway.
Philpott demonstrates how observational research can be supplemented and confirmed by survey research – a concept that is very important for businesses operating in today’s competative market.
Despite the recession, there are plenty of opportunities to leverage during these hard times.
According to Marc Fleishhacker, MD of David Ogilvy’s North American consulting business, some of these opportunities include having far more powerful measurement tools along with analytics and digital solutions that enable businesses to deliver quick results with greater efficiency than the approaches available in previous recessions.
Fleishhacker also encourages businesses to build brands and capture market share during the recession.
Ogilvy North America is launching a Recession Marketing Practice to help clients leverage from the recession. The team consists of more than 100 professionals (Ogilvy’s top experts) who specialize in marketing strategy, analytics, measurement, email, technology and media.
The 21 Ogilvy Solutions are customizable based on client needs and offer strategies that focus on extracting more value from customer databases, further leveraging social media and free media, email and mobile optimization, re-engineering loyalty programs and effective channel planning.
Ogilvyonrecession.com provides a series of downloadable ‘Ogilvy Perspectives’ that draws on the experiences of these professionals across all marketing disciplines. These perspectives were designed to help clients prosper during these hard times.
Try to visit this site and download these ‘perspectives’ to get some helpful tips for your business. It might help your business override the recession while helping it succeed at the same time.
For more information about Oglivy and the recession, check out this article.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: Information Technology, Research, Surveys
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and policies for managing information technology infrastructure, development and operations. In a survey performed by a student of MBA-Project and Quality Management at Anna University in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu India, the awareness and adoption level of ITIL in India was studied.
The research study identified answers to questions such as, what the extent of ITIL awareness is in India, how many organizations have adopted ITIL and what implementation problems arose or benefits gained. The data was collected through telephone surveys, email and web questionnaires. The target audiences included 50 technology organizations and 50 non-technology organizations.
The survey yielded the following results: 34 percent of organizations (both technology and non-technology) are aware of and 66 percent are not aware of ITIL; 34 percent of organizations (both technology and non-technology) have adopted ITIL; difficulties faced implementing includes overall program management and selling ITIL internally.
The survey provided the info ration needed to define the awareness level and problem areas that needed to be worked out in order to raise the awareness and usage levels.
For more information, click here.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: coming out of the recession, lodging industry, lodging industry outlook
During a recession, many companies suffer and even go out of business. The good news is recessions don’t last forever and some companies pull out of it faster than others. The lodging industry has been hit hard causing consumers to think smarter about how they spend their money.
The lodging industry always gains momentum as compared to other industries when coming out of a recession. During 2001, 2002, and 2003 deals were falling through and lodging was decreasing. Since then, sellers and buyers and lenders are all working together to bring the industry back to normal sales.
For example in 2004, there were 11 major deals that occurred in the recession. The industry foresees this as a continual trend. One thing lodging facilities have been doing to save is trading assets instead of building new ones. Even though new buildings are constructed, there are not quite as many and it is not a major focus of the industry at this time.
Also, since many of the hotels are being turned into apartments, there is less competition among companies. In the last couple years, occupancy for rooms has reached an all time high. Places that are expected to have the larger turnaround when coming out of a recession include: San Francisco, Boston, Hawaii, Miami, Chicago, Washington, New York, and Los Angeles.
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Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: community development research, Survey research
Sometimes, conducting research is easy. If people truly care about the subject in question, they are eager to respond.
At least, that was the experience of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation when they sent out a growth survey in an e-newsletter. The survey asked people about the community they lived in and how their lives are affected by growth, and it received plenty of interesting and unexpected results.
The survey asked four simple questions:
“What is your greatest frustration with poorly managed growth?”
“Has life in your community improved or become more difficult with the growth in your area?”
“Should Maryland planning officials be more or less involved in managing growth in your city, town or county?”
“What would you recommend to improve the management of growth in your community?”
From the answers, members of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation gleaned information and ideas that were used to develop a growth reform package to present to the Govenor and the General Assembly.
It seems that “do it yourself research” really does pay off.
For more information about the survey, check out this article.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: new businesses, tips, low cost methods, entrepreneur, recession, bad economy tips
A smart company is not a close minded one, and therefore always keeps an eye on their customers buying trends and innovative selling techniques. If the economy changes, a company has to question if their product is something that people will need or want to buy. If the product is undesirable, there needs to be some reconstructing of the product in hand.
During a recession, smart companies plan ahead and therefore are not only thinking about the threats but also the opportunities. Some well-known companies that outsourced their competition during hard times include: Procter & Gamble, General Electric, and Kellogg.
These companies developed an important technique which is still used in times of recession known as value-for-money strategies. In other words, they developed their products to be multi-purposed and more effective.
Lately, stretching the dollar is on everyone’s minds. In developed countries, people tend to spend more than what they have causing them to reevaluate spending habits. In the less developed countries,the indigenous cultures do just the opposite; with less money they are value conscious. Therefore, value-for-money is a necessary strategy for businesses to grasp during a recession.
Recent research suggests instead of refining cost-cutting techniques, companies should develop cost innovation capabilities. Developing cost structures in state-of-the-art ways will offer customers more for less. After all, isn’t that what everyone wants.
In general, companies tie innovation to premium products that have more functionality. Consumers, on the other hand, want the same but at a lower cost. True innovation fits everyone’s wants. What companies came up with to fit the innovation world was to offer products at a low cost, but the second generation developed a competitive edge through cost innovation. The trick is to not make the product seem inferior.
In regard to cost innovation, companies developed a technique of selling high-tech products at mass-market prices. This technology is brought to select segments and then sent to the mainstream consumers which in turn maximizes profit. Recently, developing countries such as China, Japan, and Indian companies have found ways to offer the latest technology to the mass market at low prices. This technique has not hit the United States just yet. The third technique companies are using is to offer choice and customization to value customers. Despite the fear of offering a large selection of products or customization to consumers and then losing control, in emerging markets they have been able to do something different. They changed the rules of variety and customization by learning to gain economies of scope. The low human resource costs allow them to have large staffs that can develop and handle changes efficiently. Also, by mixing automated processes they are able to deliver quality and flexibility. Finally, the fourth technique companies came up with was to turn niches (few customers willing to pay premium prices that meet their requirements) into mass markets.
Now is the time to develop the capabilities that will allow companies to crack open the value-for-money market and remain competitive.
Filed under: Street Smart Marketing | Tags: inexpensive research methods, low cost research, research a class room
In 1989 and 1990, an action research project was conducted to explore student reactions to multiple intelligences-based instructional model. The information was gathered in three ways: a daily journal was kept, a classroom climate survey was administered 18 times during the year, and a student assessment inventory of work at the 7 centers was administered nine times during the year.
The data was analyzed each week and observations were made. They were tested and verified. A hypothesis was formed and then tested again. This experimentation is much like the seven steps of the scientific method. It if factual and inexpensive to run.
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