Best Practices

Christmas Shopping Trends for 2007

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:52:00 -0600

by Allan Pulga

U.S. retailers reported a more profitable Thanksgiving shopping weekend than expected, yet industry prognosticators are reluctant to raise their predictions for this year’s holiday season. Meanwhile, high-tech gadgets are consistently in high demand at Christmas, which leads many to believe sales of the Apple iPhone will surge in December.

The Maryland Gazette reports the Maryland Retailers Association is sticking to its prediction that holiday retail sales will only rise 2 percent this year across the state, due to deeper product discounts this year over 2006. Such a rise would be the smallest gain since 2002.

It also noted that the National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C., which forecasts a 4 percent gain in national sales to $474.5 billion, is not raising its projection.

ShopperTrack RCT Corp. estimates that retailers across the U.S. accumulated an estimated $16.4 billion in revenue over the Thanksgiving weekend, up 7.2 percent from the same two days last year – more than the research firm had anticipated.

The day after Thanksgiving, or “Black Friday,” is known as the beginning of the holiday shopping season. It typically accounts for between 4.5 percent and 5 percent of all holiday sales. It was the biggest day of last year’s season, according to the National Retail Federation.

Mark Chediak of the Orlando Sentinel reports that 2007 was generally projected to be a lackluster Christmas for retailers. He points to an interesting trend that has emerged: “Consumers, squeezed by high gas prices, falling housing values and tight credit, appear to be favoring discount stores over upper-tier department stores. During the Thanksgiving weekend, shoppers flooded big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart or snapped up heavily discounted electronics at specialty shops and mid-priced mall anchors.”

The demand for discounted electronic goods this season, especially when purchased at specialty (independent) shops, is certainly good news to wireless retailers.

In terms of wireless gift ideas, the iPhone looks set to be among the top tech gifts this year and is considered by many consumers to be the ideal Christmas present.

Savebuckets.com, a price comparison and product search site, listed its most popular searches for the festive period, with the iPhone ranked in the top three. Second only to the Sony Playstation 3, the iPhone completes a top five of a laptop, a Nintendo DS and an LCD television.

If you don’t sell the iPhone in your stores, be sure to take a look at the following article: Don't Carry the iPhone? Tips to Help You Compete

Four Steps to Grow Company Leaders

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:42:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

The benefits of grooming existing staff to become company leaders are many: provide opportunity for advancement, build loyalty and help maintain company culture, values and vision.

Naturally, most executives (76 percent) would rather cultivate company leaders from within than hire them externally. However, only a quarter of those actually have a dedicated leadership development program in place, according to Inc.com/Monster Hiring Center HR columnist Tim Augustine.

So how can the remaining companies develop the leaders they need and want?

In order to identify and develop internal leaders, you need a plan. Augustine’s “High Potential Program” consists of four simple steps:

1. Define your program.

“What is your vision for the program?” he asks pointedly. Your internal leadership program should focus on employees who suit the company culture and personality and who have the potential to significantly help the company grow.

“The program should be designed to elevate the company’s awareness of key employees, provide opportunities to learn leadership skills as well as provide one-on-one communication with the senior company leaders,” says Augustine.

2. Develop a rigorous nomination and selection process.

Augustine suggests creating a framework around a specific number of chosen participants – the smaller the group, the better the group participation and teamwork.

Focus selection criteria on the personality and cultural fit of the individual. “The actual skills of managing and leading are often learned by education and mentoring, but personality cannot be taught,” says Augustine.

Consider the following qualities:

·   strongly self-motivated
·   conscientious
·   persistent; follows through on commitments and deadlines
·   strong initiative, as shown by extra-curricular activities and accomplishments
·   adept at helping and teaching others
·   flexible and versatile (work long hours, respond to change, willing to travel)
·   interested in continued education
·   able to work independently and also with others (minimal direction required, recognizes priorities, self-directed but team-conscious)
·   desire to improve processes in job, group and company
·   exhibit integrity (professionalism, ethics, honesty)
·   professional appearance
·   customer-focused and enthusiastic

3. Identify and develop content, facilitators and internal mentors.

Augustine recommends conducting a “360-degree survey” for the participants to develop training content and identify valuable skills and competencies.

Survey questions should target employee knowledge in a number of areas, such as:

Company Knowledge: history, mission, direction, values, organizational structure

Products, Service and Market Knowledge: (product/service overview, industry overview, client relationships)

Leadership Traits and Competencies

·   Personal Effectiveness: business/proposal writing, presentation skills, negotiating, communication skills
·   Financial Knowledge: interpreting financial reports, strategic finance, accounting reports and analysis
·   General Leadership Skills: mentoring and coaching, team effectiveness, delivering feedback, conflict resolution, interviewing skills, delegation

4. Provide structure for the program.

The program must be flexible enough to adapt to individual and organizational schedules. It should combine the one-on-one mentorship of senior leaders with the interactive learning of group sessions, explains Augustine. “After you conduct your 360-degree assessment, meet with each participant individually to review your findings and begin to identify their skills gap,” he adds. “This meeting will also identify specific areas in which mentors/coaches could be used.”

For example, Atwell-Hicks (the Michigan-based land development consulting firm where Augustine is vice-president of Corporate Services), 10 senior leaders were identified and scheduled for monthly individual meetings with participants. Each leader met with two participants a month to open lines of communication. The company also provided monthly leadership and training seminars. Weekly, monthly and quarterly goals were set to gather feedback and continually monitor progress.

But no two companies are the same. Your company should customize its leadership program to develop the best leaders according to your company’s size, objectives and most of all, vision for the future.

How to Develop More Effective Ads

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:34:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

Advertising is no longer simply about exposure – it’s about returning profits.

That’s the initial message in a Forrester Research report entitled "Advertising Campaigns That Drive Web Traffic." Interestingly, the report’s author, Peter Kim, notes that offline advertising tactics are required to build awareness and drive site traffic. Thus, his suggestions pertain to both online and offline businesses alike.

"At the height of the dot-com bubble, millions of marketing dollars were spent on high-profile ad campaigns to drive web traffic," writes Kim. "When the bubble burst, many of the big spenders did as well. Today most marketers look back and are determined not to repeat past mistakes."

The mistakes he’s alluding to are as follows:

Delivering quantity, not quality. Just because the masses are visiting your site, doesn’t mean they’re buying anything. Kim described the case of Pontiac, with its 2004 advertising ploy to give away 276 of its new G6 sedans to audience members of the Oprah Winfrey Show. "Although the event created a massive spike in web traffic, it failed to spur significant sales," he concluded.
Leaving consumers stranded. The campaign may attract visitors to your site, but leads must be captured and sales converted to complete the equation.
Mistake entertainment for engagement. "Advertising, however entertaining, should drive sales," wrote Kim. He used the example of a Carl’s Jr. Restaurants campaign – targeting 18 to 34-year old males – that featured Paris Hilton. "The ad, and the related controversy, increased traffic by 15 times average to a microsite that included ‘too hot for TV’ video, a restaurant locator and a coupon download." But in the end, the ensuing sales were disappointing and stock price closed down 20 percent on the year.

Pontiac’s redemption: Pontiac went back to TV in the spring of 2005 to launch its new Solstice roadster. While its Solstice campaign had the same objectives as the previous G6 campaign, the firm modified its approach. The 1,000 vehicle run sold in 41 minutes, obliterating Pontiac’s goal of 10 days, wrote Kim. Here’s what they did differently:

The call to action pinpointed prospective buyers. When Pontiac launched the Solstice on NBC’s "The Apprentice," it featured 30-second spots that urged viewers to read up about the product and be eligible to be one of the first buyers of a limited release. "The clear call to action weeded out the merely curious and the resulting high-quality traffic moved the campaign closer to its desired business outcome," wrote Kim.
The customer activity was mapped from start to finish. Pontiac followed up with supplemental ads to create awareness, Yahoo ads and search terms, as well as a microsite that allowed visitors to print out a voucher to bring to the dealerships to reserve one of the first 1,000 cars. "Pontiac identified the channel integration points – across TV, online, and dealerships – and ensured a seamless cross-channel experience was co-ordinated."
The campaign entertained, educated, and engaged prospective buyers. Product placement on The Apprentice featured contestants competing to create a promotional brochure to showcase the launch of the new car, turning the hour-long show into a promotion that engaged Pontiac’s target demographic under the guise of entertainment.

The three key elements of an effective advertising campaign:

1.Clearly identify – and understand – the target audience. Know who you’re going after: what they like, what they’re watching and listening to.

2.Plan a comprehensive end-to-end experience. Design your campaign to take customers from awareness to investigation, to purchase.

3.Focus on tangible business results. Increased web traffic doesn’t mean increased sales. Keep an eye on profits; those are the real results.

3 Customer Service Tips to Increase Holiday Sales

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:32:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

As Christmas shoppers converge on your stores in the coming weeks, the task of maintaining a high level of customer service becomes crucial. The busier your business gets, the more difficult it is to attend to all customers’ needs and wants. However, training your salespeople with a standard customer service approach, at the last minute, only complicates things.

Paul Levesque, in his Entrepreneur.com column "Creating Customer Service Dynamos," says businesses too often take an outside-in approach to delivering outstanding service. He suggests the doing opposite: Allow your salespeople to provide great service from the inside out, because good customer experience is subjective to each individual customer.

"The key is to get your employees coming up with their own ideas for delighting customers, and then letting positive feedback from happy customers motivate your workers to continue implementing more of their own innovative service strategies," says Levesque.

"This is called the ‘flashpoint effect,’ where employee motivation and customer satisfaction fuel each other in a chain reaction of contagious enthusiasm."

Levesque identifies three ways to catalyze this flashpoint effect in your employees, just in time for the holidays:

1. Exceed your customers’ expectations every step of the way.

This could be difficult, given the seasonal surge in traffic and confusion, but the key is to keep the idea in mind. "Set up a brainstorming session in which your employees break a typical customer transaction down into its individual steps, and then challenge the group to focus on each step, and uncover ways to add a ‘wow’ element of delight to each step," says Levesque.

It could be a gesture as simple as offering a candy cane to customers when they walk through the door, or as complex as handing them a flyer listing return policies and relevant contact information after they make a purchase.

2. Make your customers feel important.

This relates to point #1, but at a time when shoppers feel less like a person and more like just another nameless, faceless gift-buyer, it’s important to make them feel attended to.

"(Especially at stressful peak sales times), you see businesses making it painfully obvious that they consider their customers to be unreasonable intruders, potential criminals, annoying interruptions of the ‘real work’ the business is trying to get done," notes Levesque.

Showing a little patience and courtesy goes a long way. Doing the little things, like smiling and addressing customers by name, can make an enormous difference in improving customer satisfaction and closing sales.

3. Tailor the experience to fit the customer.

The "personalized" sales approach is never as important as it is at Christmas time because shoppers are invariably buying something for somebody else. Be conscious of this desire among your customers. Ask questions like, "What exactly do you have in mind?" or "Does he/she prefer a particular brand of phone?" or "Let me guess, your kid wants a phone he/she can play MP3s on…”

"Flashpoint businesses recognize that they deal with different customers and that each customer can have unique expectations," says Levesque.

Abandon one-size-fits all mentalities and look for ways to provide something special for each customer. Next thing you know, you’ll be providing something special for their friends, their family and everybody else they tell about the exceptional service you provide… and that was when you were swamped with other holiday customers!

Your Employees WANT to be Challenged: Survey

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:58:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

If you assume your workers are lazy and require extra initiative to perform at the level you demand, odds are you are mistaken. In fact, it’s likely your employees are working harder than you think, to exceed your expectations.

The majority of employees today desire to be fully engaged in the workplace and set high standards for themselves according to a study conducted by the Towers Perrin management consulting firm, as reported by Virgina Galt of The Globe and Mail.

The study, released Oct. 22, surveyed nearly 90,000 workers worldwide and found that 84 percent of respondents enjoy challenging work, 83 percent look for opportunities to develop new skills and 58 percent “tend to invest time and effort beyond what is required,” said Towers Perrin.

However, the majority also feel they are not getting the organizational support they need to perform to full potential. “Employees want to invest more of themselves to help their employers, but employers don’t understand their employee base well enough to create a work experience and culture that will elicit full engagement… Employers need to understand their employees as well as they understand their customers,” Towers Perrin said.

Make your workers feel valued

Galt reports the survey found that only 6 percent of Canadian respondents believe senior management “treats employees as if they the most important part of the organization,” and only 23 percent describe themselves as being fully engaged at work, according to the firm.

The survey says 32 percent of Canadian employees are partly to fully disengaged, which should be a major concern to managers and employers.

Engaged employees make you more money

Obviously, engaged employees are much less likely to quit than their disenchanted colleagues, and ultimately contribute to greater profits for their employer, explained Kevin Aselstine, managing principal at Towers Perrin in Toronto, to Galt.

Towers Perrin found that companies with the highest percentage of engaged employees collectively increased operating income 19 percent year-to-year. Meanwhile, companies with the lowest percentage of engaged employees showed year-to-year drop in operating income of 33 percent.

How to engage your employees?

1. Show them you care

Let your employees know you care about how they feel, about their progress on the job, and about recognizing their accomplishments.

Towers Perrin identified a belief that senior management “is sincerely interested in employee well-being” as the No. 1 driver of worker engagement worldwide.

2. Feedback, communication and honesty

“Senior leaders get low marks in particular on communication and transparency,” said Towers Perrin in its report.

“Only 38 percent feel senior management communicates openly and honestly and only 44 percent agree senior management tries to be visible and accessible,” the firm reported. Rather than feeling they are considered as their employer’s most important assets, “more than 50 percent feel that senior management ‘treats us as just another part of the organization to be managed,’ or as if we don’t matter.”

3. Understand your employees’ needs

The survey findings indicate that senior managers have it within their power to drive engagement up by getting a better handle on the support their employees need and want, reported Galt in conclusion.

Get Ready for the Christmas Shopping Rush

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:55:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

If you’ve noticed a few Christmas displays popping up in stores near you, you’re not alone. Last fall, shoppers across North America were surprised with retailers’ early efforts to prepare for the holiday rush. In fact, some retailers were so early that they put Christmas merchandise right alongside their Halloween items.

"In the retail business, it’s called ‘Christmas Creep,’ when retailers push out Christmas themed merchandise ever earlier," wrote Sherri C. Goodman of The Birmingham News.

Scott Krugman, spokesman for the National Retail Federation (NRF) says retailers are responding to earlier consumer demand for Christmas deals. "It’s the way people shop," he said. "We’re seeing more and more year-round shopping."

Last year, an NRF survey found that 40 percent of consumers actually start their Christmas shopping before Halloween.

Others argue it’s not only demand, but also increased competition among retailers and weather that are driving earlier Christmas promotions. A Shop.org survey found over a third of online retailers planned to start their holiday promotions earlier last year, to beat their competitors to the punch. Some analysts believe that with the climate changing, shoppers aren’t getting the usual holiday weather cues they’re used to, so retailers are whipping out the Christmas gear to trigger the appropriate response, writes Goodman.

Whatever the reason for an earlier holiday shopping season, retailers need to be ready. Shari Waters, a retail columnist at About.com, shares five tips to maximize composure and minimize headaches when the Christmas crowds arrive.

Shari Waters’ Tips to Prepare for Christmas Shopping:

1. Stock Up.

"Make sure the store has plenty of bags, gift wrap, cash register tape, ribbons/ink, gift certificates and all the necessary office supplies. Examine inventory levels. Review the open-to-buy plan, inspect the store’s budget and reorder any impulse items and other top sellers to capitalize on the extra exposure. Check the currency in the cash registers and determine how much petty cash you should keep on hand."

2. Clean Up.

"If you expect to receive a lot of merchandise for your peak sales period, reorganize and clean up the stock receiving area. If frequently used items are accessible, it will reduce stress during the retail rush. A messy workroom only creates chaos and confusion.

"Before it gets busy, conduct any needed maintenance to get the store looking its best. Replace, repair and refinish worn store fixtures. Schedule the floors to be polished or have the carpets cleaned. A fresh coat of paint will go a long way to sprucing up the walls. Make sure all the lighting is in proper working order."

3. Staff Up.

"Train new staff well before the season begins. Be sure to schedule enough employees during peak periods. As the number of people who walk in goes up, it is important these new customers don’t take all of your attention away from the regular customers.

"Shoplifting may be a bigger threat at this time so consider hiring or increasing store security."

4. Rest Up.

"Remind your employees that in order to have a positive atmosphere for customers, they must be well-rested, pleasant and prepared to deal with any difficult situation. The best way to beat stress is by getting plenty of rest.

"Remember to maintain break schedules during the retail rush. Just ten minutes away from the sales floor can renew a salesperson. Plan a party to celebrate with staff after the hectic period is over. They should be rewarded for their hard work too."

5. After the Climax:

"Expect to see a number of returns immediately following your store’s retail rush. Naturally, the more you sell – the more returns you may receive. Depending on the size of your retail store, consider allocating a specific area or one of more employees solely for returns. This will free up remaining staff members to deal with other customers.

"Once the rush is over, you’ll have a chance to relax and catch your breath. That is, only for a moment. Unless your business closes after the busy season, you’ll want to evaluate and measure the performance of sales and staff. Then it is time to begin preparing for the next peak sales and holiday shopping season all over again."

Staff Training: A Pat on the Back Goes a Long Way

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:51:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

Training is widely considered a necessary investment in improving the quality of a company’s workforce and many companies spend thousands each year on employee training. Some organizations routinely train new hires; others require all workers to attend annual seminars or workshops, wrote Romy Schafer in the Customer Service Management Report.

"Regardless of how employers approach training, many will undoubtedly find themselves addressing training and performance issues over and over again," she added. "Why? Because they fail to reinforce the training their employees receive in the first place."

To find out where most companies go wrong, Schafer talked to Michelle Diener, Director of Instructional Design at Corporate Dynamics Inc. in Naperville, Illinois. "There are companies that don’t understand what it means to train people," she said.

"They believe that if they send their employees to a training class, all their problems will be solved." Diener says a multitude of factors impact an employee’s performance – organizational issues, policies, procedures, and resources available – all of which need to be considered along with training.

Training is not an event – it’s a process.
"An event is equivalent to a one-time activity that has little effect on sustained behavioral changes," explains Diener. "It often only has a short-term impact on a person’s beliefs, attitude, behavior or skills.

"Change takes place over time."

For training to have a real impact on employees, says Diener, it must be tied to a company’s business objectives and reinforced over time.

Benefits to reinforcing training:

Get more out of your training dollars
Ensure a long-term impact from training
Increase company profitability
Demonstrate to employees a willingness to invest in their development

Michelle Diener’s Tips to better reinforce your training efforts:

· Identify the necessary outcomes of training. "Goals should be measurable, specific and tied to the company’s overall goals. This lets you know if and where the training has made any impact."

· Plan in advance. Companies should develop and implement reinforcement plans up front, at the start of training. "These plans may change of evolve over time, but they should be in place from the beginning."

· Involve employees in the reinforcement process. Companies should solicit their employees’ input at the beginning of training and throughout the reinforcement process. Front-line employees can provide invaluable customer insight.

· Train managers to coach. "Managers need to be training before training begins and involved afterward," says Diener. "(Getting the management team involved) really makes a difference."

· Create individual/team action plans. "That’s part of the training process. It provides a mechanism for accountability follow-through."

· Recognize and reward desired behaviours. This is the big one. Money talks; so do compliments. As employees consistently demonstrate the desired (i.e. trained) behaviours, a reward and recognition program must be implemented. It’s basic psychology – operant conditioning through positive reinforcement. And it works.

Build Loyalty by Rewarding Your Best Customers

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:48:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

Looking for an easy way to boost sales? Figure out who your best customers are and what motivates them to buy; then simply offer them incentives to continue buying from you.

Joanna Krotz, co-author of the "Microsoft Small Business Kit", offers the following three steps to help you set up the right loyalty programs for your business and keep customers loyal.

Step 1: Identify best customers

The key first step is to define your target by understanding the characteristics of your best customers. You may be surprised to find that the customer you talk to most, the one whose family saga you've now memorized, is so demanding and buys so little that he's actually costing you money. And a customer you've never heard of, one who buys online once every quarter, is really your biggest spender.

Neither frequency nor volume will define a best customer. You want to identify customers who provide the most profit. Only a thorough analysis of your customer database can yield such insights. The discovery of the online buyer, for instance, might lead to special e-mail offers.

Next, find out what those customers most like about your products and what offers or improvements are appealing. Start by casually asking questions of customers each time they call. Then, when you've formed some ideas, mail a postcard survey to get detailed answers. Make sure you have enough responses to figure out what really moves customers to buy. You may have to send out a few mailings.

Step 2: Divide and reward

Armed with the information, classify your customers into four target groups, from highest to lowest spenders. Then categorize which products and services get the most attention or sales.

The resulting list will highlight the customers to spend your time and marketing on. You'll also know how to allocate your resources among the other groups and, perhaps, the profile of new customers you can tap for growth. Remember, the goal is to get the best customers to return and spend more or buy more frequently.

There are dozens of ways to reward customers, including the well-known frequent buyer clubs, buy-several-get-one-free offers and time-sensitive promotions and discounts made available only to loyal customers.

Such ideas are tried and true. But you don't have to start big. Loyalty programs — and the marketing materials you create to promote them — can be very affordable. Some ideas:

· Send personalized thank-you notes. After each visit or major purchase, send notes that thank the customer for their business. You might also enclose a discount or special offer that can be applied to his next purchase.

· Send reminders. Set up a tracking system that automatically generates a postcard or note offering a 10 percent or more discounts after a certain interval of time during which the customer hasn't bought anything.

· Send e-mail offers. Capture e-mail addresses first — with the customers' permission, of course. Have safeguards in place to protect the information. A promise of upgrades or e-mail-only offers may motivate customers to provide their e-mail address.

· Send holiday or personal offers. A freebie or treat on a customer's birthday sends the message that you've paid special attention. Sending news or sales dates for a customer's preferred brand or product will also make a favorable impression.

· Share proprietary information or intelligence. If you offer professional services, a newsletter or special bulletin about industry news or events gives your customers a great value. You can also enclose discounts and offers.

· Offer steep discounts at off times. If your business has any specific down time, let loyal customers in on a bargain.

Step 3: Stay up to speed

Both markets and customers have a way of evolving. Don't simply set up a loyalty program and walk away. Keep track of any changes in customer or prospect information and make sure the list and the information are regularly updated.

Marketing to Baby-Boomer Women

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:41:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

Make sure to keep many your marketing angles pointed toward middle-aged/older buyers –specifically the females of that age category – because they’re the ones who truly impact your profit margin.

While it’s not uncommon for the lady of the house to do most of the shopping for the family, studies have shown that members of the Baby-Boomer generation still make up the majority of the money-spenders in the U.S. population.

According to the American Management Association, female Baby-Boomers are the most powerful consumers in the nation, influencing up to 80 percent of the $2.1 trillion boomers spend on consumer goods and services.

“At the peak of their careers, these women have more discretionary income that ever and make most of the purchasing decisions of their household,” write the authors of the National Federation of Independent Business website (www.nfib.com), who point to Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn.

Brown and Orsborn, in their 2006 book: Boom: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer – the Baby-Boomer Woman, identify four facts retailers should consider before revamping their marketing materials:

1. She is loyal to companies, not brands.

It is a common misconception that women become more brand loyal with age. Although a woman in her 40s, 50s or 60 may continue to purchase a product or service from the same place, it’s more likely she’s inclined toward the company rather than the brand.

“She wants a relationship with the company – and she wants it to be sincere,” explains Orsborn. Such a woman is conscious of a company’s reputation, especially in terms of community involvement and social responsibility. She cares about how respectful a company has been to her in the past and how accurately it understands her needs.

Think about ads for products like Swiffer, Mr. Clean or any dish soap you choose: See how easy these products make the lives of Baby-Boomer women? The actress is always amazed at how little work she now needs to do and is brimming with joy!

Furthermore, women are selective about quality, service and deals. Men, on the other hand, show habitual buying patterns with age and stick to the same brand out of convenience and trust.

2. She is technologically savvy.

The female Baby-Boomer knows how to do her research and where to look: on the Internet. Studies show that boomer women are as likely to consult websites before making purchases as Gen-Xers, Orsborn says.

In 2004, women aged 35 to 54 represented the highest proportion of web surfers. Direct catalog marketers even calculate that 70 percent of all online purchases are made by women, many of whom are indeed Baby Boomers.

“This generation of women is on the run, and they’re much more high-tech oriented that you would guess,” says Orsborn.

3. She still feels young.

According to Orsborn, most boomer women see themselves as a decade younger than they are – treat them as such. Refrain from using terms such as “golden,” “mature,” “seniors” or even “middle aged.”

Take a balanced approach. They don’t want to see some airbrushed young girl pushing product, but they don’t want to see a wrinkled old woman either. These women want to see themselves in a vital way. Show active mothers and professional women using your products or services (this makes a lot of sense for cellular retailers!).

A 2006 study found that – more so than men – women depend on cellphones to express style, to stay connected with their families and to save time.

4. She wants to be empowered.

The times have definitely changed. Nowadays, age does not define a woman’s life stage. A boomer woman may be an empty-nester, a caring grandmother, a small-business entrepreneur and a dating single – all at the same time! These women are seeking products and services that appeal to their sense of adventure, curiosity, energy and development. “You have to tune into how she wants to be talked to – and that’s in way that’s respectful of her growth process,” says Orsborn.

Preventing (and Rescuing) Burnt Out Employees

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:31:00 -0600

By Allan Pulga

Finding good employees is not easy, so keeping good employees happy is essential to any employer. Keeping staff happy is more than just paying them well and offering them benefits – you need to learn to recognize the signs of burnout and pull unmotivated employees out of their rut.

David Javitch, Entrepreneur.com’s Employee Management columnist, says that every organization has non-performing, unmotivated, burning out (or burnt out) employees.

“Therefore, to increase success, every business owner needs to deal with this obstacle by identifying unmotivated employees and ‘turning them around,’” he adds. “But turning them around isn’t as easy as it may seem, especially because as the employer you can’t really ‘make’ anyone be motivated!

“Remember the old adage: ‘You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink?’ That, in a nutshell is true with people as well. You can’t motivate them if they don’t want to be motivated. But you’re the boss, so what can you do?

“First, you need to identify the signs of a person on the verge of burnout. Then you must create the atmosphere that encourages these non-performing employees to refresh and motivate themselves.”

Red-Flag Signs of Employee Burnout (David Javitch):

Decrease in performance or productivity
Increase in number of days missed (e.g. sick days)
Attitude changes
Comments from co-workers
Stress reactions (e.g. jittery, short-tempered, disagreeable)
Tardiness
Change in lunch/coffee breaks

Once you’ve identified any of the above symptoms, you need to gather information from previous performance reviews, managers or supervisors. “Determine if this situation is a trend or just a blip in performance,” says Javitch. “In either case, you need to intervene as follows:

1.Meet with the individual. Begin by asking the employee his or her perception of their performance or productivity. Then based on your data and observations, share your specific views of the change in productivity and attitude.

2. Identify previous motivators (the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior). Determine which factors are no longer present and/or determine which ones no longer work as motivators.

3. Identify new motivators. Frederick Herzberg, whose writings of workplace psychology in the 1950s and 60s is still heavily relied upon today, offers the following most commonly used and effective motivators:

First, identify areas where the individual can experience a sense of achievement, such as accomplishing a task, finishing a report, meeting with colleagues or creating new ideas.
Next, be certain to recognize and reward the individual for a job well done or work in progress. This form of positive feedback usually encourages increased performance and therefore the individual receives even greater recognition or comment from you, the boss.
Provide opportunities for personal or professional growth on the job. This can be accomplished through attendance at seminars or workshops or by observing other employees in other jobs. In addition, by creating a concrete career pathway (a plan for future career growth), you can motivate this person to strive toward the next job or position in your organization.
Ensure that you're providing appropriate amounts of guidance and supervision so the employee knows exactly what's expected. Also, ensure the communication between the two of you is frequent enough, appropriate and adequate to ensure the employee knows exactly what the road to success looks like. You might discover that the current job is too challenging or perhaps not challenging enough to maintain the person's interest and productivity.
Try rotating or exchanging the job responsibilities between several employees. This form of cross-training injects fresh, new energy and challenges into the daily job performance.
And finally, try expanding the breadth and depth of responsibilities. This too can energize the individual who is not feeling challenged.”

Following the above steps can help you and the employee figure out how well he/she fits into his/her role in the business. Not only will your employee feel valued by you, he/she will feel more motivated, seek more job satisfaction and become more productive. And of course, you don’t have to lose a good worker you intend to keep.