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TAKE NOTE
What happened to soccer moms?
Marketing experts recently have tagged yet another demographic to
target: Urbanola. The name is a cross between “urban”
and “granola,” which helps to identify its members.
Market analysis describes these people as affluent, well-educated,
health-conscious adults who live in large urban areas. More precisely,
they are Americans 35 to 64 years old with an annual household income
of $100,000-plus who take an active role in their health including
diet and exercise. This group is estimated to be slightly more than
three percent of the U.S. population over the age of 18.
When compared to the Simmons National Consumer Survey for 2004, which
studied habits in shopping, lifestyle and home improvements, this
group was found to be more than twice as likely than the average American
to recently have spent at least $5,000 on home improvement.
The 'eyes' have it
Pocketsize paperbacks may be going the way of the eight-track and
the typewriter. Either that or we’ll have to start designing
clothing with larger pockets. Two of the biggest publishers of mass-market
book titles, the Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, have started
printing paperbacks in a bigger size that allows larger type and more
space between lines.
Jack Romanos, the chief executive of Simon & Schuster, told The
New York Times, “We’ve been losing the foundation of our
customer base because their eyesight is getting worse, and the books
are getting harder and harder to read.”
Soft sell for hard times
When the going gets tough, it may be time to soften up a bit. Larry
Wilson, founder of the Wilson Learning Corp., says sales should not
be an adversarial relationship. A soft approach works best.
Wilson offers four key ideas to help close the deal:
1. Relate: Create an open, trusting relationship with the client.
2. Discover: Learn the customer’s problems, goals and vision
of the future.
3. Advocate: Work with the customer to come up with solutions.
4. Support: Realize that you must stick by the customer after the
sale.
By acting as a counselor, Wilson says, you become a trusted problem
solver. |
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