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Baby Boomers - Marketing to the "Me" Generation

Unless youve been in a dimly lit cavern for the past several decades, you know that "Baby Boomers" is the collective name given to the 76 million people born in the United States between the end of World War II and 1964. Often described as the largest, most knowledgeable and most fiscally influential demographic group in American history, their motto could very well be: Where does a 750-pound gorilla sit? Anywhere it wants!

Getting to Know Them

Dubbed the "Me Generation" for their nonstop quest for self-gratification, many "Boomers" pride themselves on their counterculture values, for having led movements for social rights and environmental awareness. However, marketers should take note

The cultural rift opened by the Vietnam War between Boomers who answered the call and those who avoided military service, or thought service dishonorable, has never completely closed.

Significant medical and scientific breakthroughs beginning in the 1940s have allowed Boomers to be the first Americans to take responsibility for being healthy, not just avoiding disease; to be fit, in shape, and to live longer...in effect, taking charge of their lives in ways earlier generations could never imagine.

Boomers value simplicity and like being in control. They view maintaining fitness and good health as manifestations of their ability to affect everything going on around them. For many, for example, the most dreaded aspect of a serious illness is as much being unable to think clearly or exercise as much as they want, as it is losing the ability to earn income.

Women may have first come into their own in this country as a result of World War II, but it was the demographic clout of fiercely independent Baby Boomer women, combined with their widespread entry into the workplace, that has lead to their increasingly controlling the purse strings of American households and businesses.

Out of necessity or otherwise, many Boomers of both the popular genders will continue working well-past retirement age. In truth, if all the Boomers who begin turning 65 in 2011 retire on schedule, the effect on national productivity, not to mention the financial markets, will be enormous. As a result, policies that encourage Boomers to remain in the labor force will be a necessity, but you can bet Boomers will find a way to make it all seem trendy (just as they did when they invented the youth culture of the '60s).

Through all this, the adult children of Baby Boomers will continue to be an important part of their parents' lives. Because Boomers had children later in life than previous generations, some of these children will still be in school and living at home even as their middle-age parents are gearing up second or third careers or just now realizing they may soon have their own parents to care for.

What This Means to You?

As a result of these and other factors, Baby Boomers' financial obligations will also be long-lived, and so, even now, staying on top of their long-term financial security is (or should be) a very high priority. Because of their economic clout, Boomers will always be an attractive marketplace.

Marketers have focused their efforts on Boomers for decades. "One of the surest ways to make sure a product prospers is to wait until Baby Boomers enter that stage of their lives," said Brad Edmondson, senior writer for American Demographics magazine.

Younger Boomers are still in their prime home buying and family-starting years. Yet according to LIMRA, this is a generation where life insurance has not been on their radar screens. Similarly, until recently most Boomers also were well behind the retirement planning curve.

Let's see why

The children of the '60s married and had children later in life--but many of these marriages didn't take, and second families and weekend visitation privileges became unhappy institutions for this generation. Add the effects of corporate mergers and downsizing, the need to support elderly parents, and the Boomers' mistaken belief that they could keep spending while meeting other financial goals...it's little wonder so many found themselves with credit problems and got a late start on retirement savings.

According to a report published by the Investment Company Institute: "Baby Boomers have done less financial planning for their future than did the previous generation. Studies show that despite a large number of two-income households and a higher per-capita income, they have a lower savings rate than their parents.

"More than half of the Boomers surveyed said they did not have enough money to save regularly," according the report, which was published on the Web site of financial planning firm, Waddell &Reed, "while two-thirds felt they could not invest for the long term because of the need for immediate access to their money."

At the same time, Boomers are confident they can keep earning income later in life, either by postponing retirement, launching new careers or starting homegrown businesses. Ironically, though, according to another study, Boomers still receive as much as 10% of their wealth from living parents.

Millions of Boomers began turning 50 in 1996, but you can still market to them as though they were still in their 30s or 40s. This generation never has wanted to be like their parents, and will always be young in their minds. Boomers may have been careless with money in the past, but you can help by giving them another chance to achieve personal financial security.

Your message to this generation: It's never too late, but the sooner you start, the more you can do.

Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net.

Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training for over 30 yearsbut as Will Rogers put it: "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Through interactive, Web-based "Do-While-Learning" programs, e-Newsletters and straight-talking articles, Bill helps small-business owners and independent professionals get the job done: profitably improving performance, helping grow your business, skipping expensive mistakes, making the journey to success faster, smoother, easier. And fun!

posted by edfy @ 2:35 PM 0 comments

Small Business Phone Systems - A Brief Explanation

How a business presents itself to its customers has to be the single most important factor in its potential success. In days gone by usually your first contact with new customers would have been through your storefront or through word of mouth, passed on by other satisfied customers. In todays modern world, telecommunication plays an ever increasing role in reaching potential new customers.

In the last few years the rate at which computing and telecommunication technology has advanced is simply astounding. With this increased rate of technological development comes falling prices for products that were once extremely expensive. This allows smaller companies to take advantage of features and services that were once only available to much larger and richer organisations.

Once upon a time the telephone was the primary mode of communication, whereas now existing and new customers are able to reach you I a variety of different ways. This article will give a brief overview of what is available and how you can use it.

The Telephone
When the internet was first becoming popular, many experts predicted it would kill off the telephone. Little did they know that in fact the exact opposite would happen. The massive growth in online shopping has generated massive amounts of customer phone enquiries, making the telephone still the most important communication tool throughout the world.

The internet is undoubtedly an impressive medium for publishing information, but it is not a person. Some customers would rather deal with a real life human being rather than with a machine. There are many situations where a person is much better suited to talk to customers than a machine is. The internet is not so good at dealing with higher priced items. Customers enquiring about these higher priced goods would in most cases prefer to deal with a person, and that is where the telephone comes in handy.

Phone Systems
The selection and installation of an appropriate phone system is probably one of the most important purchases a business will ever make. A bad phone system will repel potential customers; a good phone system will help them, guide them through a process, make it appear as though they have a direct line and most importantly make them feel like their business is both wanted and appreciated.

Phone systems with advanced features like voice mail, ACD (call queuing) and auto attendant, used to be extremely overpriced. Because of the integration between computing and telecom technology, prices have come down dramatically, although system performance and features have actually increased. Now a market that was once largely ignored by the telecoms industry and vendors alike is a thriving sector with manufacturers constantly improving and upgrading systems in a bid to attract your business.

The new phone systems developed for this small office/home office market sector can be split into three basic categories: key systems, mini-PBXs (including PC-based phone systems), and LAN based phone systems.

Key Systems
In the past few years some of the best developments have been in low cost intercom style systems for small businesses of typically 12 or fewer users. The biggest market sector in the telecoms industry is undoubtedly that of small businesses who have 10 or fewer users. It now seems almost comical that this market was largely ignored in the past. New KSU-Less systems allow even the smallest offices to enjoy more advanced features that used to be only normally associated with larger more expensive systems. These systems are extremely cost effective and designed to make use of existing telecoms wiring.

The systems in this category that have benefited most from development investment are hybrid corded and cordless phone systems. These systems allow users to integrate cordless as well as corded phones within intercom systems. Office based employees would have corded phones whereas mobile employees such as warehouse operatives could have cordless phones.

Mini-PBXs
Mini PBX systems are ideally suited to companies who have more than 10 employees, but fewer than 100. Mini PBXs can give access to features like voice mail, automated attendant, intercom, computer integration and call distribution.

There are 2 categories of mini-PBX phone systems, self contained devices and computer based phone systems. There are a few companies who make self contained systems. These systems are easy to install and require very minimal computer and networking knowledge. These systems provide basic features like voice mail, auto attendant, intercom and a few others. It must be stressed though that although these systems will suffice for most small business applications, they cannot always provide all the specialist features each individual business may require. Mini-PBXs that are computer based are generally speaking for the more technically advanced users, and can offer a wider range of features that can be customised to meet a businesses requirements. A good example of advanced features is advanced IVR (auto-attendant) scripts. This allows computerised phone systems to route calls to specific groups based on how the caller has responded to prompts. These computerised systems allow even small companies to handle their calls in a way normally associated with large call centres.

LAN (IP)-based phone systems
Companies that have installed a high speed local area network (LAN) for connecting their computers can use this same network as the backbone for their office phone system. Many phone system suppliers are edging towards this approach, and there are already several LAN-based phone systems which use a companys Ethernet data network to transport phone calls and data.

LAN-based phone systems were a very experimental idea. They had unpredictable audio quality; neither did they offer features that users of conventional phone systems take for granted. This has all changed as phone system vendors have retooled the business phone systems to use data networks as their backbone.

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Jason Morris is co-author, search engine optimization and marketing consultant of Business Phone Systems Direct. Specialists in the supply and installation of business phone systems and accessories.
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posted by edfy @ 2:32 PM 0 comments