Category Archives: Insurance Definition
Is The 50-Year Mortgage For You?
Is The 50-Year Mortgage For You?
During the past few weeks several mortgage lenders have announced that they will now offer 50-year mortgages. This is a curious idea, but not as curious as it could be: At the height of the real estate boom in Japan some homes were financed with 100-year mortgages.
The 30-year mortgage that is now the gold standard of American home finance was once virtually unknown. In the early part of the 20th century most mortgages in the U.S. were “term” loans, mortgages that lasted just five years. Since most of the debt could not be repaid in five years, at the end of the term owners would go out and get replacement five-year mortgages.
This system worked fairly well until the 1930s. Then the Depression drove down employment levels and shredded property values. In the west, the Dust Bowl impacted many states.
But then a new idea arose. The just-formed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) said it would guarantee the repayment of 20-year loans if borrowers would pay insurance fees. Private lenders followed with their own longer-term mortgages and the result was that term loans largely disappeared from the U.S. marketplace.
Over time the accepted definition of “long-term” financing changed from 20 years to 25 years and then to 30 years. Forty-year mortgages have been available since at least the 1980s.
What’s the attraction of long-term loans?
Fixed-rate, long-term financing represents stability. If times are tough you don’t have to worry about qualifying for a new loan. And if rates are fixed, then rising interest levels are not a concern.
But longer-term loans also have another value: They may allow borrowers to qualify for more financing.
Suppose we want to borrow 0,000 at 6.5 percent interest. With fixed-rate financing, the monthly costs for principal and interest would be as follows:
Monthly Mortgage Payments: Principal & Interest
15-years: ,613.32
20-years: ,236.72
25-years: ,025.62
30-years: ,896.20
40-years: ,756.37
50-years: ,691.15
The list above plainly shows that the longer the term, the lower the monthly cost for principal and interest. The practical advantage of longer monthly payments is that borrowers can obtain larger loans. Compared with 15-year financing, using a 50-year loan would reduce cash costs by more than 0 a month in our example.
Monthly payments are not the only consideration, however. Borrowers should also look at potential loan costs. Because longer-term loans are, well, longer, money is outstanding for a greater period of time than with 30-year financing. The result is that potential interest costs increase substantially with time.
Total Potential Interest:
15-years: 0,397.98
20-years: 6,812.66
25-years: 7,686.45
30-years: 2,633.47
40-years: 3,057.81
50-years: 4,690.40
The huge interest-costs over 50 years surely seem formidable, but is that really the case?
There are several issues to consider.
If you can buy an appreciating property then a long-term loan may be advantageous when compared to the alternative: No financing. If you cannot qualify for other loan products because the monthly cost is too high or for other reasons, then 40- and 50-year financing may be attractive.
If you get a fixed-rate mortgage you have protection against rising interest costs. In effect, a hedge.
If you expect your income to rise in the future, a longer-term loan may allow you to buy now instead of waiting until you have a larger paycheck — or waiting until prices are higher.
If you have a fixed-rate mortgage and have the right to prepay, in whole or in part, at any time and without penalty, then you have two attractive options: First, as your income grows you can make monthly prepayments that reduce the loan term and cut potential interest costs. Second, if rates decline you can refinance — an attractive choice given that loans today can often be refinanced without the need for much (or sometimes any) cash at closing. (That’s not to say there is no cost to close, but that you can finance closing costs and thus avoid the need to come up with cash.)
This is the biggie: The potential cost over 50 years is not a worry if you only have the loan for five years, 10 years or whatever.
Would I get a longer-term mortgage? Actually, I have.
Long ago I bought an investment property with a 40-year loan. Since then rental rates have increased and the property has long thrown off a positive cashflow each month. No less important, the value of the property has increased some 400 percent — value I would not have if the property could not have been purchased.
So the next time someone mentions a longer-term loan, don’t laugh. Check rates, terms and conditions; it may well be that a long-term loan is what you need to get the property you want with the income you have now.
The 5 W’s of World Class Customer Service Training
The 5 W’s of World Class Customer Service Training
The preamble to the United States Constitution begins, ‘we, the people.’ I feel strongly that we, the people, are what make the difference in life, both personally and professionally.
The interaction anyone has at any level with your employees, including you, gives a customer– whether current, potential, internal or external–an opportunity to make a judgment about you, your company, all companies like yours. I’m not just talking about call centers here. All technical support or help desk personnel are included as well. As a matter of fact, anyone who is in the customer service business period.
With continued focus on customer satisfaction, customer retention, and lifetime value of the customer, it is no surprise that contact center operations continue to increase in importance as the primary hub of a customer’s experience. For the customer, the person on the other end of the phone is the company. The contact center is still the most common way that customers get in touch with businesses. In fact, Gartner reports 92% of all contact is through the center. And it’s been reported that 70% to 90% of what happens with customers is driven by human nature, having nothing to do with technology. State of the art technology is a necessity today, but it is meant to enable human endeavors, not to disable them.
I often talk about taking customer service and ‘kicking it up a notch.’ In the food industry, the word ‘lagniappe’ is often used. Its definition is “a small present given to a customer with a purchase. For example, when you go to the bakery and buy a dozen donuts or bagels, you oftentimes get a ‘free’ one or a baker’s dozen. That’s what customer service should be about–giving the customer more than they expected! Let’s bring lagniappe into the contact center industry.
If we’re going to speak about world class customer service, let’s have a working definition it so we’re all on the same page. Customer service is those activities provided by a company’s employees that enhance the ability of a customer to realize the full potential value of a product or service before and after the sale is made, thereby leading to satisfaction and repurchase.
Let’s look at the first W which is Why?
The state of customer service today is not good, be it over the phone or self service. Because 92% of people feel their call experience is important in shaping the image of a company, this reinforces the importance of centers in branding the image of their companies.
In a Mobius Management Systems Survey, here’s what happened because of poor customer service:
60% cancelled accounts with banks
36% changed insurance providers
40% changed telephone companies
35% changed credit card providers
375 changed Internet service providers
Are you one of these statistics? I certainly am.
In a study done by Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.com, in answer to (1) how did agents satisfy your needs and handle the call, and (2) based on any negative experience, would you stop using this company in the future? the findings reveal a strong correlation between the participant’s age and the tendency to stop using the company after a bad experience.
What does this mean? Younger participants were less tolerant and more likely to move to the competition. People over 65 were found to be more demanding than those in middle age.
What can you do? Give younger callers a ‘wow’ experience–maintain their loyalty. People over 36 probably have more of an ‘emotional bank account’ with the company they are dealing with–maybe had some good experience and therefore are more willing to ‘forgive.’
In a recent study (CRM Magazine/PeopleSoft Web Seminar on How Usability Helps to Drive a Profitable Contact Center), the number of applications required for agents to access customer inquiries were:
3.7% just 1
81.5% 2 – 5
7.4% 5 – 10
7.4% more than 10
As you can see, the majority of applications are 2 – 5. The goal, of course, is to link every point of contact to one central location for a customer-centric, synchronized approach satisfying customer experiences with every interaction.
Strategies for success for world class service should include:
Respond promptly
Handle requests through the customers’ choice of medium
Be brief and clear
Reduce back and forth communications (especially in writing, i.e., email, kick it up to a phone call if it goes beyond two)
Personalized service
Delight the customer
What do we mean by delighting the customer?
Inform and educate them
Establish your expertise and professionalism
Offer options
Diffuse upset, anger, when and if necessary
Escalate, if required
Take Ownership of the call
Remember we’re still on the first W – the Why. Today’s pressures on agents are different than in the past. They are asked to handle more customer, more volume, more complex and/or complicated calls. After all if we could handle our issues with self service, we probably would not call. But if we tried self service and it didn’t work, now we’re upset and it’s an escalated call from the get go.
They’re asked to provide more information, do it faster and be available and accessible. But they are to lower costs, generate revenue, incorporate new technologies, ensure closure and commitment, deliver ‘great’ service and when? Yesterday, of course.
As a matter of fact the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has said that the causes of death for people under 65 are:
21% – environment – war, accidents, crimes
9% – health care system – doctors, hospitals, medications
17% – human biology – not because of lifestyle
53% – because of the way people choose to live their lives!!!
This is the good news and the bad news. It’s bad news because it’s more than half. However, the good news is that this is something we can do something about, it’s about choice.
The #2 W is Who should be trained?
We suggest front line agents/representatives, supervisors, team lads, managers, assistant managers, internal customers and other departments – anyone who is a touch point so that they can learn to speak the same language, and more importantly, not be in an adversarial position, but rather, together they are serving the external customer or end user.
The #3 W is Where should the training take place? Offsite vs onsite, and there are advantages and disadvantages for both.
Certainly it is most cost effective to have training on site. However, distractions are rampant as is the participant’s availability to a person or problem.
Offsite is more costly. However, there are no distractions and the participants are unavailable to other departments, their managers, or any issues. I believe there is psychic value in taking people away from their work stations and off site to acknowledge the touch jobs they have.
The #4 W is What should be included in any training? We believe the following modules provide a robust, powerful, and succinct training curriculum:
Quality Customer Service Rapport Building
Customer Expectations
Perception Shifting Conflict Resolution
Language Skills
Anger Management E-Mail Protocol
Stress Reduction Empathetic Responsiveness
Change Management
Communication/Listening Skills Interaction/Role Play
Service with a Smile
Further suggested is university certification to up the ante. The more professionally you treat your employees, the more professionally they will treat your customers.
The #5 W is When. We say for new hires, monthly, ongoingly, consistently, whenever change occurs, when stressors increase, and as needed.
We further suggest that each employee get a minimum of 24 hours per year of ongoing training, spread out over time for the most absorption. We divide our trainings into two four hour sessions per day and deliver 6 days per employee. Therefore, 30 people can participate in the training per day. If there has been no ongoing training, we do four days once a month for four months and then a session three months later, and then another three months later. In this manner, training is customized, in real time, and can address whatever challenges are presented when they occur.
Starting a Mobile Disco
Starting a Mobile Disco
The Pro’s (and woes!) of becoming a Mobile D.J!
So how do you become a Mobile D.J?, easy!, just call yourself one!. There are no diploma’s or qualifications and no graduation ceremony. However the time may come where you are called upon to demonstrate your D.J’ing skills and often this will be in front of 100’s of people at your first gig. Entertaining such a a large number of people can be a very daunting and nerve racking task.
Not just music and flashing lights
Mobile D.J’ing is different to club or radio D.J’ing. Just spending a fortune on the very latest equipment and latest chart music won’t make you a successful D.J or get you re-booked. Being a Mobile D.J is also about being an entertainer, rather then just being a Jukebox surrounded by lots of pretty lights!. You will also have to play a lot of music genres which you may not otherwise choose to listen to by choice.
A successful D.J is one who plays to his or her Audience, who can break the ice at difficult functions and who isn’t out to satisfy their own ego’s. Most D.J’s learn to “read” the audience, and are frequently watching the dancefloor to gauge what music will work next. At Mobile Functions such as Weddings, your audience may take some time to get onto the dancefloor and this is where Microphone work is important in order to break the ice, make your audience feel welcome and encourage them onto the dancefloor.
Where and how can I learn D.J skills and get advice?
Some people simply may not be cut out to D.J. Others may pick up the skills in a few months, others may take a year or longer. There is no hard or fast rule to learning the basics. The best, and often the most successful route to becoming a D.J is by helping another D.J at weekends.
Consider volunteering your services to another D.J locally. Helping out as a “Roadie” may not be financially rewarding but you are essentially learning new skills for free, which would cost you £100’s on a course. Most D.J’s will often cover your expenses and refreshments, some may even pay you, in return for your help, but don’t expect to live off it, after all they are doing you a favour by teaching you a trade, and sharing their knowledge.
Learning to D.J by becoming a Roadie is the fastest way to learn the business and by actually watching another Professional D.J at work can teach you more than in a classroom or College environment. Most D.J’s themselves got into the business this way, so don’t be afraid to ask.
What music will I need?
This is entirely dependant on the type of functions which you are attending. Most Mobile DJ’s will set themselves up to cover all types of functions from Childrens’ Parties to 75th Wedding Anniversaries, and this means playing music to all age groups. Ideally you will need to invest in virtually all types of Genres. Rock & Roll, 1960’s, 1970’s, Disco, Funk, Soul, Motown, 1980’s, 1990’s as well as the latest chart and club dance music.
If you are setting yourself up as a specialist DJ, offering services for one age group or type of function, then this will be a lot easier to fund and build a music collection. However you may wish to gauge the demand for that type of music and DJ in your area.
What Equipment do I need to buy?
Again it’s not the equipment which entertains, it’s the D.J. By having the latest equipment it won’t make you any better as a D.J. It is possible to start up on a budget of £1000, which will get you a sound system and a few lighting effects. If your budget won’t stretch to this, then you may need to consider buying 2nd hand or hiring the equipment. More information on choosing equipment is covered on another article.
Any good reason to start off by helping another D.J, is that you gain the experience and also find out if D.J’ing suits you BEFORE spending a lot of money and committment on buying equipment.
Buying a comprehensive music library is far more important than how much lighting you have, and should be your first consideration. You can build up your lighting, and upgrade your sound system (if required) once the work starts coming in to justify it.
What else do I need?
Committment, dedication and enthusiasm is a must. As is patience and a good sense of humour. By definition, most Mobile D.J’s work the weekends, so if you get a good reputation and a full diary, you may have to cut down on your own personal social activities, and this can also put a strain on relationships, so make sure your partner / spouse is also agreeable!.
From a professional prospective, you should also obtain some level of PLI (Public Liability Insurance), as a business within the UK it is a requirement to have some minimum level of insurance cover in order to protect you in the event of causing harm to a third party through accident or neglect. The amount of PLI cover required varies from £2 million to £10 million. You may find that £2 Million cover is adequate for your area, although some hotel chains may insist on a minimum of £5 million to work at their venues.
You may be asked to produce evidence of your PLI cover before being allowed to set up in some Hotels, and Council run establishments, so it is wise to get cover sooner, rather than later.
How about a D.J Course or Workshop?
These are few and far between especially in the UK, and usually aimed at teaching you beatmixing or turntable skills, which are of little use to the Novice Mobile D.J. If you are aiming for club work, then you may find a course to be of interest, however these courses have limited use on the Mobile Circuit.
D.J courses can cost between £100 and £1000s (0 – 00). Like any industry there are risks, so it is important to find out exactly what the course involves and whether the information is of any value to you before parting with your money!. Some courses may of little use, others may teach you the basics find out exactly what each one offers and weigh up the benefits to you.
If you are still in education and want to find a list of official College / University courses on further education opportunities in media, radio, stage and technical then ask at your High School for further information.
The Most Important Sports Betting Article Ever Written
The Most Important Sports Betting Article Ever Written
One of the most common questions that I get is where in God’s name (no pun intended) do Wise Guys and sharp players get so much information? Just as the only way to Carnegie Hall is Apractice, practice, practice”, the only way to win in sports handicapping is Ainformation, information, information”.
All you need to get that information is to merely live, sleep, and breathe sports handicapping. Well maybe forget the sleep part. Siestas are really is not much of an option in sports soothsaying. An endless supply of coffee is indispensable apparatus as well. Also make sure that your insurance company covers marriage counseling.
Are you still with me? If so, you are ready to be a Wise Guy.
Do handicappers and high rollers really have “inside information”? In reality it depends on how loose your definition of “inside information” is. Didn’t Bill Clinton utter that same line or something to that effect?
Anyway, Wise Guys and the few legitimate handicappers out there do have the time, resources and knowledge of where and how to find useful information and data that 99 accurate breakdown of how a game ended.
For college, the Sportnetwork.com logs the sequence of scores that they sent, so one can get a decent idea of heartrending endings, especially when cross-referencing with the game recaps.
This also applies but with different criterion in baseballChow much the bullpen was used etc, but that is for a future article. Many sites give pitch-by-pitch breakdowns as provided by Stats Inc.
In the NBA especially and this occurs more often than one thinks, I just get giddy when I read that a few players thought their upcoming opponent ran the score up or was shown up by a gratuitous windmill slam dunk or something to that effect. This is especially true if the team that feels they were shown up was on the road in the referenced game and is playing home in the upcoming game.
Also certain beat writers especially in the NFL and college football can be outstanding giving accurate unit versus unit breakdowns. But Wise Guys have the experience to distinguish as to who the heck knows what they are talking about and who is blowing smoke
I regret that Sportingnews.com for several years was a must-visit for college football as they broke down literally every Division I game. However they have reduced that feature. Sadly I guess the budget limited the quantity down to the marquee games and quite frankly the quality seemed to go with it.
They also were one of the best sites scrutinizing the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I noticed that ESPN Insider picked up the slack during the 2003-04 bowl season. The gambler can only hope they have the updated write-ups for the Big Dance match-ups that Sportingnews.com had.
As mentioned in previous articles, one of the big keys to handicapping games is spotting deceptive final scores in handicapping or how and why teams really lost. That is why any true handicapper must own a satellite dish. I won’t leave home without it. Well I guess that’s why I don’t leave home. It is also invaluable as far as scouting mismatches in personnel match-ups.
Sports gaming posting boards are good vehicles for gamblers to share information.
In a perfect world the best sites would be not be moderated but in places like the sports gambling newsgroup and other sites flaming takes precedence over content and forces valuable contributors to go to the refereed sites.
Much like distinguishing from amongst the good beat writers and the unqualified scribes, one must differentiate between the posting board participants who provide quality and accurate insight and those who cannot.
Utilizing the best databases is essential to triumphant prognostication. There are many out there, both free and pay sites.
Computer Sports World is best for baseball, Covers.com for both the NBA and college hoops. With 10-16 game schedules for college football and the NFL one must as we have stated have the ability to look beyond the mere data. Not ignore it mind you but an aberrational game here and there can dilute the statistical significance of football raw numbers.
Feist’s site has some good databases but Covers and others made them obsolete. Chalk Gaming, which like StatFox, is now syndicated at OffshoreInsiders.com has quality information and for those who very much like to ride hot teams, they can rank teams in different categories over the last five or ten games.
There, you now know the trade secrets. All you need to do is invest 35 hours a day, 10 days a week, 60 weeks a year. America’s greatest sports service the Dream Team at GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com has done it successfully for years and so can you.
Cost of Living Analyses
Cost of Living Analyses
If you’ve ever moved from the Midwest or the South to either coast, you realize just how different the costs of day-to-day living can vary among various U.S. cities. Many transplanted families pursue cross-country moves with the knowledge that their new hometowns will be more expensive. And many employers recognize that impending cost-of-living increase with a “cost-of-living allowance” — a slight raise in salary so that an employee may maintain his or her current standard of living without having to tighten the purse strings upon arrival.
Nevertheless, no matter how prepared you think you are, you are in for sticker shock, Your grocery bill suddenly increases dramatically … and yet you haven’t bought anything out of the ordinary from your usual fare. You can spot disparities in the simplest of items. A six-pack of soda, for example, might cost .50 in the South, or perhaps $ .99 during an occasional sale. That same six-pack can cost you as much as .50 or more in major East Coast cities such as New York or Boston. Your favorite fast-food haunt in Chicago might charge you .59 for a burger that costs you .59 in Seattle. If you’re moving to a major metropolitan area, you could face steep parking fees, higher rent, an increase in taxes or other penalties. So many individuals and families on the move never stop to consider what the cumulative effect of these cost-of-living increases will be on their overall standard of living.
You can, however, do a little preliminary homework and determine what your living expenses are likely to be in your new hometown — and how much higher or lower they’ll be than your current ones. Of course, you can head to the library or bookstore and explore titles on the subject, but the Web is probably your fastest and most convenient resource. Many sites are dedicated in part or in full to this subject.
It hardly bears repeating, but the cities of San Francisco and New York take the cake for ranking among the country’s most expensive. Ever talked to a friend who lives in one of these cities? Guaranteed, you’ll feel better about your own increasing rent. Countless apartment-renters in these cities and others pay exorbitant rents and yet still continue to haul their laundry to a local Laundromat because they either aren’t provided with laundry machines in their units or even in their buildings. Such inconveniences make it imperative that you determine to the best of your ability how much money you’ll need in your new hometown to maintain your current standard of living — whatever that might be. That preparatory work will go a long way toward decreasing the stress surrounding your move. And if you’re negotiating a cost-of-living increase with your employer prior to a transfer, doing your research is worth the effort.
(See Virtual Relocation’s Relo Smart)
While cost-of-living Web sites are many, they’re not all created equal. Many cost-of-living comparisons fail to take into consideration the effect that changes in income, housing quality and/or size of household will have upon the availability of disposable income. An organization called Runzheimer International, which specializes in this very subject, recommends that consumers take into account four primary factors when considering cost-of-living changes: housing, transportation, goods and services, and taxes.
Each one of these factors contains subcategories. For example, housing includes rent or mortgage payment and interest, as well as real estate taxes, home insurance and maintenance. Goods and services is inclusive of a near-limitless array of subcategories, including clothing, medical care, recreation, restaurants, groceries and more. Transportation includes not only the expenses involved in owning one or more cars; it also includes your car insurance and registration fees, taxes, gas, maintenance, tires and more. Transportation also might include bus fees, subway token fees, toll charges, ferry charges or other related costs. And your taxes could include a myriad of charges: sales tax, property taxes, state income tax, local taxes, Social Security, and more.
A cost-of-living analysis can certainly be an eye-opener for any prospective transferee. And the reality of how much bite it’s going to take out of the budget causes many employees to decline the offer of a transfer (if, indeed, it is an offer as opposed to a command). Aside from cost-of-living concerns, other reasons why prospective transferees decline a move include top nine reasons offers are refused. Children, and the emotional impact that a move could have upon them, are a common reason for declines, followed by disinterest in moving to a new location (and loyalty to one’s current hometown), a conflict with one’s spouse or partner over employment issues and concern about the effect that the transfer could have upon one’s career in the long term.
Runzheimer International conducted a 1998 study with some fascinating results. The organization found that married employees refuse transfer offers more often, as do employees with children, females, employees who are homeowners, employees over the age of 40, single parents and/or primary caregivers, and employees who have spent less than seven years at the corporation at which they are employed. Approximately 83 percent of the employers analyzed in the study claimed that they selected transfer candidates based solely upon their job performance and not on their “demographics” — in other words, the above-listed personal characteristics and family structures. Seventeen percent of employers said that they did, indeed, take demographics into consideration when selecting candidates for a transfer. Such personal considerations, of course, are much easier to account for when one is employed by a smaller, more tight-knit organization. While larger corporations certainly maintain files on their associates to which human resources representatives may refer during any transfer candidate selection, if an organization is closer-knit, allowing employer and employees frequent interaction (social as well as professional), it’s more likely that an employer will take demographic characteristics under consideration when it’s time to select transfer candidates.
After doing your homework, you’ve determined that your salary (see The Salary Calculator) won’t allow you to maintain your current standard of living in your new hometown (even if you were offered an increase), you can certainly negotiate for a raise. Many employers will value open communication during this process. Your honesty will help them with the transfers they try to negotiate in the future with other employees. As we enter the year 2000 and head into a new century, employers are realizing they’re going to have to sweeten the pot, so to speak, more than ever before in order to warm their employees up to the idea of a transfer. Family-friendly policies being instituted in workplaces nationwide are representative of a growing national shift in priorities — the recognition that life has to find a careful balance between work and home. Employers increasingly are providing financial compensation, as well as job-finding assistance, for spouses who may have a gap between the time they sever current job ties and attempt to establish new ones in their new hometown; financial bonuses and other compensation (for example, a certain amount of free trips back to their hometown each year at the expense of the company, which is particularly common in the event of an international transfer); and a broadening of the definition of who is eligible for transfer compensation packages (for example, same-sex partners). Employers also are increasingly turning to consulting organizations to help determine how to best compensate their transfer candidates.
But while many employers are doing their homework, you can’t always count on it. So do yours; it’s a good insurance policy for you and your family. After all, it’s much easier to negotiate additional assistance, financial or otherwise, prior to a transfer instead of after a transfer. Get on the Web, do a search on the subject, and head to your library, as well. Talk to your friends and fellow associates who have experienced transfers. Lay your cards out on the table, and be honest with your employer. It can make the difference for both of you.
# Related Article: Relo Managers Say Transferees Can Experience Sticker Shock
# 20 Million Americans Will Move In Next Three Months
# Relocating: What To Expect From Your Company
The Strategy Is the Brand
The Strategy Is the Brand
About 95% of what executives in competing companies do is pretty much the same all around. This is good management. If you are CEO’ing a wireless communication services provider, you strive to put up an advanced technological infrastructure with a promising future, cool end-user phones, other devices and accessories, a great service system and competitive prices. Well, this is precisely where your competitors put their efforts as well. The 5% (give or take) that you do differently constitutes your strategy. The CEO of Southwest Airlines, the revolutionary domestic American airline, most of the time does exactly what her colleagues do. But her firm offers Ticketless travel, and serves meals in the airport during waits, and not on the plane.
Doing well what you are supposed to be doing – is a prerequisite for competing. It is definitely not a strategy. Being better – is a deserving effort, yet it is not a strategy either, especially not in the long run. How, then, are you supposed to compete? Well, you could offer your clients more than what your competition offers, for a higher price, for the same price, for a lower price, or – offer them less value for a lower price. All of these options can give you an edge, but usually not for long.
You could also offer something different than what your competition does. You can cater to a need not formerly satisfied by your category. Nokia, for example, did just that when it decided to treat cellphones as fashion accessories and later as entertainment devices. Even this approach could not be considered as an insurance policy. There are no insurance policies in the world of business. But, if it is difficult or impossible to imitate, or it is something not likely to be imitated by your competition – then you might just have created for yourself a mini-monopoly of your own. Well, this is surely an accomplishment that should not be underestimated in a competitive market.
So, what really is a strategy? By definition, a strategy is the way by which you are planning to obtain your goals. In a competitive environment, your goal is that the consumer will prefer you to your competition. That is why the strategy is, in fact, the way by which you plan to achieve an advantage over your rivals – in the eyes of your consumers. Almost always, preference can be achieved only by differentiation, by either doing something other than what your competitors are doing or by doing things in a markedly dissimilar manner.
There are three types of differentiations and only one of them constitutes a strategy (or strategic differentiation). The transient differentiation is often achieved by promotional activities, such as a big sale. The circumstantial differentiation consists of things like a historical monopoly, or some kind of personal connection between the consumer and someone in the firm, or a convenient store location etc’. However, the differentiation we want to focus on is the strategic differentiation, such that provides a long lasting, circumstance-crossing advantage.
Is differentiation absolutely necessary? In any case where the consumer must choose between options – the answer is definitely yes. Why? Because the consumer chooses between alternatives on the basis of the differences as he or she perceives. Zoom-in on that sentence for a second. Do not fall into the most common trap of all: the consumer makes choices according to his perception of differences between alternatives, and not on the basis of what he values most in a product of that kind.
Competitive strategy is always a simultaneous answer to two questions.
The first one is: in which consumer group do you identify a potential for buying your product? By ‘group’ I do not mean necessarily shared socio-economic and demographic characteristics or even a similarity in personality or life style. What I mean is that they have in common some factor, enabling you to make them an offer, which will be more attractive to them than the options they already have, or at least a refreshingly new one. The second question is: what could you offer them that would help you realize that potential?
The goal is not to reach a consensus, nor is it to be OK by everyone. Experience has taught us that the key is to make a specific group of consumers, even a small one, think that you are irreplaceable. They will act as your success engine, even amongst consumers who are not as definite in their attitudes. BMW fans do not believe that Mercedes is a bad car; it’s just that it is not a BMW. For them, Mercedes is simply incomparable to BMW. That’s how Apple fans feel about IBM.
What has all this to do with branding? A brand is the consumer’s anticipation for a unique and defined experience, or for a certain unique benefit obtainable solely through consuming/owning a specific product/service manufactured/offered by a specific company. Thus, the anticipation from a trip to Paris would be to experience a romantic vacation. The anticipation from Ikea would be “state of the art design at a reasonable price”. It is fair to say that a brand is really a brand only when there exists, among its consumers, such anticipation. If this anticipation is both exclusive and attractive, you might say that it is a strong brand. A familiar name or logo – do not suffice to make for a strong brand.
This consumer anticipation is evoked and upheld by the marketer’s consistent execution of a business concept providing the consumer with a unique benefit or with a unique/novel way to deliver a benefit. This concept is the brand strategy, its promise and its commitment to its target consumers. The “third place”, the neighborhood place you frequent in between work and home offered by Starbucks – is a brand strategy. But, wait a minute! It is also the differentiation – the competitive strategy itself! These ARE the 5% that executives do differently in order to gain an advantage. This is why the brand IS the strategy. Or more accurately, the brand strategy is the translation of the competitive strategy into a language of promises made to the consumer.
The brand’s role in the realm of marketing has changed dramatically during the past decade. Today, brand building no longer constitutes a mere manipulation of the consumer’s perceptions and desires, but it is a creation of a system that on the one-hand makes promises and arouses anticipations, while on the other-hand it delivers and realizes the promises that it makes.