Smart Phones - Crippling Humans & Hurting Businesses

     I was looking for an article for my second blog project, so I looked up things I am interested in, at last I chose the topic smart phones.  The article that caught my attention was an article about how mobile phones are disrupting the retail environment. I chose this one, because I recently had a discussion with my aunt about how smart phones are crippling us a people. We talked about how memory is one thing having these phones hurts. For example, she was about to call her husband, when she realized she didn’t know the number and her phone was dead. Normally, she just goes in her call log on her phone and presses his name, (meaning she doesn’t have to memorize it, because it’s in the phone.) Therefore, this topic really stood out to me. In the article on dmn.com “Mobile computing will disrupt retail sales funnel”, it talks about how smart phones are hurting businesses that are brick-and-mortar. One way they are hurting the these retailers is customers now have the tendency to consult their phones for prices while in the actual store. The article displayed the following numbers for this, as well as insight on how smart phones has changed our world.

 “The report notes how in December 2011, 28.5 million consumers used their mobile devices to find online retail content; this is an 87% increase from the previous year. Overall, comScore noted a spike in mobile access to commerce-related content. Electronic payments increased 80%; classifieds increased 72%; auction sites increased 70%; and shopping guides increased 67% compared with the previous year. Moreover, comScore found 1 in 5 US consumers used their smart devices to photograph a product; 1 in 5 US customers scanned a barcode; and 12% compared in-store product prices with online lists.” (Joe 2012)

     Another big hurtle brick-to-mortar businesses have to deal with when it comes to the outlet is the online outlets. Stores like Aquino have come up with things like deals and incentives to make customers want to shop in the the actual store. All in all, I must say that smart phones have a way of benefiting and crippling us, but I for one am not ready to give mine up. I mean…Are You?

• Joe, R. (2012 Feb. 24) Mobile Computing Will Disrupt Retail Sales Funnel. Retrieved from: http://www.dmnews.com/mobile-computing-will-disrupt-retail-sales-funnel/article/229384/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DMNewsHome+%28DMNews+Home%29

Sales Growth & The Future

In Selling Power.com recent article, they discussed how to achieve sales growth, and just how to improve your future in general. They came up with three reasons why they think that is certain companies aren’t doing well. The three reasons are Fear, Apathy, and Lake of responsibility. Here is how I feel they come into play.

Fear – They’re afraid to take a chance. They always play it safe.

Apathy – They don’t have the drive and will to go after what they really want. They want to get things done, but not really wanting to do them. They are ‘lazy’.                                                                
Lack of Responsibility – They aren’t good leaders; they don’t know how to lead themselves, let alone a team or a corporation, lacking things like maturity, and knowledge.

They conducted an interview with, Jeffrey Hayzlett, a former Fortune 100 C-suite executive to ask him how he became sucessfu. In the interview, he was asked what kind of person he thinks you need to become to achieve sales growth:

“ ...Some people are overconfident. They just want to do deal after deal. But how can you improve if you don’t know what you need to know? You need to be more aware of what you’re doing. Take the time. It will be painful sometimes. You need to get focused on how to step back and do the research. Ask questions. Spend some time at a competitor’s place. Go to a store and see how your partners are selling your product. The best businesses are focused on how to grow top-line revenue, and that should produce bottom-line net profit. A lot of businesses would produce more profit by just increasing sales. I don’t know of a lot of problems that could not be solved by stronger sales.” (Hayzlett 2012)

If a company leader does what Hayzlett says, their result will be like Volkswagens. In this article by Businessweek.com, they talked about how Volkswagen has gained a 26% increase in revenue to 159 billion euros, with the help of their High-Margin SUV sales. (Thomas 2011) They did this by implementing Hayzlett ideas, and looked at their competitors in the car industry and saw how they could better improve their product. It was also said that a way they are achieving future growth is by pending mergers. They are looking to merge with Porsche SE, to not only continue their success, but to achieve more.

• Canady, H. (2012 Feb.) Achieve Positive Sales Growth & Improve Your Future.         Retrieved from: http://www.sellingpower.com/content/article.php?a=9764?rnd=304781
• Thomas, C. (2012, Feb. 26) Volkswagen Posts Record 2011 Profit on High-Margin SUV Sales. Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-26/volkswagen-posts-record-2011-profit-on-high-margin-suv-sales.html

Changing My Blog Name...

So...I went on my professors sight where they have all our blog titles displayed, and I noticed that none of them were like mine. Which, i am perfectly fine with. I mean my title was 'The Individual Thoughts Of Tee' but I realized that everyone else's was like Accounting, or Marketing Matters...so I said to myself that maybe the title was suppose to be about the class and your interest. So I changed the title to 'Business The Marketing Side Of It.' I shall still blog about things other than Business or Marketing, I just feel like I need to keep in educationally titled. I figured that after this class is over, I will change it back. So this all for now as I have class in about 24 minutes and have work to do...

Wishing You Love, Happiness, & Peace,

Tee...