Sales staff are the single biggest detriment to Americans' shopping experience, resulting in more lost business and negative word of mouth than any other shopping problem, according to a survey conducted last month. The Verde Group, a leading customer dissatisfaction consulting firm, announced the results of the survey, its second Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study, on May 2nd in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
"Our goal was to find out what annoys American consumers most when they shop and the answer came back loud and clear: SALESPEOPLE, especially those who don't have the product knowledge they should have," said Paula Courtney, President, the Verde Group.
The study found that not being able to find a salesperson is the most critical retail shopping issue of all, experienced by 33 percent of all consumers who reported a problem. Equally damaging to business is that 25 percent of all consumers who report a problem when they shop are ignored by sales staff, receiving not so much as a smile, greeting or even eye contact.
...Forrester Research surveyed 133 national marketers last year and 78 percent agreed TV ads have been less effective over the last two years. In the same survey in 2002, 76 percent said they'd spend less on TV advertising; in 2004, 78 percent said they'd spend less; and last year 60 percent said they'd spend less. Now that TV ad budgets have already been cut and cut again, the media industry may be finding ways to slow down the hemorrhaging.
...Baby boomers like being online: in 2005, almost two-thirds of US adults aged 50-64 used the Internet, according to a study done by Pew Internet and American Life Project.
...According to a survey of 259 camp directors by Bridge client Mabel's Labels, socks and towels are what kids lose most often at camp, closely followed by shoes (!$$!), hats, and sunglasses. Some items are costly to replace despite camp directors' pleas to not let kids bring them in the first place: cell phones, iPods, other mp3 players, cameras, small hand-held game players or other small electronic devices, according to the survey. Other expensive items commonly cited were glasses, laptops, sleeping bags and jackets. Among the surprising items that ended up in the lost and found were a BMX bike and a wet suit. When asked how parents can prevent losses when they send their kids off to camp, 73 percent of camp directors say, "label everything!"
SIM Prepares to Launch
Structured Investment Management (SIM), a newly established asset-management firm, is the newest client to enlist Bridge's services. The Manhattan-based company is in the process of seeking regulatory approvals for unique structured investment funds that will be provided to consumers through Wall Street's big banks and securities companies. Bridge is developing communications and public relations strategies to help build SIM's corporate reputation, and to define and launch the SIM brand and individual SIM funds.
Founder and president of SIM, Ramesh Menon, is a highly experienced equity derivatives and structured products expert. He was most recently managing director and head of Citigroup Inc.'s U.S. structured-products division, which attained 35 percent market share under his leadership, outperforming its nearest competitor two to one in sales. "Structured Investment Management is the first of its kind, a company bound for success, and we're very excited to be in on the ground floor with Mr. Menon and his staff to help from the very outset," said Lucy Siegel, Bridge Global Strategies President.
Summer Intern From Down Under
Katie Holmes, a 22-year-old recent graduate from Sydney, Australia, is interning at Bridge full-time this summer to gain experience and start her career in the field of public relations. Katie graduated from Macquarie University, Sydney in early 2006 with a Bachelor of Media in Writing. She recently worked at Global Book Publishing in Sydney as a publishing/production assistant.
Katie studied public relations as part of her degree and says she is eager to start a career in the field. "My love of travel and desire to break into the public relations field drew me to New York," she said. Katie will head to London following this internship where she will live and work for a few years, using the tools and experience gained from her time at Bridge Global Strategies. "I am really excited about working at Bridge. It's a great opportunity," Katie said. "I am keen to learn all I can while I am here, as well as enjoy everything New York has to offer."
