ETD: 676 Selling value; Credit card ship to; Web
Teleconferencing replacing travel; Software revisited; Visa,
Mastercard must pay back $800 million
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Thu, 10 Apr 2003 07:33:13 -0400
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0676 April 10, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Selling value
[3] Credit card ship to
----- ---- --- -- -> Important Offer <- -- --- ---- ---- --
[4] Web Teleconferencing replacing travel
[5] Software revisited
[6] Visa, Mastercard must pay back $800 million
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Late breaking news - Visa and Mastercard has been ordered to pay back
consumers for fees charges in international transactions. It may be $800
million!
Today we have some quasi how-to's. I constantly here excuses why companies
can't do whatever, and decided to address some of those issues in "Selling
Value." What do you think?
Interesting to note how Web Teleconferencing is taking an unexpected boost
because of SARS. It will affect the travel industry, but will improve
efficiencies in business. On a similar note, companies are revisiting
their approach to software, which may affect many of our list members.
I also learned that Nua.com (or the original Nua.ie) is merging with
CyberAtlas, a Jupitermedia Corp. publication. NUA is one of the best
resources I have ever found for international business news. I hope their
content doesn't change.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
Dr. George Matyjewicz
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Selling value
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Too often I find companies trying to sell products or services and they are
afraid to charge good prices. The excuses vary...
1. The economy is bad
2. We're not well known and have to build business first
3. We have staff to pay, so we'll take what we can get to pay people.
4. Our competition is too fierce.
5. We can't command those rates
Let's address these issues. First, let me state that we still get top
dollar (2-3 times our competitors) for html coding and Web design and that
cartoon at http://aznewyou.com/oldwebmastersneverdie.jpg doesn't apply
here. And clients pay quickly - send out a bill on Monday and have a check
on Thursday. Why? We provide VALUE and COMFORT! The clients get results
and don't have to worry about the details of how it's done.
The economy always has it's ups and downs. If you listen to economists all
the time, you should just stay in bed. Remember that true story about "Fat
Mike's" who sent his two son's to fancy colleges? One of his son's said
the economy was terrible and Mike had to take down those signs he had on
the highway, and stop waving the cars into his hot dog stand. Mike did
that, and sure enough, business slowed down, obviously because of the
economy as his son stated.
The argument about "taking what you can get to pay people" is the making of
a huge downward spiral. You take on work at reduced rates, then get more
business from referrals at the same rate, then you have to hire more people
to handle this work at reduced rates, then you have to work harder to
support this work, and you don't make any money! And it's almost
impossible to break out of the spiral.
"Not well known" and the "competition" issues are all in your mind. It's
you who believe you are not well known, and it's you who believe the
competition is too fierce. You have to make yourself known and you have to
take the lead with competition. Don't follow the competitors with a "me
too, but we do it better" approach. Rather, take the lead. Example: you
have amen's store and your competitors all offer the same products - some
with greater buying power, hence lower prices. What do you do? Try
offering free alterations and delivery to the customer's home or
office. Maybe tie in with the local barber and throw in a haircut to go
with the suit. Get the point? Do something different. Or you have a
software product and one of your competitors touts the benefits of why they
use Windows 2000 when you use Unix. The natural reaction is to write about
the benefits of Unix. What happens? They won - you are reacting.
How do you determine pricing for services? I use a very simple rule. I
find out what the competition is charging, then double that rate. Sounds
rather arrogant eh? Yes, but there is some truth to that logic. I believe
what we offer is far better than the competitor. We do a total package and
give the customer comfort in knowing he/she doesn't have to worry. And for
that we charge the appropriate fees.
Does it work? As the say in the Midwest - ubetcha! Most of the companies
with whom I contract are smaller privately-held companies - professional
firms, software houses, retail chains (the largest was 800 stores; smallest
1 store), manufacturers and distributors (apparel, textile, giftware,
paper, etc). Yet we are able to project them into new arenas, at higher
rates, and obtain more business for them.
All we ask is they have confidence in themselves.
Let's take a test and see how you would do:
1. The economy is bad. What do you do?
2. You are a new giftware retailer, and need to build business. You are
competing against larger retailers and smaller, family-owned
retailers. What do you do?
3. Because of a downturn in the economy, you don't have enough business to
pay your 10 staff people, and you may have to let three of them go, or
bring in more business. What do you do?
4. Your main competitor has a retail POS product that is running in DOS
and has been telling everybody why DOS is so much better at the POS than
WindowsXP. What do you do?
5. You are a small, two-person shop, who just set up a business to sell
Web design services. How do you establish your fees and how do you attract
business?
What do you think?
George
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[3] Credit card ship to
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Our moderator wrote...
"Can you imagine where we would all be if all businesses ignored ship-to
addresses? Retailing would fail!"
Many Internet retailers are doing this. I recently bought a wide-angle lens
for my camera and a hard drive for my computer and could not find an online
company that would accept a send-to address. Some companies stated that
they would do that if I contacted my credit card company and added an
alternate address.
John Schag
360 Buffalo
Virtual Tours and Quality Digital Photography
For Buffalo-Niagara Region Realtors
http://www.360buffalo.com
Higher Quality / Faster Service / Lower Prices
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Perhaps they will wake up soon. I don't see this any different than mail
order. I order something from a catalog and want to ship it to a family
member in another state.
George
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[4] Web Teleconferencing replacing travel
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The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare in Hong Kong has put a
damper on business travel and shows (like the Hong Kong Gift & Premium
Fair, the Houseware Fair, and the Licensing Show). Now companies are
holding video conferences and Webcasts.
This will undoubtedly hurt airlines, as companies discover the value of
video conferencing and Webcasts. Personally I have been exposed to
Webcasting quite heavily recently and find it fascinating. No longer do
you have to travel to demonstrate a product or service. In the old days,
you may be able to have 2-3 sales calls per day, albeit a long day. With
Webcasting you can do 5-6 sales calls a day and never leave your office.
Will it work for everybody? I'm not sure. It will definitely work for
those in the service environment. And, it should work for companies
selling products, at least to get an idea of what the product is all about,
and then get a sample.
How does this differ from a Web site? With Webcasting, I control the
presentation. With a Web site, you do. And if I'm trying to sell you, I
need to control the sales cycle. Besides, you may miss or misinterpret
something on a site.
So, I do feel sorry for the airlines, as everybody knows, I am glued to an
airline seat. However, I am also an advocate of efficiencies and can see
major benefits to Webcasting and video conferencing.
Comments?
George
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[5] Software revisited
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Companies are re-thinking the way they purchase software. No longer are
the buying all the bells and whistles. Rather they are analyzing the use
of software in their organizations, and buying accordingly.
Houston-based Scalable Software has a tool that analyzes the use of
software from an enterprise level. That information can then be used to
scale back on packages. For example, one retail chain with 3,500 PCs were
faced with an expensive Microsoft upgrade. Using Scalable, they learned
that only half of the PCs used Word or Excel and just two dozen used
PowerPoint. This chain negotiated with a software reseller to break up the
Office suite and buy programs piecemeal. it resulted in $1.1 million
savings in software without sacrificing productivity.
Another area that is coming on strong is online services. One company
looked at the SAP system for financial reporting, and decided instead to
use an online general ledger service.
Regardless, the software makers' plight translates into bargains for IT buyers.
I know we have a number of software folks on ETD. What are you
finding? Are businesses looking differently at software purchases?
George
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[6] Visa, Mastercard must pay back $800 million
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According to Adam Tanner (Reuters) MasterCard and Visa must pay millions
of dollars in refunds to customers after the firms failed to properly
disclose currency exchange fees, a California court ruled on Tuesday.
California Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw said that MasterCard and
Visa, owned by banks and global financial institutions, violated
California's unfair competition law by failing to disclose adequately the
currency conversion fees charged to U.S. customers using their cards abroad.
The dramatic ruling found that Visa International collected about $817
million in foreign exchange fees from 1996 to March 30, 2000, and
MasterCard $195 million. From these figures, lawyers representing customers
expect a refund of more than $800 million. The ruling calls for restitution
of fees collected between February 15, 1996 and the present.
Obviously, MasterCard and Visa said they would appeal the decision.
Visa and MasterCard say that even after paying the one percent fees,
travelers abroad get a better overall deal because the card companies offer
a wholesale rate above that offered at normal tourist exchange locations.
Visa International is based in Foster City, California, so the ruling calls
for repaying all U.S. Visa cardholders. MasterCard is headquartered in
Purchase, New York, so it was ordered to repay only California residents.
According to the court, Visa and MasterCard issue 93 percent of U.S. credit
cards that can be used for foreign charges. The judge called for Visa and
MasterCard to come up with a restitution plan by April 28.
Details at...
http://news.findlaw.com/business/s/20030409/financialmastercarddc.html
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Links to follow
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GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/
Global Pay Systems LLC http://globalpaysystems.net
E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com
ETD Archives: http://topica.com/lists/etailer/read
Prior to 29 Dec 1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
Marketing Your Web http://www.gapent.com/myweb/
Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com
Software revisited
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030408/5045242s.htm