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Casual Articles - The Problem With Technology At The Point Of Sale In Financial Services
If you’re ready to kick your career or business up to the next level, then make it a goal to become a powerful presenter. People view savvy communicators as being more capable, intelligent, and knowledgeable than those individuals who have difficulty in communicating their ideas. You can quickly gain the status of an expert in your field when you are able to present your ideas effectively.Although many things go into giving a successful talk, I’d like to focus on one area that is very easy to apply – using body movements and gestures. When you use body movements and gestures appropriately, your presentation takes on a certain sense of aliveness that is often hard to accomplish when you use words alone.Harness the Power of GesturesGestures include your posture, the movement of your eyes, hands, face, arms and head, as well as your entire body. They help to support or reinforce a par
a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale
b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place
c) The amount of time it takes to learn
When your phone is ringing off the hook and you're busy working with clients, the last thing you're probably thinking about is taking time out to market and promote your business. (Big mistake!)In fact, the two big mistakes most self-employed professionals make when it comes to marketing include: not making time for it, and not being consistent about the process when they do finally start. The longer you wait to put an effective system in place, the longer it will take to have a full appointment book month in and month out.Think about it, if you don't drink until you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated. It's no different when it comes to getting new business in the door. Don't wait. The time to start is not when you feel a thirst for new clients - it's NOW! Move "Generating More Clients" to the Top of Your Priority List! Grab your calendar right now and block
There’s a conundrum that currently exists between the customer and the seller in financial services. The customer buys and the seller sells. The customer is focused on their wants as much as needs, and whilst the seller often says they are focused on the customer’s needs, all too often the focus is on products and profit. Indeed a wider examination of the decline in customer service might also do well to address the issue of remuneration systems which reward sales but not customer service. This latter practice merely confirms the customer’s suspicion that the seller has more to gain from any advice or transaction than the buyer. Included in the mix is regulation. Regulation was meant to assist and protect the consumer. Instead, we have witnessed a massive exodus from providing advice whilst compliance costs rocket skywards. The continuation of bad press on sales practices; fines of major firms; and the inability of the industry to speak with one voice leads many to believe that protection for the consumer is a by-product not an aim. In addition the customer is now faced with an overloading of the sales or customer relationship process with paper, which include endless questions to complete even the simplest transaction and massive fact finds covering every conceivable piece of information imaginable. Rather than act as a comfort to customers these processes have merely heightened their suspicions. Yet insofar as technology is concerned, whilst the customer trusts the technology, they do not trust the person operating the technology.
Point of Sale systems
In this scenario it is hardly surprising that Point of Sale systems continually fail to pay back the investment. In most cases it’s not that the system doesn’t work, it’s just that working the system requires different skill-sets and a realisation that the customer is wary of being asked questions. These are behavioural issues and yet whilst Point of Sale systems by design are based upon a customer’s past buying behaviours and potential future buying propensity they tend to lack an appreciation of:
a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale
b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place
c) The amount of time it takes to learn
Project managers are often assigned as proposal managers and asked to plan and put an estimate to arrive at an acceptable proposal during the project proposal stage; and upon winning the project to manage the projects with little or no authority, dictated time frames and deliverables, and essentially told to just get the project done! The reality to remember is that project executions rarely fail due to technical problems but rather because of people problems.Conflicting priorities, unclear expectations and roles, poor leadership, conflicts of interests, poor teamwork or lack of it, and little and no motivation all lead to project failure. Addressing the people management problems we all face as project managers and the best way to do it will require us to at least understand the many types of people we potentially meet and engage in project execution in the work place.More and more focus is
Point of Sale systems
In this scenario it is hardly surprising that Point of Sale systems continually fail to pay back the investment. In most cases it’s not that the system doesn’t work, it’s just that working the system requires different skill-sets and a realisation that the customer is wary of being asked questions. These are behavioural issues and yet whilst Point of Sale systems by design are based upon a customer’s past buying behaviours and potential future buying propensity they tend to lack an appreciation of:
a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale
b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place
c) The amount of time it takes to learn
Issue a Press Release – An oldie, but goodie. The trick is to make sure your press release is a newsworthy event. For example, starting a new newsletter is not necessarily a newsworthy event (but it might in certain niche markets for smaller publications). Issuing a press release about a large donation you are giving, complete with relevant background story might be newsworthy. It all depends on your target audience and the publication(s). Editors pick up press releases if they think there is news for their readers. They do not care about you or your company. Your press release must be framed that way. “What’s in it for me” is very relevant here.Create a Newsworthy Event – Here’s an idea that a local stereo and electronics store did that would qualify for a newsworthy press release: They arranged a “superstition obstacle course” on Friday the 13th in their parking lot, complete with ladde
Point of Sale systems
In this scenario it is hardly surprising that Point of Sale systems continually fail to pay back the investment. In most cases it’s not that the system doesn’t work, it’s just that working the system requires different skill-sets and a realisation that the customer is wary of being asked questions. These are behavioural issues and yet whilst Point of Sale systems by design are based upon a customer’s past buying behaviours and potential future buying propensity they tend to lack an appreciation of:
a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale
b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place
c) The amount of time it takes to learn
When in Egypt, you had better negotiate like an Egyptian. Be sure to leave your cowboy hat at home since the rules are very different in the Middle East.Egyptian culture has five thousand years of recorded history, so I won’t be giving a history lesson today. Let’s just say that every aspect of life in Egypt has a special meaning and a reason why they do things as they do. If asked why something is done a certain way, they will likely recite history from thousands of years ago.Egypt is a high context culture which means that a lot what is communicated is transferred implicitly with body language, silence, eye contact, and oblique words or phrases. For example, it is considered impolite to deny a wish to someone. Instead of saying “no”, other phrases are used to describe an inconvenience, which implies that the answer is no. When an Egyptian says “yes”, he or she may actually mean “possibly”.
Point of Sale systems
In this scenario it is hardly surprising that Point of Sale systems continually fail to pay back the investment. In most cases it’s not that the system doesn’t work, it’s just that working the system requires different skill-sets and a realisation that the customer is wary of being asked questions. These are behavioural issues and yet whilst Point of Sale systems by design are based upon a customer’s past buying behaviours and potential future buying propensity they tend to lack an appreciation of:
a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale
b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place
c) The amount of time it takes to learn
Cisco acquires Scientific Atlanta, with the hope of combining the various home networks: video, data, voice, audio. In one stroke, Cisco has positioned itself at the pinnacle of the Network Convergence debate.Only two companies had a complete lock over the channel serving the STB market: Motorola and Scientific Atlanta. With today’s acquisition, Cisco cuts through the barrier to enter the STB market, and with it, acquires a massive opportunity to lead the innovation in home networking. Neither Motorola, nor SA had enough of the other pieces. Cisco does.Imagine the future of the Home Network ...One, just One box from Cisco sits as a Gateway Server for ALL the home networks, with a fat pipe coming into it. Services can be turned on and off remotely, as the consumer pays. Various Clients - all Wireless, of course - plays off this Server: The VOIP/VideoOIP phone handset / headset / Camera,
a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale
b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place
c) The amount of time it takes to learn to operate new technology with confidence in front of a customer
Reluctance of sellers to use technology at the point of sale
Many experienced and qualified advisers now rely heavily on technology. This explosion of the use of technology has led all software and hardware suppliers and IT departments to believe that the future is bright, the future is technology. In the rush to design and implement systems however, some basics have been overlooked:
a) Sellers are as opposed to sales processes as are customers
b) Introducing technology at the point of sale involves a significant change of behaviour on the part of the seller
c) Sellers experience great difficultly in changing their behaviour
d) Most sellers in the type of financial services organisations that can afford to buy Point of Sale systems are junior front-line staff with the consequence that
- their feedback on the reality of using these systems in front of customers is often ignored
- where they provide feedback it is often guarded
- pilot launches are always used with ‘champions’ who provide a minute insight into the difficulties which will be faced when launching the system to a wider audience. In addition many of the results of pilots are widely exaggerated in order to bolster the confidence of those who have already embarked upon considerable expenditure and of those who will continue to be used as champions
e) The ability of sellers to convince managers that the system is being used when it is not (this in itself is one of the main reasons for Point of Sale systems not realising any return on investment)
f) The ability of sellers to convince managers that customers do not like the new system whereas the opposite is almost always the case. What customers do not like is the behaviour they expe
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