Smartphone's – Niche Luxury or Phone?

Smartphone market is a unique market and full of mystery. In the last 4-5 months we have seen some of the biggest models (Samsung S3, iPhone 4S, Sony Xperia S and Xperia U, Nokia Lumina, Blackberry with OS 7) coming to the market which will possible change the history, loads of reviews from different cell Guru’s and concepts such as Humanization of cell phone technology.

There are so many brands which are pouring into market on almost weekly basis offering very much same standard set of features. Billions of mobiles are getting sold based on those features and recommendations given by tech guru’s.

I have seen many discussions wherein we look for an answer of which mobile to buy? Which is best? etc and have collected few points which MIGHT which as per our self acclaimed cell Guru’s, Company Articles, Reviews etc are worth to have:

1) Screen Size – I personally believe that it doesn’t matter what size of your screen is. All matter is what Pixel per inch is. Anything above 3.5” will suffice the need of creating presentations, emailing etc.

2) Weight – Sleekest and Lightest is always in demand.

3) Processors – Better processor leads to better experience of using internet, applications in addition of smoothness of overall phone.

4) Camera – Worth having decent camera which can let you take HD quality images

5) Battery Life – Big thing, anything above 1800 mAH will make your day easy.

All above features make perfect Smartphone BUT Million dollar question is despite of all these super features – Do we get a phone? which meant for connecting others over voice? Does today’s mobile sets provide superb call quality? 

To find the answer of above questions, I spoke to many dealers, company outlets, Guru’s etc but no one responded to that. Per them I can get many features which can make life easy – but call Quality --  Umm No Idea!!

I cannot disagree that these Smartphone's are equipped with some of the cool features which make sense and make life easy. This is one technology which always go beyond traditions and surprise us by making our day to day life easy and left us wondering do we really need to depend of laptops or desktops anymore? But at the end of the day – question remain unanswered – Can I hear you?? Hello…Hello….!!

Social Media Activity - A Ravan's Conspiracy!!

It has been a while that I've been asked by my friends and colleagues that why I waste my time in updating blog, using LinkedIn, tweeting, using Facebook, and other social media tools. They strongly believe (since they are hardcore techies) that it’s a waste of time and there are no results out of it.  I face this question almost daily in different ways and every time I give them same answer.

Today, I came across an article from Alok Kejriwal, who actually answered these questions in a best possible way. He clubbed all his answers as conspiracy of RAVAN (pretty much inspired from Ravan, an ancient King of Lanka, currently known as Srilanka).

I was so overwhelmed to read his answer that I couldn’t stop myself and re-posting his conspiracy (err...Ravan’s) to my own blog, with few changes and his permission :)

Below is the interesting RAVAN Conspiracy:

Ravan

R - Reality

Facebook, Twitter is REALITY. Alok gave his own example based on his vast network, however for me – I faced this reality when few of my contact have reached me out to help them in something. I remember getting lot of calls looking for my expertise through my blog, LinkedIn profile etc.

We go to ANY CITY in the world and we can have a real friend to MEET - with whom we can share some background, post etc. Don’t you think it’s a huge thing?

A - Ask

Personally, these social tools have been very useful in getting answers on any topic, no matter how stupid you perceive it is. No matter what you ask, there is an answer available to it. It opens a window wherein you don’t feel shy and have power to ask anything – Kind of RTI (Right to Information) stuff.  You get connected to industry experts, get new ideas etc.

The more open you are, more information you can collect and share. After all, this is what we need to grow.

V - Voice

Social Networks are our VOICE. You can share what you know, what you think with everyone.  I have seen many people looking for answers on many topics which I am aware of and based on my experience I can say that there is no single forum where you can get them.  I know using these tools, I can help these people to understand what they are looking for – after all what could be better than that if you can help someone with your knowledge when it’s required.

Take a current example – Mr. Anna and our civil society was able to create awareness using these tools only. Mango man (aam aadmi – general public) was able to share their voice through it.

A - AWARE

Same example which I quoted above, Anna team was able to create awareness on Lokpal bill issue through social median networks. General public was not even aware of that bill, but in a short span – entire India was aware of it.

These tools create awareness; however it depends on what you seek. Alok has wisely quoted that We SEEK to be AWARE.

We spend maximum time in office or at home, our social connections are not the only source wherein we can be Aware of things going on outside our 4 walls.

N - NEW

Every time we connect with someone, learn about something new or spread awareness on something – we get a different feel – which matches to the feel of getting reborn.  You get connected with old mates, college friends, colleagues, new business ideas, opportunities etc and also can increase your reach through it.  Something NEW is always there for us.

I believe all the above points answers the questions that why I am addicted to Social Media and what results I get from it.

Social Networking Trends in Q3 of 2011

Q3 2011 Social Media report from Nielsen shows that its popularity continues to grow, allowing people to connect with just everything which they can watch and buy. Like always, tools like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook played a key role in expanding its popularity and concept.

The latest report from Nielsen shows how powerful this influence is on consumer behavior and how they are educating consumers with various options both offline and online.

The value of the time consumers spend online and on social networks and blogs continues to grow, most visible through the influence on purchase decisions. For instance, 60 percent of people who use three or more digital means of research for product purchases learned about a specific brand or retailer from a social networking site. Forty-eight percent of these consumers responded to a retailer’s offer posted on Facebook or Twitter.

The Key Findings from the report are:

Social Media Around the World

1. Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet.
2. Social media has grown rapidly – today nearly 4 in 5 active Internet users visit social networks and blogs.
3. Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other U.S. website
4. Close to 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone
5. Social networking apps are the third most-used among U.S. smart phone owners
6. Internet users over the age of 55 are driving the growth of social networking through the Mobile Internet
7. Although a larger number of women view online video on social networks and blogs, men are the heaviest online video users overall streaming more videos and watching them longer
8. 70 percent of active online adult social networkers shop online, 12 percent more likely than the average adult Internet user
9. 53 percent of active adult social networkers follow a brand, while 32 percent follow a celebrity
10. Across a snapshot of 10 major global markets, social networks and blogs reach over three-quarters of active Internet users
11. Tumblr is an emerging player in social media, nearly tripling its audience from a year ago

Few other interesting facts from the reports are:

Social Networking is a global phenomenon and in Nielsen reports which collected samples from 10 countries/markets shows that social network and blogs are the top online destination in each country accounting for majority of the time spent.

 

Social Networking blogs are the top online destination where most of the users spend time. They attract almost 22.5% of traffic compare to online games who does only 10%. 

U.S. Internet Users Spend More Time on Facebook than Any Other Web Brand. Almost 53% users are on Facebook, followed by 17% on yahoo. Facebook became a synonym not only with Social media but also with Web use for general use.

 

 

Females and 18-34-Year-Olds are most Active Social Networkers.

There is rise in number of users who are accessing Social media through mobile for different purposes.

Men are more likely to Visit LinkedIn and Wikia compare to females, check one image from the report.

Influence of Social Media

Report shows that out of 5, nearly 2 users access services from their mobile which can be for either downloading Music, Social networking or just for browsing.

Active Social Media Users are Influential Offline. Consumers trust the reviews or recommendation from peers on these sites. Almost 60% social media users create reviews of products and services.

Get New Clients with Social Networking...

Recent global survey of business from Regus business shows that more and more number of companies, brands are relying on social media practices for their expansion, new client acquisitions and winning new businesses.

Results shows that companies worldwide are achieving greater success with social networking compared to traditional practices.

Few of the key findings from Marketing Profs site are:

• 69% of US businesses (74% worldwide) say social networking is an essential activity for business success.
• Single-channel campaigns are less successful: 64% of US businesses (61% worldwide) say companies that only use social networking and online campaigns, and ignore traditional media/techniques, will be unsuccessful.
• 50% of US businesses (52% of businesses worldwide) use social networks to interact with and to inform existing customers, virtually unchanged since 2010.

Few interesting facts:

1) Experienced profit increased in past year:

2) Countries using successfully to find new customers: China, India are supposedly using social networking in a better way and are attracting lot of new business. Check the facts below:

I believe this study and facts will help companies to think about how they are targeting to get new clients and what extra value they can offer to maintain relationships. No wonder, there is a huge scope in market for social marketing and networking.

Selling Tips

Being into sales, I feel this is a hard time for sales persons to convince our potential customers. Recession, bad economy has given us a solid challenge and we are trying hard to reach our targets. Companies are looking for magic cure so as they can increase their sales. However, since there is no magic cure available (As far as I know) I believe (based on my search) that there are few steps if we follow can have a positive impact on our sales efforts.

1) Fill the sales pipeline: I have seen and met many sales persons who experience tremendous peaks and valleys in their sales because they do not consistently prospect for new business, may be they are busy in servicing existing client or any other reason. They neglect to prospect because it is the least enjoyable aspect of their job but when the sales drop or business with their current clients ends, they scramble to generate new business. If we invest time in filling our pipeline on a regular basis, we will seldom have to worry about reaching our targets.

2) Ask high-quality and relevant questions: I believe that majority of sales people (even seasoned pros) fail to ask their prospects and customers high-quality questions. This can only happen if either they are not trained about the product/service they are selling or they think that they do it. Unfortunately, this leads to mis-pitch the product, service or solution which causes the prospect to raise more objections.

3) Have patient Ears: I believe that the best listeners are best sale people. If we invest time asking great questions it is critical to listen to what the other person tells us. Many things can get in our way and prevent us from accurately hearing what has been said. The best approach would be to summarize your conversation at the end of discussion and share that with prospect to check the accuracy of your summary.

4) Focus on presentation: In sales, presentation is only focused on customer, his needs and the solution you can provide. It's not about us, our company or our product. I have seen that virtually every sales presentation starts with talks about company, stats about how long they have been in business, who they have as clients, etc. In fact I in the start of my career my approach was the same. However the correct approach is to prepare a presentation in way that it meets the specific needs of each individual customer.

5) Challenge to build Trust: I personally believe that if people don't trust us chances are they won't buy from us. We all know that our prospects are inundated with calls and emails from other people like us who are trying to sell them something and tell several stories. Due to large number of these calls, decision-makers are getting more reluctant to trust someone they don't know. That means we need to demonstrate exactly why a prospect should trust us. We have to show them our worth in a professional manner, treating them with respect and dignity and respecting their time.

6) Show value: The best way to demonstrate value is to show exactly how our solution will benefit our prospects. However this doesn’t mean talking at great length about it or telling prospects everything there exist about our products or services. This means discussing the aspects of your solution that are most relevant to each customer or prospect in a simple way.

7) Value your own Words: My personal experience has taught me that sales people frequently fail to follow their commitments. To make a sale, they commit something which they can’t deliver and this leads to quick loss of trust and lack of respect.

8) Time to Stop: I have seen sales people who continue following a lead even when it is clear that a sale will not happen. This usually happens when pipeline is not active with prospects or they are new into sales or have tremendous pressure to achieve the targets. I feel that, If we know we have done everything we can to move the sales process forward, we should take a break and think whether it is the best use of our time to keep trying to make it happen or just to let it go.

There must me many other things which I have missed here and hence would request you to share your thoughts based on your experience.

Most Aggravating Email campaign Faux pas...!!!

Economy is going down – requirements are on freeze and no proper response from our prospects – which shows that its time to think a bit about our basic strategies, here I have picked Email campaigns.

Most important part during this campaign is to get response from our prospects/ clients? There are peoples with whom we need to communicate on a regular basis that not only don’t answer our emails, but also are seldom available to take our phone calls?

Before we chalk up the lack of communication to other people’s bad work habits or rudeness, it would be wise to take a close look at our own communication style. It’s possible that those who never seem to answer our emails or take our phone calls aren’t careless, forgetful, or rude. They may be just trying to avoid us.

Why?

If we don’t have an ongoing personal disagreement with someone and they aren’t trying to hide from us because they owe us work or money, the problem could be the way we communicate in email. You see, the effect of what we say in email often looks and “sounds” different to the recipient than it would if we were talking to them in person. If the email messages we send seem condescending, petty, picky, or needlessly complicated, we’ll find it increasingly difficult to get responses in a timely fashion.

Here are some of the most aggravating email faux pas to avoid.

Marking emails we send out with an exclamation point to indicate high importance for routine matters: Yes, we want people to read email we send, and yes we think the matter is important. But marking everything as high importance is going to have the opposite effect. Those who frequently receive email from us marked with an exclamation point will start ignoring it – and be mad at us for sending so many emails marked high importance.

Demanding immediate response when it’s not warranted: Just because something is important to us doesn’t mean that others should drop what they’re doing to answer our question or do what we want done. They have their own priorities, too. Not only will they get mad at us, but if requests aren’t truly urgent, they’ll soon be ignored – just like the fabled boy who cried “Wolf!” too often. So, if the matter we are discussing in email isn’t truly urgent (i.e., no one is going to suffer any harm or damage if whatever we want done isn’t handled the same day), then don’t ask for immediate action. And, if something really does need to be handled right away, explain why. (And remember to say “Please” and “Thank You”.)

Responding to someone else with a one-liner without including important details: “Call me,” or “We need to change the date” may work when we’re talking live with someone about a project. But if that’s all we put in an email, the recipient may need to dig through a stack of other email to find out why we wanted them to call us or what project or event needed a date change.

Including too much detail: Consider an example – If we need a manufacturer to do a better job of packaging the inventory products someone shipped us. Unless we’re a Big Box Store, don’t send the manufacturer a long note telling them what kind of packaging tape to use, how many times to reinforce it, and what grade shipping cartons to use. Instead, politely remind them to package the products securely so they don’t get damaged in shipment. If we’ve had a telephone conversation to discuss the problem, mention it briefly (if this is the first shipment since the call), but don’t rehash the entire phone call. And don’t forget the “Please” and “Thank You.”

Similarly, if we send a team member an email request to pull together a report on the team progress or do some other task, tell them what we want done and when we need it by. Don’t include a lot of detail about why it’s important to do the task or how we expect them to pay attention to all the details and format the report the way they were taught. If it’s a task they know how to do, state the task and the deadline in a sentence or two. (And don’t forget to say “Please” and “Thanks.”)

Copying the boss -- especially when the issue is minor: If you and a team member or anyone else you have to interact with has a minor difference of opinion, work it out between the two of you without copying the boss on your emails. If you see someone has made an insignificant mistake and wants it corrected, contact the person privately with a friendly note and don’t copy the boss.

Remember, copying the boss makes you look like a tattletale. And no one loves a tattletale -- or wants to return a tattletale’s email messages.

Changing the subject line when replying to an email: A lot of people use the subject line of emails to determine if and when to open and read the mail. If you and one or more other people are having an ongoing conversation about a project, and the subject doesn’t change, don’t change the subject line in the email. The people you want to read your response, may miss it, or may not be able to find it in the future to refer to it if you change the subject line.

Not changing the subject line for new topics of discussion: You and James have been discussing the best way to set up your podcast. All the messages have the same subject line. But while you’re reading James last response, you remember that you wanted to ask him to find a commercial artist who can design a flier for your next seminar. Don’t hit reply (to the podcast emails) to tell James to find the artist. Start a new email with a new subject line and send that to James so he can keep the issues separate in his email.

How to face Traumatic Situations…!!!

I recently came across a traumatic situation where my communication skills got challenged. I was speaking with one of my client and during our conversation he says – Varun I have news to share, I am getting divorced tomorrow…!!

Since I had never faced such situation before, I went blank for sometime – thinking how to respond and how to take this conversation ahead. Somehow I managed that time, but this conversation made me think to explore more on how we should face traumatic situations at professional end.

I believe that our communication plays crucial role in our professional growth and due to this we generally know what to say and speak when it comes to discuss topics like – Sales presentation, meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, interviews, requesting for referrals, business plans etc. I have learnt to speak on these topics from my seniors, supervisors and others.

However, I never saw anyone facing situations like, death in a family, house fires, divorce, serious illness, bankruptcy etc. I remember how I felt during my conversation – awkward and unqualified to help him. I just told that I am sure you are going through tough time - unfortunately I wouldn’t know what to say – just be calm!

But that was not the right answer and to be honest, till now I actually don’t know what to say. I am sure some of you also have faced the similar situation, which have not - here are few tips which I came across during my search.

1) We don’t need to creative words while responding – sometimes your presence will says enough! I am sure – that person is not going to remember you after you hang up or leave that place. Your presence is what will be remembered!

2) Stay in touch with them - It’s not just that you paid your respect on that day and its over. If you stay in touch – there is lot of meaning to that - as I said before, your presence will do more than your words!


3) Listen to the person – don’t rush to talk and share the similar incidents or any thing. Be a listener – that will be more than enough for that person to be comfortable. We should encourage the person to talk more so as they wont go in stress mode.

4) Offer help – but not for the sake of showing your concern – be practical and specific. A person in stress will welcome all help. For example – Feel free to call me if you need me!

If you face such situation – try these tips – I am sure these will work for you and you will be able to take your relationship that you have been building to next level.

Recession Pricing Do's and Don'ts...!

I have been hearing news that in this recession time/period companies are trying to revise their pricings. Though this is very natural for companies to think in to this direction – however I feel that revising the pricing strategy in this economic downturn would be very tricky and risky. There are cases when companies only cut the prices to gain more market share and attract new customers – but right approach can help a company to compete and sustain in recession time.

During my search for what should we do and we should not when it comes to revise the pricing strategy – I came across different articles and views of different experts. Below are few tips – which I found are useful:

We may like to consider:

• Analyze the value we are offering to our customers: Customers always feel comfortable if we educate them about the value we are delivering which in turn helps us to be more confident on our pricing.

• Categorize our value offerings: We can bundle our products & services and establish their prices accordingly, which will allow us to appease both cost and value conscious customers without cutting prices.

• Improving internal processes: The best way to adjust in this period is to streamline our company's processes and expenses. We can’t get very far in this competition with just a price cut.

• Innovate our offerings: Personally – I would like to invest a bit more on R&D. This step will surely help us to offer our products and services in a different way and will also allow us to negotiate flexibility with customers. It has been proved that innovation gives us an edge over competitors when customers are looking for something new.

We may not like to consider:

• Giving discounts on our products or services: In this economic downturn it would not be wise to get in to a price war with our competitors, especially without analyzing the value of the product or service. If we get in to this way – that too in this scenario, we can’t survive for a long and most importantly no body is going to win in this.

• Cutting prices on our high-value products and services: It wouldn’t be wise to touch our high value products during economic downturn. The better approach would be to focus on marketing our low value products and services.

• Give importance to price-driven customers: Ws should never encourage customers who threaten to take their business elsewhere especially in recession time. If scenario arises, either – share the unique value that our product and service offers, which justify the price we are charging confidently or let the customer take their business to our competitors and watch them going nuts.

Tips to convert Cold Leads into Hot Leads

This week I got a chance to participate in a small club party – where few of my friends who are in to sales were also present. While the party was going on its full space, one of our friend raised a topic – How Can we convert cold lead to hot one – in simple words – how to turn the cold prospect in to buyer! Since every one seems to be expert – they shared their views and came on some conclusion which I bet - no one remembered after the party.

But this topic has provoked me to do some research and thanks to different search engines I got to see few articles which were relevant. I picked few of them and prepared this document. [This document is only for reference purpose and its resources can be shared based on request].

To start with - I am sure we all have seen and face issues like prospects giving us the run-around, they had expressed an interest in our products or services when we first contacted them but now they don't return our calls, reply to our emails or seem interested in making a buying decision.

I firmly believe that in order to solve this or any sales related issue – the best weapon is Persistence. It’s an essential trait that all successful sales people should possess. This defines the ability to stick with a specific task, continue in the face of adversity, or use different strategies to achieve our goals.

However, there is a distinct difference between this and beating our head against a wall trying to convince the prospects to buy our products or services. I am sure that we all have gone through the phase where we thought - we are going to win every deal which comes our way – but later realized that we let that deal went away! But now since we got some experience under our belts – I guess it our duty to make sure that our team won’t face the same issues and start striking the deals with 100% success rate.

Below are few tips from experts that we can share with our teams and help them to be more successful and aggressive hunter :D :

1. Email Campaign: We should consider creating an email list of all the prospects and those who said no to our products or services due to some reasons. We can add these peoples into a monthly email campaign – considering some of them will have their situation change and still others are simply very busy with something that is more urgent. Without monthly email follow-up, we may lose the people that were temporarily distracted as well as those whose situation changed.

2. Account Mapping/Mining: This step is very crucial in current business scenarios. We should map the account and try to find other contacts too, since if we have another contact in the company, we can ask them for inputs or to find out why the decision has been stalled. This is particularly very effective if we have developed a good relationship with this person.

3. “Remember us” Campaign: We can also think about developing a “Remember us” campaign to keep our name in their mind. They may not be ready to buy now, but their situation could change in the future and we want them to remember us. We can stay in touch via postcards, letters, articles, newsletters, etc.

4. Respect Gatekeepers: I strongly believe that we should maintain good relationship with the decision-maker's executive assistant. Through this we can easily tap into that individual's insight and knowledge. In some cases, the E.A. can even help us to find a different way to approach the executives. They may also be able to share the reasons of why the sale did not happen or even what we could do differently in the future.

5. Effort Analysis: To become a successful salesperson we are supposed to be proactive. Before we put our efforts in any deal – we should ask ourselves 'How important is this sale?' If our answer is 'important', than determine what other actions or approaches we are willing to take to make this sales happen. We have to identify a best and creative way to pursue it.

To add - no solution is full proof and this is very much fair to raise the questions such as - What if this approach won’t work? What is the cold lead is still the cold one and not moving forward? Considering my experience, my answer probably would be – to drop that lead and focus on new opportunities. We have to realize that we have limited time with us to meet and exceed our targets and hence we need to wisely design our approach.

I have seen and heard that many times salesperson don’t realize the value of their time and they ended up running behind the deal which wont worth that much efforts.

It will always favorable if we follow the simple rule of thumb – wherein we ask ourselves - "What is the best use of my time, right now?" We should also consider the potential value of each sales opportunity. Chasing a high-value sale is a better use of your time than following up on a sale that is of low value (revenue and/or profit).

Recession - How to make our competition irrelevant??

Further to my previous blog on Power of Recession - Favorable or Unfavorable – the next thing came to my mind is – Can we destroy our competition in this period too? Is there an easy way to make the competition irrelevant, especially when there is an easy access to information, bombardment of advertisements and commercials?

What could be the best strategies, arms and ammunitions one can need to help our customers in making easy decision to buy?

During my search, I came across different articles over my topic and also got a chance to discuss with different industry experts. Result of my study was a big document, however to share the relevant information I have divided in to few points - which I believe can help us in making our competition useless.

Below are the points for your review:

1) We must create a differentiation: The best way to move ahead during the recession time is to create differentiation within our own products or services. If we have a range of products or services to offer, we should identify the differentiation on the priority basis. For example: Products can be differentiated based on size, color, components, combinations or accessories. However differentiations for services include performance, quality, responsiveness, availability, ease or integration.

2) We must focus on the Moment of Truth: The moment of truth is the moment that the customer has an option to make a purchase decision, to buy your products, invest in your services or hires you. This is the moment that you need to put your good, better and best foot forward.

For example - In a retail environment this may be the end-cap, a wall display, shelf space or a counter display. Over Internet this may be an on-line store, e-bay or our personal web site. It could even be part of an email communication.

3) Follow Thumb rule – Provide Good, Better and Best: The best approach would be to provide our customer three options. Show them something good, show them something better and show them our best. Though it may sound simple formula – It takes a little care and creativity also while crafting our message.

We should be able to clearly define our values, the features, benefits and advantages of what we have to offer. Even if we have hundreds of customized solutions or products, we should select and present these three options. Study shows that - In the decision process, human beings can easily compare and contrast three options. Their mind can juggle three prices and three sets of features for a quick and easy decision process.

If we give too many options to our customers, then they will need to spend more time to consider the alternatives, and while they are weighing our multiple options they may start to consider the competition as well.

4) Add the Value Proposition: For better success of our efforts, we have to provide a value proposition for each option that we present to the potential customer. Our value proposition should be something that can be conveyed in three to five bullet points, three to five sentences, or spoken in forty seconds or less. Our message should be precise and succinct and covers customer point of view also.

For example, rather saying "Delivery process may take 3-5 days ", we can say "the product will typically arrive at your door in 3-5 days".

A value proposition typically contains the essential elements of Feature, Advantage, Benefit, Image and Offer. This is a reference to a specific important feature of our offer, the advantage as compared to the competition, and the benefit to the customer.

5) We must Plan, Do, Measure and Adjust: Best strategy to win the game is to plan our offers and the value proposition carefully. Once we introduce our three offers measure the success rate of each option by the corresponding sales rate (This can be done with the help of market research, analysis of reports etc).


The Key is - as long as our customers continue to make a selection between our options and the value propositions, the competition is irrelevant and can be destroyed easily. Our customers can get what they want, and they will remain our customers!!