Survey Results: Work for less? Most say yes.

It's always interesting to keep abreast of trends and community view points. I thought this article from Human Capital Magazine was worth mentioning here...

The majority of job applicants to non-profit organisations are willing to take a significant pay cut - up to 30% - to secure jobs they see as ethical, according to a new survey.

EthicalJobs.com.au surveyed HR managers and executives 60 Australian non-profit organisations including charities, industry bodies and non-profit organisations.

Seventy-eight per cent of employers surveyed reported applications from people outside the not-profit-sector willing to work for less in an equivalent position.

Of those employers:

• 56% said applicants are willing to work for 10-20% less

• 19% said applicants are willing to work for 20-30% less

• 6% said applicants are willing to work for more than 30% less

"Many people want more than a paycheck and a parking spot - they want an 'ethical job' and non-profits seem to be the big winners," EthicalJobs.com.au founder Michael Cebon said.

Free Advice - Listen to My Interview on BNET Australia

I've just been interviewed by Phil Dobbie on BNET Australia about how to get technical staff to be more effective in sales roles. Listen to the interview here.

In this 16 minute interview we cover highlights from my recent report The Assassin Analogy.

Study Shows Cash is Still King for Retail Sales

My training and consulting work focuses on business-to-business selling. But I also keep on eye on changes in consumer trends as this can indicate underlying movements in the way customers think and buy.

The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) study of consumer payment behaviour released on Wednesday found cash is still king, accounting for 70 per cent of all transactions.

EFTPOS and MasterCard and Visa debit card payments make up 15 per cent of all transactions, followed by MasterCard and Visa credit card transactions at nine per cent and American Express and Diners Club cards at one per cent.

Cash is overwhelmingly used for low value payments under $10 and for 75 per cent of payments between $11 and $25 for items such as take away food and bar bills.

Credit Card Loyalty Programs Work

The report aso found that loyalty programs offered by credit card companies do work.

For the average consumer, loyalty programs increase the probability of credit card use by 23 percentage points and reduce the probability of cash use by 14 percentage points.

Building Brand Within the Organisation - Not Discounting, is secret to success.

See this comment on marketing and discounting from Diana Williams the founder of the successful Fernwood Womens Health Clubs...

AG: Have you increased your marketing though, this time?

DW: No not really, not our advertising. What we have done is spent time really evaluating our brand and on building our brand within the people in our organisation, that is our franchisees and their staff. This is a very important aspect of business. When you are in tough economic times you have to manage the brand well. People can be tempted to discount or do things outside what we are trying to achieve.

AG: So you have been very clear on holding your line on discounting?

DW: Yes we have. We are very strong about not discounting - always have been. There are other ways that you can offer value without giving away half of your business. The reason our membership prices are the way they are, is because that’s how much it costs to deliver the kind of service and if we start discounting then the level of service drops. If the level of service drops then it is a downward spiral. We have been able to sustain that so it hasn’t been an issue.

Read the whole interview at Smart Company.