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Managers who realize that consumers spending is the cornerstone of most business decisions use the data in the Survey of Buying Power to help reach their sales goals. By Ginger Cordon
Forecasting. Territory alignment. Media planning.
To sales and marketing managers, these functions are all four-letter words. The thought of performing them strikes procrastination into the hearts of even the most dynamic managers. But it doesn't have to be that way. If managers have the right tools, even the most daunting task can seem as simple as a six-inch putt.
For 67 years the Survey of Buying Power has been projecting trends in consumer buying power, population, and retail sales. Numbers that effect every type of company, whether business-to-business or consumer. These projections can be the tools that managers use to conquer their budget projection and forecasting woes, to direct their advertising dollars, and to plan long-range sales objectives.
And, with an updated definition of Effective Buying Income for 1996 that focuses on all money income (e.g. property rental income, Veteran's Administration payments, and net gambling winnings) instead of just on salary income, managers can set sales goals based on a truer picture of consumers' disposable income. For example, for the past four years managers who wanted to reach consumers with the greatest amount of disposable income per household included the Middlesex, New Jersey, metro in their marketing plans. Those managers will need to adjust those plans to include Bridgeport, Connecticut, the metro that now has the highest effective buying income per household. (See chart at right for...