Yep, Australian Car Insurance Customers Are Getting World Class Service

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People in Australia might not believe it but the customer service Australia car insurance customers get is one of the best in world. How can this be you ask. Afterall, every week on 6:30pm TV, there is a horror car insurance story where some single mum or retiree gets ripped off by an insurance company. It seems never ending. Well, they have us all for fools because we’re right up there with the best of the best.

Why are we number one? Well, there are a few reasons why customer service is usually pretty good. Here are some of them.

Regulation: The Australian Federal Government has a lot of regulation over the insurance industry. They are pretty strict and provide customer service requirements an insurance company must comply to. There is also an insurance ombudsman’s office where people can voice their complaints against insurance companies for poor customer service or where you believe an outcome was unfair and you feel you have been ripped off or taken advantage of. They usually investigate issues if you push hard enough. These measures mean that insurance companies in Australia can’t get away with poor customer service or trying to exploit a customer.

Increasing Competition: Australia is seeing more competition in the insurance market. New products are being introduced and more companies to heading to the safety of Australia’s economy. The internet, although not to the extent of the USA or UK, is making it easier to compare insurance prices and then switch companies. The two biggest factors why a person switches company are service and price.

But many, as long as the price is within range, will go with a company renown for good customer service. One bad customer service experience can lose a business a number of paying customers and the insurance industry is no difference. Companies in Australia strive hard to keep customers happy and retain them. One bad experience and stats shows it take more than 5 years for a customer to return even if that company offers the best and cheapest product. Insurance is an expensive game and an angry customer could end up costing thousands in future sales.

So yes, Australian car insurance customers gets damn good service. If you have had a bad experience you can make a complaint several ways such as through a website or straight to the ombudsman. We’re a picky bunch in Australia and demand the best, it goes for sport, our best surfing spots, and from our car insurance companies.

What Type of Investor Are You and How Will it Affect Your Trading Strategy?

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Starting out in the world of investing can be a rather daunting task, but when you have some direction and a strategy geared towards the financial goals that you intend to achieve, the road ahead starts to become less intimidating.

When you start out as an investor in the stock market, it is important to decide on the level of risk that you are prepared to expose yourself to. There are quite a few factors that need to be taken into consideration before putting all your money into your first stocks.

Age is a very important factor when trading and if you are 55 years of age or older you should be avoiding unnecessary risk, because if you make any financial mistakes it is unlikely that there be enough time to regain your money from those losses. The amount of time that you have at your disposal will also determine how active you are on the market.

There are three basic types of investors:

1. The conservative investor will usually be close to retirement and have a larger amount of capital and time, but may lack the expertise of trading in their personal capacity and will prefer to approach a financial institution, where they can be assisted by a fund manager that will be able to identify the needs of the investor and help meet those needs through a range of funds spread over the market.

In these circumstances the trading in the funds will be done through a financial advisor instead of a stock broker. The investor is usually able to switch between funds in positive or negative markets at the advice of the financial advisor, which will ensure that any opportunities are taken advantage of and that the investor’s capital is safe during any downturn in the economy.

The conservative approach will give the investor security at a lower level of return on their capital. Preserving capital and staying above the current level of inflation will be the main objective.

2. The moderate investor has a long term approach to stock trading and will spend a considerable amount of time searching for stocks in different sectors that have value and future growth potential.

This investor will aim to buy these stocks at the lowest possible price and then hold onto them for as long as they have growth or growth potential.

The main objective will be wealth creation, capital preservation and a moderate return that is above the rate of inflation and is able to withstand any changes in the economic climate.

3. The aggressive investor is generally young, very competent with an extensive knowledge in stocks and the stock trading. They spend a great deal of time on their investments and expect the highest return possible.

Speculation forms a large part of this short-term investment strategy, with the stock selection aimed mainly at stocks that offer smaller more frequent gains. Trading only in a few select stocks, the trader will take advantage of support and resistance lines in an aid to buy and sell as close as possible to the line, yielding the highest return.

Aggressive trading is usually pursued as a career or as an income supplement, with profits being reinvested in more secure stocks.

Establishing the trading category that best identifies your risk preferences to the stock market will enable you to take the correct steps to plan your investment strategies, as well as the knowledge and time that you will need to reach your objectives.

Advantages of Internet Marketing Over Traditional Marketing for Auto Dealers

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The advent of the Internet has totally changed the way we communicate and how we research & buy products; it’s made shopping easy. Instead of going to different brick & mortar stores to purchase (often from the limited choices), one can browse through many websites quickly, right on their computer or cell phone. When it comes to shopping for automobiles, the first place potential buyers go is the Internet and then visit their local dealership.

To better understand the latest trends in online car shopper behavior, consider the following statistics:

• According to PEW Research, almost three out of four U.S. adults use the Internet. It is an amazing resource for many people to do product research and purchase as it is a hassle-free approach to shopping.

• More and more individuals are using the Internet to research vehicles. Almost 90 percent of consumers use the Internet to research vehicles – Capgemini Cars Online Study 2009/2010.

• According to the J.D. Power and Associates, 68 percent of used-vehicle buyers and 77 percent of new-vehicle buyers use the Internet in their shopping process.

• According to National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), nearly 90 percent of car buyers today are using the Internet to help make their purchasing decisions.

• Investments have been steadily increasing over the past few years in Internet marketing. According to a survey from Autobytel, 93% of dealers have increased their online marketing budgets in the last five years – more than half (56%) have increased their online marketing budgets by 50% or more.

These numbers clearly show that it’s more important than ever for auto dealers to have an online presence. Despite this, some auto dealers still dedicate only a fraction of their advertising budgets to online marketing.

Advantages of Internet marketing over traditional marketing
A dealership that does not use Internet marketing is more likely to lose all these important prospective buyers. If you are one of them, consider the following reasons why you should choose web marketing over traditional marketing.

One-to-one approach
Using Internet marketing, a dealer can send marketing messages personally to the targeted user. When a prospective buyer browses through the Internet, he/she typically goes through the sites online and refers to the products and services offered. This enables him or her to communicate personally with the dealer. This way a dealer can maintain direct contact with prospective buyers.

Appeal to specific interests
Unlike traditional marketing, which reaches out to a broad demographic, web marketing appeals to specific target audience or interests of people. Dealers can post advertisements and boost their websites with full knowledge that the audience is interested in.

Improved Return on Investment (ROI)
Auto dealers spend hundreds (sometimes even thousands of dollars) on traditional advertising methods such as TV, radio, and print. They still do not have any precise way to measure whether their target audience is paying attention or not. When it comes to Internet marketing, a dealer can accurately target an audience and measure the visitors without spending much. This means, a dealer can get improved ROI using online marketing. A survey from Autobytel shows that Internet has provided highest return on investment (ROI) for auto dealers over the last 5 years. Almost 8 in 10 (79.5%) of the survey respondents reported that Internet has been their highest ROI. In contrast, only 7.5% (TV), 6.5% (newspapers), and 2.5% (radio) of respondents ranked traditional media as first.

Cost effective
One of the best things about Internet marketing is that you don’t need a large investment to get started. It is very economical and fast way to promote a dealership. This is not the case with traditional marketing, which is very expensive and takes more time to show results. When compared to the ratio of cost against the reach of the target audience, web marketing is many times inexpensive than the traditional marketing. With a small fraction of traditional marketing budget, a dealership can reach a wide audience.

24/7 advertising
A dealer can promote a vehicle or service 24 X 7 x 365 using Internet marketing, which is not possible in traditional marketing. The moment a dealer implements an online marketing campaign, the dealership’s products or services will be on the air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This medium allows consumers to research and purchase products and services at their own convenience and comfort. This advantage of appealing to consumers can bring in quality results quickly.

Makes you go global
The main advantage of Internet marketing is its ability to make your dealership global. By advertising on the Internet, a dealership can capture the attention from people all over the world. Without any additional cost, a dealership can promote its products or services globally. Traditional marketing consumes a lot of time and is very expensive way to go global.

Geo targeting
Auto dealers can effectively leverage Internet marketing medium as it allows ads to be targeted very precisely to the search location – helps to target a specific geographical location. A dealer can target a specific city, state or a country. Though it has no geographical limits, a dealer can restrict services to certain locations.

Given the latest trends in car shopper behavior and advantages over the traditional media, it is essential for car dealers to re-evaluate their advertising strategies and focus more on Internet marketing.

What Is Credit Card Receivable Financing?

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If your company is seeking or has been turned down for a small business loan, an unsecured line of credit, unsecured business financing, or other short-term business financing to use as “working capital” you may have heard of Credit Card Receivable Financing (CCRF) – but you’re not quite sure what it is. CCRF is an alternative funding solution that many existing businesses are able to use when they don’t qualify for traditional bank financing.

Credit Card Receivable Financing is a fast, easy and convenient way of getting working capital or a short-term business loan for a business that has accepted credit cards as payment for its goods or services for at least the previous six months. Unfortunately, it is not available for start-up loans, start-up funding, new business loans as will be explained later in this article.

However, many business owners still don’t fully understand the difference between Merchant Cash Advances (or business cash advances) and Credit Card Receivable Financing. The reason is they are very similar in the requirements to qualify, term length and repayment method – but they are different.

While both are known as a form of credit card receivables funding, the primary (and most important) difference is; a Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) is the actual “purchase” of your future credit card receivables at a discounted rate. It is unsecured financing, but it’s not classified as a loan. Much like “Accounts Receivable Financing” the same concept applies, that is; your business sells its receivables at a discount for cash that you need now and you agree to repay the funds from future revenues. Since this is a purchase of future credit card sales the company providing the funding is not required to give an established rate of interest. In fact they cannot even call what is charged interest, it’s called “the cost of money” and the amount charged can vary based on factors having to do with your business. (Those factors will be discussed in another article specifically related to Merchant Cash Advances).

With CCRF the business still uses future credit sales as a basis on which the lender will determine the amount of funding, but the difference is that CCRF is a true regulated “business loan” and as such the qualifications are slightly more involved but the costs are usually 50-80% less than most MCA’s.

When attempting to secure any type of business loan, unsecured business credit line, or business financing many new small business owners will try to qualify for CCRF because of the savings benefit it offers. In fact, many owners who currently have a MCA will use CCRF to pay off the existing advance because of how much they are able to save on the costs of money.

Another advantage of CCRF is, in the first few years many businesses are unable to establish a credit history that banks will require to qualify for loans. With CCRF as payments are made the business owner can make sure those payments, to an unsecured business loan, are reported to credit agencies so that a history of repayment is being made. This can potentially improve the credit score and possibly help in future bank loan applications. In addition, there could be tax advantages that your accountant may be familiar with regarding interest payment and so forth.

With both CCRF and MCA the amount of funding that you receive depends on your monthly credit card sales. And funding typically ranges between 100 to 150% of your monthly credit card sales average. For example, if your businesses monthly Visa/MasterCard sales average is $10,000 lenders can fund $10,000 to as high as $15,000 for the normal six to twelve month terms that are offered. Remember, this unsecured business loan is short-term working capital so don’t expect a 36 or 60 month payment term.

To qualify, your business must have processed at least $3,000 in Visa/MasterCard transactions each month for the previous six months, be in business for minimum of one year, have a minimum FICO score of 540 or greater, have at least one year remaining on your business lease or own the property and no open bankruptcies, foreclosures or liens (some liens with payments plans may be OK). There is no collateral required and the term is usually six to twelve months.

Read more Articles on;

  • CC Receivable Financing
  • Floral Business Easy Loans
  • Merchant Cash Advance
  • Easy Small Business Loans
  • Creative Marketing/Financing
  • Medical Office Patient Financing
  • Customer Finance Auto Repair
  • Easy Pay Patient Financing
  • Medical Optimization
  • Small Business
  • Financing New Business
  • Veterinary Patient Financing
  • Auto Repair Marketing
  • What is CCRF
  • and more Information in our blog. (See link below!)