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The Foster Letter —

Religious Market Update

The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail religious market intelligence report targeted to Christian market channel and ministry leaders.  Each issue reports on news, trends, events and research that will directly or indirectly impact your audiences and businesses in a convenient summary format  Better informed leaders make better choices!

Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster

Excerpts from the

August 25, 2007 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update

Delivering “Wow” Service Andre Harris, director of national customer service for 120 shopping centers reveals 5 steps for delivering “wow” service. Hear: Find out what customers want, need, expect, and value and respond to that 100% of the time. Hire: Customer orientation is a core competency. Train: Give attention to such detailed behaviors as how to interact and engage with each customer group. Measure: Use secret shoppers, as well as using both customer and employee satisfaction surveys. Reward: Recognize the “Wow” stars monthly with cash awards. Let peers and customers nominate the stars. (1 To 1 Media 8/6/07) 

For Teens Who Attend Church Often, sexual activity is delayed from the national average of 16.5 years until 17, while nominal evangelicals begin at 16.2 years. Teens with good life prospects and a strong sense of the future - kids with economic and educational ambitions - tend to avoid risky behavior such as drugs and early sex. Without those prospects, the temptation is strong to live for the moment. Teens require a community that supports their good choices, especially in times of testing and personal crisis. Kids who are embedded in a social network with shared norms are more likely to abide by them. (Cleveland Plain Dealer 7/31/07) 

Be Merciless As you begin to plot out 2008, be brutally honest. It’s time to admit that spin-off will never turn the corner, that launch was badly executed or that tired title or ministry is too weak to stand on its own. It’s ok for products and projects to have natural life cycles; they’re not all meant to live forever. The reinvention of business and ministry models for the biggest winners with real potential requires focus: of resources, brains and cash. Side projects and money-losers are distractions you can’t afford. Investment in new ideas is crucial, but I can help you put aside emotional blindness and make the hard calls. Contact me at 419-238-4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or www.GaryDFoster.com. 

“Marketing Is Every Employee’s Business” claims Marketing Mavens author Noel Capon. The book describes these 5 core imperatives of companies that don’t just have marketing departments—they are businesses that market. 1) Pick markets that matter; 2) Select segments to dominate; 3) Design the market offer to create customer value and secure differential advantage; 4) Integrate to serve the customer; and 5) Measure what matters. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. (Your Weekly Staff Meeting, John Pearson 8/13/07) 

Kids More Pious Though Gallup polls dating to the 50s say young adults are less likely to attend services or say religion is very important in their lives, clergy of all stripes are seeing a small wave of young adults who are more pious than their parents. (USA Today 7/8/07) 

Book Readers 1 in 4 U.S. adults did not read a single book in the past year, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were top choices. The typical person read 4 books in the past 12 months—half read more and half read fewer. Excluding the non-readers, book readers averaged reading 7 books last year. (AP 8/22/07)

Business Intelligence Any small business owner knows that competition is tough, but he or she may not be able to pinpoint exactly what changes are needed in order to get to the top. Business as usual may no longer suffice. How can you identify noteworthy trends and make better decisions faster? Many answers already reside in your customer data. I can help you discover and analyze that data. Contact me at 419-238-4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or www.GaryDFoster.com. (Small Business Computing 4/11/06) 

Teen Spending Power (ages 12-17) approached $190 billion in ’06. At just under 10% of the US population, teens work and tend to spend their earnings on themselves. Teens also exert significant influence over family spending -- estimates suggest they will influence $150 billion of purchases in ’07 (PerformanceInsider 8/16/07) 

Mobile Evangelism Window 80% of the world’s population now lives within a mobile reception area. This is likely to increase to 90% by ’10. There are an estimated 2 billion mobile users in ’07, and many are in non-western or developing 10/40 Window countries. The mobile systems in Japan and Korea are the most advanced in the world. Unlike a computer, a mobile is always with you - an integrated part of your lifestyle. When any new medium arises, we should ask: how can it be used for evangelism and discipleship? (Internet Evangelism Day 8/07) 

Why Young People Stay In Church According to LifeWay research, the most common reasons are: church is vital to a relationship with God (65%), want church guidance in everyday life decisions (58%), helps me become a better person (50%) and committed to the purpose and work of the church (42%). (Baptist Press 8/7/07) 

Homeschoolers Lead The ’06 ACT scores for home-schooled students averaged 22.4 vs. the national average composite of 21.1. Homeschoolers have outscored the national average since ’96, when testing officials started tracking them. (WorldNetDaily 8/8/07) 

Salaries of U.S. workers are expected to increase 3.9% in ’08 according to WorldatWork. This compares with 3.9% in ’07. While employers are holding down raises, they’re being more generous with bonuses for high performers. In the ’90s, employers budgeted about 5% of their payroll for bonuses compared with 12% in ’08. “It’s the biggest turnaround in compensation practices in 10 years,” states Ken Abosch, Hewitt Associates. (USA Today 8/13/07) 

Religious Book Sales jumped 33% from 2/06 to 2/07, and are expected to increase 6% per year through ’09 with the lion’s share of the growth coming from Christian fiction. While consumers bought 44 million fewer books in ’04 than in ’03, the one bright spot in the bookseller business was Christian titles, with many industry insiders pointing to the robust and growing Christian fiction market as the salvation of the industry. (ECPA Rush to Press 8/13/07) 

Education Pays Average annual ’05 earnings of workers 18 and older with an advanced degree was $79,946 vs. $54,689 for those with bachelor’s degrees, $29,448 for a high school diploma and $19,915 without a high school diploma. (Census Bureau News & Facts 8-13-07) 

Global Aging Crisis 2007 U.N. global population estimates reveal an alarming population shift that will have serious worldwide consequences in the near future. People above age 60 are starting to outnumber children, those under 15. By 2047 old people will outnumber children on a global scale. The trend profoundly affects every area of human life -economic, political and social-and is “irreversible”, the report claims. The present worldwide median age is 28, but will rise to 38 by 2050 reducing the ratio of workers between 15 and 64 to older persons from 12 to 1 in 1950 to a mere 4 to 1. The report fails to mention any connection between these alarming population rates and the global spread of abortion, contraception and sterilization. (LifeSiteNews.com 8/16/07) 

Service Wins A recent Harris Interactive customer service study finds 88% of shoppers believe a company with solid customer service is “more enticing” than one with “the hottest, most innovative product offerings.” Just 12% prize a hot, innovative product over one backed by superior service. Also, customer service experiences drive much of the word of mouth on which many consumers base their purchase decisions. 90% of respondents noted that, on average, they tell at least 1 person about their unfavorable customer service issues; 85% tell multiple people. For favorable experiences: 88% share their positive ones with at least 1 person and 81% share them with several. (1 to 1 Media 8/20/07) 

Most Prestigious Firefighters, scientists and teachers are seen as the most prestigious occupations by U.S. adults, while bankers, actors and real estate agents are the least prestigious occupations, according to an annual Harris Poll. Clergy ranked #8 (42%). (PWB 8/10/07) 

Parents Don’t Know According to a ’07 Harris Interactive study, parents of kids under 18 think their child averages 3 hours a week online, but they’re actually averaging 7 hours. 23% report doing online activities their parents would not condone. 21% of kids have experienced “inappropriate” material online that made them feel uncomfortable. 18% have had an experience with cyber bullying or cyber pranks, and 20% wish their parents were more interested in using the Internet. More than 70% of kids, 11 to 17, say their parents ask them about their online activities, but they may not be getting accurate answers. More than half of teens buy things online, but 71% of parents say their children never do this. 40% of kids use instant messaging and social networking Web sites everyday, while only 30% of parents say their kids participate in these sites. (InformationWeek 8/10/07) 

Job Satisfaction Gap A Society for Human Resource Management poll finds a gap between what workers and HR professionals say drive job satisfaction. Workers say the top 5 factors (in rank order) are: pay, benefits, job security, flexibility and communication between workers and senior management HR managers think people want: relationship with immediate supervisor, pay, management recognition of worker job performance, benefits and communication between workers and management. (Incentive 8/07) 

Gaither Gold More than 100 of Bill Gaither’s Homecoming series have received Recording Industry Association of America certifications. As of 3/31/07, 106 of the video projects have been certified multi-platinum, 51 platinum and 51 gold. Platinum signifies U.S. video shipments exceeding 1 million units, while the gold means sales of more than 500,000. To date, more than 20 million units have been sold. “This whole 'Homecoming’ phenomenon started because the Gaither Vocal Band wanted to get together with some of my old friends and sing a song,” Gaither said. “I never dreamed these little videos would ignite such a powerful fire in the hearts of so many music lovers.” (Christian e-Tailing 8/16/07)

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