Good time to sell?

Clearly the household sector is worried that the RBA is going to raise interest rates to make everyone aware that the mining magnates are on a run to China and lending to smart companies is going to get tougher.

The central bankers and Wayne Swan cannot see any reason for the cartel to raise rates ahead of Glenn Stevens despite their wolf cries about threats to their massive profits and bonus.

Even Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel says: “There’s a constant problem when you’ve got competitors signalling to each other as well as signalling to the public what they intend to do with their prices, in the case of the banks, interest rates.”

For all those small business owners who have been buying gold stocks and asking when they can go back to running their businesses, the good news is that two thirds of Aussie consumers believe that now is a good time to go shopping for major household items.

While they agree with Joe Hockey that something needs to be done to teach the banks a lesson (ie. that customer satisfaction scores that deliver obscene incomes to bank executives can plummet) they want to be able to swap banks more easily if the gouging becomes the pattern that is emerging.

Gary Morgan says that consumer confidence has eased slightly to 127.7 (down 1.5 points) as confidence about people’s financial situations slipped slightly with 33% (down 2%) of Australians saying their family is ‘better off financially’ than this time last year and 41% (down 2%) of Australians expecting to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year.

“In contrast to these movements, 64% (up 5%) of Australians now say ‘now is a good time to buy’ major household items — the highest this indicator has been for nearly five years, since January 2006.The soaring Australian dollar, which briefly reached parity with the US dollar last Friday night, is likely responsible for this surge as imported consumer goods like TVs, stereos, refrigerators, washing machines and whitegoods all become more affordable for households as the Australian dollar strengthens.”

If you have what the market is looking for – quality goods or deeply discounted imports – now is the time to hold a sales conference, ring your best down stream distributors and even consider a little direct marketing to preferred customers. The pre-Christmas Australia will be the obverse of the Northern Hemisphere gloom but do not expect a substantially better New Year.

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Dr Colin Benjamin is an entrepreneurship and strategic thinking consultant at Marshall Place Associates which offers a range of strategic thinking tools that open up a universe of new possibilities for individuals and organisations committed to applying the processes of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Email dr.colinbenjamin@marshallplace.com.au
Contact: CEO Dr Jane Shelton, Phone +61 3 9640 0099