promise makers and promise keepers (itagroup)

INCENTIVES HELP ACHIEVE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN PROMISE MAKERS AND PROMISE KEEPERS Strategic Methods to Ensure the Customer Experience Lives up to the Company Promise

The organizational structure of most companies’ business spending falls into two general categories: operations and marketing. Moreover, the organizational structure and management of many companies actually discourage—and may even obstruct—collaboration and communication between the operations and marketing functions that are essential for a streamlined, profit-generating enterprise.

Since the dawn of time, it seems we’ve been hearing about, reading about and living through the disconnect between sales and marketing. But what about the yawning gap between marketing (the Promise Makers) and operations (the Promise Keepers)? Historically, Promise Makers and Promise Keepers are remarkably isolated from each other, speak different languages and, far too often, are openly antagonistic. When this happens, the degradation of your brand is a real possibility, not to mention the impact it could have on your bottom line.

As much as marketers hate to admit it (they’re creative right-brainers, after all), there isn't an idea whiz-bang enough or a marketing budget big enough to cure problems caused by a business' operational weak links. When sales falter, problems on the operations side of the business (i.e. delivery, customer service, quality control) must be examined before money is spent changing the marketing or advertising. You need to ask: How good is my product—really? How is our customer service? How is our delivery system? Can we really stand behind the product we sell? If your answer to any one of these questions is less than an authentic "fantastic!,” you need to fine tune those areas before spending one more dime on marketing. But what if operations is as close to perfect as possible (honestly, it’s never going to be perfect, right?) and you have genuine confidence in your marketing department, but you still suspect they are not completely meshing?

To achieve optimal results, there must be alignment between the “Montagues” and “Capulets” of business: alignment between the employees in marketing and operations. How can this be accomplished? This white paper addresses the dangers of misalignment and explores how to use motivational tactics to realize alignment between the Promise Makers and the Promise Keepers.

ITAGroup, Inc.

WHITE PAPER

© 2011 | ITAGroup®, the associated design/logo and Driven by Loyalty® are registered service marks of ITAGroup, Inc. All rights reserved. | of 4

COLLATERAL DAMAGEIn the world of misaligned Promise Makers and Promise Keepers, collateral damage can include…

» Mixed messages given to customers, creating uncertainty, confusion and reluctance to buy;» Negative word-of-mouth and customers hesitating to refer others to you;» Coveted marketing dollars go down the drain;» Misconceived marketing materials (websites, brochures, white papers, promotional items, etc.);» Formerly happy customers perceiving your business is faltering;» Poor management decisions, because front line staff doesn't mention critical issues (often

because they don't understand the relevance to the firm);» Customers not feeling as close to your business as they should;

AND…» Your competitive advantage slips away.

FOUR EXAMPLES OF PROMISE MAKERS AND PROMISE KEEPERS Breakdown and Remedies

➊ ALL I WANT IS A MEASLY BOX OF CEREALPromise Maker: Concierge (Marketing) Promise Keeper: Cafe Employee (Operations) When checking in to a nice hotel the night before an early-morning appointment with a big customer, an executive (who had booked 500 rooms at the hotel) was told by the concierge that breakfast was served at 6:00 a.m. Alas, when the bleary-eyed executive and some colleagues arrived at 6:00 a.m., a cafe employee blocked the entrance and said breakfast wasn’t served until 6:30 a.m., despite the fact that the buffet was clearly already stocked. She didn’t budge when informed of what the concierge had said the night before. When one of the road warriors asked if she could at least grab a box of cereal for the road, she was told, “No.” Needless to say, the executive decided right then, “I’ll never book another room in this hotel, much less 500 rooms the next time we have an event in this city!”

Solution:» Develop a program to reward hotel employees for positive customer service scores.» Deploy an engagement program to enable guests to recognize great employee service

and award those employees who receive stellar feedback.» Empower employees to make decisions on the spot so they can deliver an optimal

customer experience.

➋FAILURE TO LAUNCHPromise Maker: Headquarters (Marketing) Promise Keeper: Branch Manager (Operations) This scenario, unfortunately, plays out far too often among all industries. A branch manager, in the case of a bank, receives a training packet for a new product from the home office asking him/her to train their team at his/her convenience. But it better be soon because the offering has already gone live. While marketers at headquarters have, with the best intentions, spent hours and gobs of money producing the training packet, its arrival at the branch doesn’t correlate with when branch managers conduct team meetings. Thus, the product launch must be customized at the branch level. It’s time-consuming and


frustrating to front-line managers and hobbles staff, and compromises a plan that the marketing team took great pains to develop.

Solution: » Conduct a survey/research to determine what branch managers feel would be the most

effective training method for their employees.» Create a communications campaign aimed at branch managers, clearly outlining

expectations and key points of the upcoming training packet.» Incent branch managers by creating a quiz component, which employees take online

following the training session. If X percent of employees score above Y percent, the branch is awarded gifts.

➌ OPPORTUNITY LOST AS STOCK PILES UP Promise Maker: Sales Management (Marketing)Promise Keepers: Distributors (Operations)Analysts at an electronics manufacturer pore over annual sales data and quickly discover falling accessory sales for the past six months. The sales department increases orders while marketing creates a national television advertising campaign and sends an email and a corresponding spreadsheet to distributors about the huge profit potential in accessories sales. Boxes of cables, adaptors, tools and other high-margin components start showing up at the distributors. Weeks later, the boxes are stacked up in the back room, mostly unopened. At stores where the boxes have been opened, shelves and displays are stuffed with extra packages, many of them falling off and laying on the ground in front of their intended location. Sales aren’t increasing. Store employees are frustrated with the over-stocked items, customers are beginning to notice the mess, and sales management is wondering why nobody’s taking advantage of the huge opportunity to make money on accessories.

Solution:» Explain the data and communicate the value of high-margin accessory sales to the

principal at the distributor, and implement a sales incentive that rewards cross selling.» Create a communications campaign aimed at front-line employees, previewing the

advertising campaign and outlining successful techniques for cross-selling accessories. » Develop an incentive program that rewards merchandise points to those who sell the

most accessories, integrating a leader board on the program website that allows employees to see how they stack up against others in their region.

» Create a team reward for the store with the highest incremental sales increases by region or across the country.

GET OUT OF YOUR BUBBLES AND SHAKE HANDSFaced with a challenging economic climate, an increasingly competitive landscape and growing scrutiny of marketing budgets and operating expenses, the need for alignment between the Promise Makers and the Promise Keepers has never been more critical.

Promise Makers Need to Share with Promise Keepers: » insight gained from customer feedback from the company’s website, research and online

“chatter,” as well as media coverage;» an overview of current business conditions your company faces and analysis of the competitive

marketplace including marketing programs and product launches of major competitors;» tools to engage customers with organizational vision and messages so Promise Keepers are

equipped to represent the organization authentically; and» promotions, public relations programs and advertising program details, including key messages,

principal features and launch dates.


Promise Keepers Need to Share with Promise Makers: » intelligence on customer problems and needs so Promise Makers can help Promise Keepers

build strong and honest customer relationships, represent customer interests and satisfy customer needs;

» “Boots on the ground” insight including changes in customer demographics or hot buttons… valuable gems of information to a Promise Maker;

» Feedback on the quality and usability of sales materials and tools, the effectiveness of promotions and how well marketing messages relate to customers’ needs;

» Insights into the viability and quality of marketing leads and conversion challenges (in the B-to-B arena);

» Objections raised by customers along with strategies to satisfy them (these are opportunities for Promise Makers to learn and adapt, especially by incorporating the Promise Keepers’ tactics used to overcome them.); and

» Perceptions of the competition’s product or service comparisons

A SOLUTION THAT DELIVERS ALIGNMENTAlignment will not happen by accident. It requires a conscious effort, goodwill and executive commitment. It begins with the goal of motivating the Promise Makers and Promise Keepers to engage with each other. The company is only as strong as its relationships, both internally and externally.

Both Promise Makers and Promise Keepers understand the importance of their respective relationships with customers—it should not be that far a stretch for them to understand the critical importance of their relationship with each other. Enable and encourage open and transparent information flow between your Promise Makers and Promise Keepers, and reap the bottom line rewards.

» Learn more about aligning promise makers and promise keepers. Visit us at www.itagroup.com.

About ITAGroup Business is driven by loyalty. ITAGroup drives that loyalty with a comprehensive range of loyalty solutions. We combine incentive programs, rewards and recognition, group travel and event management to engage employees, motivate channel partners and ignite customer devotion. And we rely on traditional business values like hard work, integrity and great client service to make sure our clients are successful. Let ITAGroup drive the power of loyalty for your company.


promise makers and promise keepers (itagroup)

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