Communicating to your Salesforce
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Fine tune your broadcast messaging to your Salesforce to reduce sales cycles, drive promotions and invite employee interaction. How to build your broadcast messages for maximum impact and choose the right delivery channel for the job.
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Communicating to your Salesforce
- 1. Communicating to Help (Not Hinder) Your Salesforce How broadcast communications can help you reduce sales cycles, drive promotions and invite employee interaction. For Webinar, April 16, 2008 www.cutthroughcommunications.com
- 2. Agenda 1. The Problem 2. Planning your Broadcasts 1. Measure 2. Context 3. Content 4. Channel 5. Interaction 3. Takeaways
- 3. Why are we talking about this? Impacts Problems • DELAYS IN • INFO OVERLOAD TAKING ACTION • GETTING • SLOWS PROGRESS PEOPLE‟S ATTENTION • HITS PRODUCTIVITY
- 4. Sending an email doesn’t work as well anymore. Buried, doesn‟t stand out, 2-second attention window, no control.
- 5. Example…What you’re up against You launch a fabulous Sales Incentive – great prizes, great branding. You expect to see a doubling of sales for the product category covered…. The intranet pages are ready, so you send out the fabulous email/desk drop/manager announcement at 10am Tuesday…
- 6. Example…What you’re up against
- 7. Example…What you’re up against
- 8. Example…What you’re up against
- 9. Example…What you’re up against The incentive doesn‟t take off as expected; 100 units first week instead of 500. Chart Title 25 20 Axis Title 15 Forecast 10 Actual 5 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
- 10. Example…What you’re up against Our point: it takes more than simply sending out broadcast comms to ensure your messages is received and acted upon. Chart Title 25 20 Axis Title 15 Forecast 10 Actual 5 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
- 11. Agenda 1. The Problem 2. Planning your Broadcasts 1. Measure 2. Context 3. Content 4. Channel 5. Interaction 3. Takeaways
- 12. 5 Key Elements for Broadcasts Measure Context Message Channels Interaction
- 13. Measure, Benchmark 1. Are you getting through? Do you even know? 2. What’s a normal response rate in yr org? Readership • Click-throughs • Survey responses • Ratings • 1. Pick your ideal target outcomes X entries tagged in CRM by at least X sales reps • X click throughs to new product page • Training module viewed/completed by % reps •
- 14. CONTEXT: Current state of affairs 1. COMPETITION. Who else sends them broadcasts? When, what, where? 2. VOLUME. How many other emails/voicemails do they get a day/week? 3. AUDIENCE. Priorities, preferences, behavior. 4. INTRANET. Quality of intranet, supporting resources (Use CONTEXT to adjust/fine tune your broadcasts for max impact)
- 15. Enterprise Example… • Competition: every staff member with girl scout cookies to sell • Audience: extreme email fatigue • Volume: hundreds of email broadcasts per day, mostly spam. • Context shows that even the best email in the world would get a low response
- 16. MESSAGE* Six key recommendations. • Consistent structure • Make it fresh • Pare it down • Overview for context • Use several mediums (text, image, table, video…) • Invite interaction *based on IABC Research Report: Preparing Messages for Information Overload Environments,” Eppler/Mengis, 2009. Read it for more great details!
- 17. CHANNELS I.M. Digital Signage E-Bulletin Boards RSS Posters Print pubs Videos Wikis Team Meetings Leader Visits Conferences Letters to Staff
- 18. Channel Mix Criteria Select multiple channels and evaluate for: Cuts through? • Appropriate? • Media-rich? • Targeted? • Measurable? •
- 19. Our Broadcast Channels E-Mags, Bulletins Content managed, templated, no email Desktop messaging Alerts, surveys, scrolling headline tickers Screensavers interactive, targetable, multi-content, easy to change Blogs, Forums, Q&As Secure, templated, measured, single click access
- 20. Southern Wines Example Remote Salesforce with PCs • Do not visit the intranet often • Do not VPN in often • Do not check email often • They do access their web ordering system often • Chose channels to match this CONTEXT. Using • desktop messaging to get promotions, pricing, new products, monthly results out to staff.
- 21. Inviting Employee Interaction “We need to „push‟ out information that explains WHAT the business is doing, and WHY it is doing it . . . and then use interactive social media tools to get employees to start talking about HOW they‟re going to help make it happen.” Steve Crescenzo, Consultant
- 22. Tap into employees for market intelligence, competitive advantage.
- 23. Interaction can not only increase knowledge retention but also improve sales programs themselves. • Incentives open a forum, respond to employee suggestions to maximize buy-in and performance. • Promotions Invite discussion to engage brains. Info will be absorbed through commenting, even reading comments. Tap into employees as a source of market intelligence. • Product Knowledge reinforce with short quizzes and find out what they really know.
- 24. Agenda 1. The Problem 2. Planning your Broadcasts 1. Measure 2. Context 3. Content 4. Channel 5. Interaction 3. Takeaways
- 25. Sales Goals we can impact • Easier to Absorb and Use New Info Shorten • Context Sales • Structure • Get Attention Sooner Cycles • Channels • Fresh approach • Invite Interaction • Encourage ownership Drive • Collect market intelligence Promotions • Easier to Absorb and Use New Info • Get Attention Sooner
- 26. TAKEAWAYS PLAN & STRUCTURE your broadcast comms TRY Checklists, fresh channels to capture attention INVITE interaction for better absorption & valuable feedback
- 27. THANK YOU! 5 ways to reduce Email Overload: http://blog.cutthroughcommunications.com IABC Preparing Messages Report: www.iabc.com (free for members or $99) CHECKLISTS HERE: http://bit.ly/lqkjc Feel free to contact me/us at Cut Through Comms For comms checklists www.cutthroughcommunications.com Email or tweet me at: Paula Cassin Paula.cassin@cutthroughcommunications.com 1.805.715.0300. Twitter: paulacassin. LinkedIn: paulacassin http://www.twitter.com/paulacassin for Webinar: Communicate to Help, not Hinder, your Salesforce, April 2009
Editor's Notes
- <number>Thanks for taking the time today to join our webinar on Communicating to HELP NOT HINDER SALES.I’m Paula Cassin, CEO of Cut Through Communications, an internal communications technology company. We specialize in broadcast communications software….And I used to work in Corporate Sales overseas both in New Zealand and internationally in Europe. Telecommunications and IT. Apply our expertise in communications to Sales. So Sales is a great type of communication –Beyond the standard corporate info – HR, Sales Sales IncentivesCustomer Promotions (Time New Product InfoNew Package/Pricing/Bundles
- <number><number>
- Why are we here talking about this? I think we’re here because of the increasing difficulty of getting our message heard, due to increased competing noise from outside but also INSIDE the organization. There’s more information than ever, and most people are near a limit. Researcher Basex claims that $900 billion is lost in productivity due to information overload. The average email user received more than 160 emails a day in 2008, according to figures from market research firm the Radicati Group, while a study by the University of California at Irvine tracked 36 office workers and found that employees spent just 11 minutes on a project before an email notification, phone ring or knock on the door interrupted them. In the study, it took 25 minutes on average to return to the original task, with research company Basex estimating that 28 per cent of a day is lost in interruptions of this kind<number>
- YOU MAY BE MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR YOUR SALESFORCE TO GET THE INFO THEY NEED BY:Sending out emails from lots of different sources, with little contextSENDING OUT INFO that is confusing or includes complicated action pointsSENDING duplicate or slightly updated information for them to process
- When you send an email or text or promo pack out to your sales reps, how do you know it’s been effective? For most of us, we really do not measure at this level. We have high level goals or even specific goals for the PROJECT, but not for individual communications. EXAMPLE: let’s say you’re working on the new Sales competition – great prizes for reaching certain levels of sales in your newest categories. You’ll know what sales levels you need and probably analyze where you’re at each month. But it turns out you sent the initial email launching it on the day Corporate Comms announced the closure of your chocolate factory in Ohio, which was also the day that airplane landed on the Hudson River AND the day everyone got their quarterly retirement plan statement. In fact, a lot of Sales Managers were rather preoccupied in the team meetings going over the plant closure and grandfathered product lines, so they sort of glossed over the competition. This is why you better be measuring click throughs to the intranet page, downloads of the pdf, sign ups to email notifications. Whatever you can measure that will tell you whether employees have responded in some way to what you sent.Keep breaking down your goals until you’re at ground level - Where do you need them to go? Did you get them there?<number>
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- Here’s what you need to consider, probably down on paper, to be really effective in terms of your broadcast communications, OK?Right now, most people will plan around their initiative or project, and they’ll pay attention to message content, but they’ll really gloss over the rest. Let’s go through each one in detail and I’ll give you some examples.<number>
- When you send an email or text or promo pack out to your sales reps, how do you know it’s been effective? For most of us, we really do not measure at this level. We have high level goals or even specific goals for the PROJECT, but not for individual communications. EXAMPLE: let’s say you’re working on the new Sales competition – great prizes for reaching certain levels of sales in your newest categories. You’ll know what sales levels you need and probably analyze where you’re at each month. But it turns out you sent the initial email launching it on the day Corporate Comms announced the closure of your chocolate factory in Ohio, which was also the day that airplane landed on the Hudson River AND the day everyone got their quarterly retirement plan statement. In fact, a lot of Sales Managers were rather preoccupied in the team meetings going over the plant closure and grandfathered product lines, so they sort of glossed over the competition. This is why you better be measuring click throughs to the intranet page, downloads of the pdf, sign ups to email notifications. Whatever you can measure that will tell you whether employees have responded in some way to what you sent.Keep breaking down your goals until you’re at ground level - Where do you need them to go? Did you get them there?<number>
- EXAMPLE: let’s say you’re working on the new Sales competition – great prizes for reaching certain levels of sales in your newest categories. You’ll know what sales levels you need and probably analyze where you’re at each month. But it turns out you sent the initial email launching it on the day Corporate Comms announced the closure of your chocolate factory in Ohio, which was also the day that airplane landed on the Hudson River AND the day everyone got their quarterly retirement plan statement. In fact, a lot of Sales Managers were rather preoccupied in the team meetings going over the plant closure and grandfathered product lines, so they sort of glossed over the competition. This is why you better be measuring click throughs to the intranet page, downloads of the pdf, sign ups to email notifications. Whatever you can measure that will tell you whether employees have responded in some way to what you sent.<number><number>
- Point I make here is – you can have the best headline, the most beautiful visuals, but if you don’t have a look at the context you’re sending it into, you may severely limit the results you can get.
- So on this one slide we’ve got a whole nother 30 minutes! Here’s we look at WHAT you’re writing, the content. Recently IABC, the international association for Business communicators put out a very good report on preparing messages for information overload environments. They make 6 recommendations and are a pretty good way to review your content/messages. CONSISTENT STRUCTURE. Do you send out a weekly email newsletter giving key info and linking to more details? Do you structure your emails consistently to give readers CUES.Sumup at the top, ACTION REQUIRED clearly marked. Who what when why howProctor and Gamble Memo template: the idea, background, how it works, key benefits, next steps.<number>
- We’ve spoken about information overload and how to optimize a message so it cuts through, but choosing the right channel for the job can put you miles ahead. <number>
- Here’s out quick checklist for Channels. How does it rank in terms of cut through?If you have a lot of <number>
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- No longer a sledge hammer.STACY WILSON (ELOQUOR CONSULTING) has noted: “We need to start thinking about “broadcast” content as just what is required to get the conversation started. We need to leave the old model of “broadcast” behind. Just broadcasting without any action on the part of stakeholders doesn’t do us any good at all.”<number>
- Snap Survey – as a means to solicit feed back / info / market intelligence from staff on customer views / perception regarding products and services, price points, etc…anything VM related – also to solicit feed back / info on what’s working and what’s not in terms of store operations / processes etc – also to solicit general feed back with a view to improve staff engagement etc….their previous survey mechanisms were opt in and did not get answered by staff because it was not in their face and because it was not quick and easy…questions via email also failed to work as they were ignored…Snap Survey now a key tool for marketing in terms of obtaining up-to-the-minute market intelligence…results from Snap Surveys shape product and service offerings which are broadcast to staff via Snap Alerts / Snap Mag<number>
- Snap Survey – as a means to solicit feed back / info / market intelligence from staff on customer views / perception regarding products and services, price points, etc…anything VM related – also to solicit feed back / info on what’s working and what’s not in terms of store operations / processes etc – also to solicit general feed back with a view to improve staff engagement etc….their previous survey mechanisms were opt in and did not get answered by staff because it was not in their face and because it was not quick and easy…questions via email also failed to work as they were ignored…Snap Survey now a key tool for marketing in terms of obtaining up-to-the-minute market intelligence…results from Snap Surveys shape product and service offerings which are broadcast to staff via Snap Alerts / Snap Mag
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- You’ve worked hard to put together a treasure trove of resources for employees. But they have to get there and use it<number>
- You’ve worked hard to put together a treasure trove of resources for employees. But they have to get there and use it<number><number>
- There is lots of clear evidence that shows that organisations with effective internal communications perform significantly better. Other examples include:“There is an empirical link between employee commitment, customer satisfaction and an increase in sales. Analysis of data from 65,000 employees and 25,000 customers showed that a one point increase in employee commitment (on a five point scale) represents a 9% increase in monthly sales.” Watson Wyatt Work USA 2002 Survey“A significant improvement in communication effectiveness is associated with a 29.5% increase in market value”Fortune magazine